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RESEARCH PROPOSAL:The Beginning of Research

IMRAN AHMAD SAJID

imranahmad131@gmail.com

Source Book: Norman Blaikie. (2003). Designing Social Research: The Logic of Anticipation. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press

Proposal is a suggested idea or plan

• Research Proposal is a document which sets out your ideas in an easily accessible way.

[DR CATHERINE DAWSON]

• Research design is the plan, structure and strategy so as to obtain answers to research questions.

[Fred N. Kerlinger]

• Sometimes called Research Synopsis

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• Research proposal is intended to convince the reader that the proposed work is significant, relevant, and interesting; that the design of the study is sound; and that the researcher is capable of successfully conducting the study (Marshall and Rossman 1995).

FUNCTIONS OF RESEARCH PROPOSAL

1. Obtaining approval for the research to proceed; and

2. Apply for research funds.

• It is in students’ interest to be as clear as possible about what he or she is going to do.

• Several drafts prepared before the final draft.

SECTIONS OF RESEARCH PROPOSAL

1.1. TitleTitle

2.2. Statement of the ProblemStatement of the Problem

3.3. Research Question Research Question

4.4. Research Objectives Research Objectives

5.5. Research Plan and MethodsResearch Plan and Methods

6.6. Time TableTime Table

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1. TITLE

• State the title into two parts:

• 1st part refers to the issue under investigation

• 2nd part refers to the location of the study

Examples of Titles

1.1. Absenteeism in the Public Sector:Absenteeism in the Public Sector: A Case Study of A Case Study of HospitalHospital--based Nursesbased Nurses

2.2. Student Plagiarism Student Plagiarism at the University of PeshawarUniversity of Peshawar3.3. Issues in Juvenile Justice SystemIssues in Juvenile Justice System: A Case Study of A Case Study of

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 4.4. Causes of Rising Unemployment Causes of Rising Unemployment in Pakistan Since Pakistan Since

200020005.5. Cause of the Post 9/11 Increased Drug Smuggling Cause of the Post 9/11 Increased Drug Smuggling

from AfghanistanAfghanistan6.6. Job Satisfaction Job Satisfaction among Administrative Staff at the Administrative Staff at the

University of PeshawarUniversity of Peshawar

Section 1

Section 2

A Useful way to start looking for a topic

• Go to questia.com and find some useful ideas for research topics in International Relations.

• Try the following link

• http://www.questia.com/library/politics-and-government/international-relations

9Imran Ahmad Sajid | Lecturer |

Department of Social Work, University of Peshawar

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2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM/TOPIC

• It is the HEART of a RESAERCH THESIS. • Intellectual Puzzle to be Explored • Consist of few paragraphs •• Presents a concise description of the Presents a concise description of the nature of the nature of the

problem to be problem to be investigatedinvestigated•• …..outline the basic facts of the problem, explain why

the problem matters, and pinpoint a solution as quickly and directly as possible.

• Requires reference to some literature (previous research, theoretical discussion, official statistics, newspaper articles)

Environmental Worldviews and Behaviour among Students and Residents

The project will investigate the environmental worldviews and behaviour of people from different backgrounds in Melbourne, Australia.

Environmental issues have received considerable attention in the Australian media in recent years. Global problems, such as greenhouse effect and the depletion of the ozone layer over the south polar region, have dominated, and have been the subject of discussion in public forums. At the same time, environmental issues have featured prominently in both federal and state politics, and in debates about the logging of native forests and mining in national parks.

While concern about the environment goes back many decades, with the 1970s seeing the most recent wave of interest, the level of public awareness, and the degree to which politicians have been willing to include it in their agendas, appears to be at a higher level now than at previous times. Many events around the world, not the least being the Chernobyl disaster, have brought into stark relief the global nature of environmental problems and the urgency with which they need to be addressed.

For anyone interested in raising environmental awareness and changing behaviour towards the environment, it is necessary to know the current status of environmental worldviews and behaviour. This project aims to provide such knowledge.

Source: Norman Blaikie, (2003). Doing Social Research: The Logic of Anticipation. Polity Press.p.278

Statement of the Problem:

Extent of the Problem

Why the Problem Matters

Proposed Solution

Example of Statement of the Problem

• Please refer to printed Handouts (p.278)

• For guidelines on statement of the problem, visit http://dissertationrecipes.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Creating-the-Problem-Statement.pdf

• http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Problem-Statement

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3. Research Question

• A research project is built on the foundation of its research questions.

• R.Qs are needed to define the nature and scope of the research.

• Three main types of Research Questions:

– ‘What’ questions

– ‘Why’ questions

– ‘How’ questions

‘What’ questions

•• They require They require a descriptive answera descriptive answer; they are directed towards discovering and describing the characteristics of in some social phenomenon.

• They include the following types of questions: – What types of people are involved?

– What characteristic knowledge, beliefs, values and attitudes do they hold?

– What social processes have brought this behaviour about?

– What are the consequences of these activities?

e.g. Terrorism? e.g. What is the role of knowledge production for rising non-Western powers?

‘Why’ questions

• They ask for either the causescauses of, or the reasons reasons for, the existence of characteristics in a particular phenomenon. They are directed towards understanding or explaining understanding or explaining the relationships between events. – Why do people think and act this way? – Why did these patterns come to be this way? – Why do the characteristics or social process change,

or remain stable? – Why does this activity have these particular

consequences?

e.g. Iran’s Nuclear Programm and Saudi Arabia’s response?

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‘How’ questions

• They are concerned with bringing about changechange, with practical outcomes and outcomes and interventionintervention;

– How can these characteristics, social processes or patterns be changed?

– How can they be made to stop changing, or to slow down or speed up their rate of change?

e.g. How to bring change in Voting Behaviour?

• The three types of research questions form a sequence. – ‘What’ questions normally precede ‘why’ questions

and ‘why’ questions normally precede ‘how’ questions.

– We need to know what is going on before we can explain it, and we need to know why something behaves the way it does before we can be confident about introducing and intervention to change it.

• However, most research projects will include only one or two of research questions, most commonly ‘what’ questions and ‘why’ questions.

Useful links on Research Question

• Try the following link

• http://libraries.iub.edu/sites/default/files/Develop_a_Research_Question.pdf

• http://www.macmillanhighered.com/catalog/static/bsm/researchroom/question/

• http://twp.duke.edu/uploads/media_items/research-questions.original.pdf

18Imran Ahmad Sajid | Lecturer |

Department of Social Work, University of Peshawar

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4. Research Objectives

• Research objectives are concerned with the types of knowledge to be produced.

• Research objectives include 1. Exploration, 2. Description, 3. Explanation, 4. Understanding, 5. Prediction, 6. Change, 7. Evaluation, 8. Impact assessment

p.72

• Basic Research focuses on the first five objectives, explorationexploration, descriptiondescription, explanationexplanation, understandingunderstanding, and predictionprediction, but particularly description, explanation and understanding.

• Applied research may include some of these ‘basic’ objectives, it is particularly concerned with change, evaluation, and impact assessment.

Link between Research Question and Objectives

• Exploration: What might be happening? • What people are involved i? in what way?

• Description: What might be happening? • What people are involved i? in what way?

• Understanding: Why is it happening? • Explanation: Why is it happening? • Prediction: What is likely to happen? • Change: How can it be made to be different? • Evaluation: What has happened? Why did it happen? • Assessment: What have been, or are likely to be, its

individual, social and environmental consequences ? Why have these consequences occurred?

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Useful links for Research Objectives

• Try following link • https://gedorev.wordpress.com/2011/02/07/mo

dule-6-formulation-of-research-objectives/

• http://www.erm.ecs.soton.ac.uk/theme4/aims_and_objectives.html

• http://researchmethodsgdansk.wordpress.com/2012/10/31/how-to-turn-your-research-question-into-your-research-objectives/

5. RESEARCH PLAN AND METHODS

• From where and how the data will be collected, and how it will be analyzed.

• It outlines the way in which the research will be conducted.

– Source of data, type of data, form of data (p.282)

– Method of selecting data Source (Sampling, p.283)

– Method of collecting data (tools for collecting data)

– Methods of Analyzing Data(how it will be developed, p.282-3)

• Source of Data: individuals, Journal Articles, Experiments, Historical Records, Newspaper Articles

• Type of Data: Primary, Secondary

• Form of Data: Quantitative (numbers, scales), Qualitative (written or spoken words)

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Method of Selecting Data Source[How to Collecting Sample]

• Through Probability Sampling

– Simple Random, Systematic Random, Stratified Sampling, Cluster Sampling, Area or GeoghraphicSampling

• Through Non-Probability Sampling

– Convenience Sampling, Purpose Sampling, Judgmental Sampling, Quota Sampling

Method of Collecting Data

• Questionnaire, • Structured Interview, • Semi-Structured Interview, • Unstructured Interview, • Participant Observation, • Content analysis, • Analysis of existing Data/Statistics

• Focused Group Discussion• Historiography

Source: Lawrence Neuman. Social Research Methods. 7th Edition.

6. TIMETABLE

• Plan the duration of each of the stages with a time-frame allocated to it. (p.285)

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Sample Timetable

Stages of Research Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec1.Preparation of research design2. Review of literature3. Selection of data sources4. Development of the research instruments5. Collection of the data6. Analysis of the data7. Writing the report

Q/A Discussion