Research Project Proposal
For this individual assignment, you are expected to write a full Research Proposal as preparation for your Capstone Research Project in year 3. The detailed structure with guiding points for sections in the proposal is suggested as follows.
1. Title of the research project
2. Introduction – Outline the research project. Use around 100 words here to summarise the whole project. Key information to be included:
• What format will you be following (dissertation, consultancy report, etc.)
• What would be the central research question and its significance?
• How you will be approaching the topic, including the type of primary and/or secondary source materials required?
3. Rationale for the research (around 400 words). This is the part where you explain:
• What is your research idea?
• How did you come up with the research idea and what drives you into conducting this research?
• How do different modules in your programme contribute to your understanding of this research idea and provide the foundation (and confident) for you to explore your research project further?
• Why do you think that your research will be an interesting one to explore in terms of its novelty and value?
• Insert an explicit research question and some research objectives
4. Research context (around 400 words)
• Providing a detailed context including the understandings of the particular product, industry sector, location, institutional environment, etc.
• Highlight the unique characteristics that may lead to differences from a more conventionally studied context.
5. Literature review underpinning your research (around 500 words)
• Identify the streams of literature that are crucial to your research question
• Explain how the learning from different modules help you understand the different streams of literature contributing to your research question.
• Explain how the learning from your modules then further drives you into further enquiries of what else is available within the existing literature.
6. Proposed method and data (around 500 words)
• What will be your chosen research methodology?
• Drawing from your knowledge acquired in BE218 Business Research Method, what are the main advantages of using the chosen research approach over other methods?
• What are the main limitations of using this particular research approach for your research and how do you intend to minimise these them?
• What are the sources of the data i.e., primary vs secondary? How will you be collecting your data, and who are the respondents (people, managers from firm, experts of particular industry sector, etc.) targeted? How collecting the information would help you to answer your research question? What type of data will be collected (Quantitative vs Qualitative)?
• How will you be analysing the data? What software will be used to analyse the data.
• Provide a sample questionnaire/ interview questions which you will use to collect data. Place this in the appendix (note: this part in the Appendix does not count towards your final wordcount)
• For Primary Data, make sure you mention about the Ethical Approval process. Further information is available on Moodle.
7. Proposed timeframe (100 words)
• Utilising a visual timetable, illustrate when will you be starting and completing your:
i. Research question formulation
ii. Design of your surveys and interview questions
iii. Writing up your literature review
iv. Data collection
v. Research analysis
vi. Final write up of the dissertation
8. If you are planning to use primary data, provide a sample questionnaire/ interview questions in the appendix (note: this part in the Appendix does not count towards your final wordcount). Suggested: at least five questions.