Unit 22: Research Methods in Health and Social Care: A guide for doing the

research proposal
Please Note: The proposal will give ou the opportunit to provide evidence for P!" M2" #$
%and partiall P2&
The actual research report will give ou the opportunit to provide evidence for P'" P(" M)" M!
and #2*
1. Think of a broad topic area in which you are interested and which is relevant
to anything that you have studied in Health and Social Care, e.g. exploring
childrens cognitive developent ! testing the validity of "iagets conservation
experients with children aged #$%& 'valuating service provision in residential
care& The ipact of stress on health and well$being& The influence of edia
on teenagers body iage& The effects of cyber bullying on ental(physical
health.
). Construct a working title for your research pro*ect and develop ais and
research +uestions. This will help to deterine the type of research ethods
you use, i.e. whether you will be using +ualitative or +uantitative research
ethods, or a bit of both. ,eeber, for the -erit grade, you will have to
*ustify your choices.
1. There are two basic approaches that you can take. These are .uantitative
and .ualitative. /hereas option 0a1 above, is best addressed through
+ualitative ethods, option 0b1 would be addressed using +uantitative
ethods
). 2 guiding principle when identifying respondent groups, e.g. service providers,
service users, students, etc. is the risk of potential har. 3nly respondent
groups who are deeed as not 4vulnerable ay participate in your study.
#. 2nother guiding principle when identifying respondent groups is ease of
access. 5e realistic in identifying a study with a participant group who are
relatively easy to engage.
%. Saple si6es7 8or a +ualitative study that involves unstructured or sei$
structured interviews, your saple should be around 19 respondents. :n the
case of a +uantitative study that involves a +uestionnaire, there should be a
saple si6e of around )9$#9 respondents. :f you are doing an experient,
although this is a +uantitative ethod, the saple is likely to be considerably
saller.
;. Collecting <ata7 8or option 0a1 ! the +ualitative pro*ect, you should include
your interview schedule in your appendix. The ain body of your research
should include soe +uotes fro the respondents. 8or option 0b1 ! the
+uantitative study ! you should include a blank copy of the +uestionnaire in
your appendix. The use of descriptive statistics, including charts and tables is
expected. 02ll interview notes and copleted +uestionnaires ust be kept in a
separate file.1
=. :t is iportant to reeber that you will be expected to be both
knowledgeable about, and able to *ustify, your choice of research ethod in
your research proposal. >ou ay wish to use a cobination of +uantitative
1
and +ualitative ethods. :f so, this will be a ore abitious undertaking and
will re+uire understanding of both approaches in e+ual easure.
?. >ou can work in a group. 0@o ore than ; in one group1 This will enable ore
data to be collected. However, your report ust be your own individual work.
A. 8inally, your report should follow the standard layout. 0";, "=1
+ront cover including7 title, your nae, and unit title and nuber.
A,stract 0do this last1
-ntroduction 0a brief suary of previous research in the area1
leading to Ai.s/Hpothesis
#esign, including the ethod 0:B and <B if doing an experient1
saple, saple si6e, procedure, -aterials,
Results 0ust assess findings in relation to the original
ais(hypothesis for -%1,
#iscussion 02ssess the strengths and weaknesses of the research
pro*ect in eeting the ais(hypothesis for -#, and ust evaluate how
the research pro*ect could have been iproved including potential
areas for further study, iplications and recoendations for <)1
Conclusion.
0i,liograph
Appendices.
2