TITLE

A Research Design for an Empirical Research Paper presented to

The Department of Information Systems

University of Cape Town

By

Student name

STUDENT NUMBER

in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the XXXXXXXXXXX Information

Systems Course
Day Month Year

(The sections in blue are instructions and should be replaced with your own text
before submission. Do not submit assignments that still contain instructions)

i
 Plagiarism Declaration

1. I know that plagiarism is wrong. Plagiarism is to use another’s work and

pretend that it is one’s own.

2. I have used the APA 6 th convention for citation and referencing. Each
contribution to, and quotation in, this publication
“……………………………………….”, from the work(s) of other people has been
attributed, and has been cited and referenced.

3. This publication “…………………………………………………………”, is my own work.

4. I have not allowed, and will not allow, anyone to copy my work with the
intention of passing it off as his or her own work.”

5. I acknowledge that copying someone else’s assignment or essay, or part of it,

is wrong, and declare that this is our own work.

6. I have not falsified or manufactured any data, and declare that all data was
ethically collected.

Signature: Date:

Name:

Note: This Template was originally derived by the Wits

Business School. Input has been taken from Prof Cronje
of UP & CPUT, and Dr. O’Donovan of UCT. Many parts
have remained unaltered, but many parts have had major
changes. All errors were made by K Johnston of UCT.
Please be so kind as to point out errors to K Johnston.

ii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES................................................................................V

LIST OF FIGURES..............................................................................V

1 INTRODUCTION.........................................................................1
1.1 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY.................................................................................1
1.2 CONTEXT OF THE STUDY..................................................................................1
1.3 PROBLEM STATEMENT.....................................................................................1
1.3.1 MAIN PROBLEM...................................................................................................... 1
1.3.2 SUB-PROBLEMS..................................................................................................... 2
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY...........................................................................2
1.5 DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY.........................................................................2
1.6 DEFINITION OF TERMS......................................................................................3
1.7 ASSUMPTIONS.................................................................................................3
1.8 ETHICS............................................................................................................3

2 LITERATURE REVIEW..............................................................4
2.1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................4
2.2 DEFINITION OF TOPIC OR BACKGROUND DISCUSSION........................................4
2.3 FIRST THEME/SUB-PROBLEM DISCUSSION HEADING...........................................5
2.3.1 THEME 1/SUB-HEADING 1.......................................................................................5
2.3.2 THEME 2/SUB-HEADING 2.......................................................................................5
2.3.3 HYPOTHESIS 1 OR PROPOSITION 1 OR RESEARCH QUESTION 1.............................5
2.4 SECOND THEME/SUB-PROBLEM DISCUSSION HEADING.......................................5
2.4.1 THEME 1/SUB-HEADING 1.......................................................................................5
2.4.2 THEME 2/SUB-HEADING 2.......................................................................................6
2.4.3 HYPOTHESIS 2 OR PROPOSITION 2 OR RESEARCH QUESTION 2.............................6
2.5 CONCLUSION OF LITERATURE REVIEW.............................................................6
2.5.1 HYPOTHESIS / PROPOSITION / RESEARCH QUESTION 1:...........................................7
2.5.2 HYPOTHESIS / PROPOSITION / RESEARCH QUESTION 2:...........................................7

3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...................................................7
3.1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY / PARADIGM............................................................7
3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN.........................................................................................7
3.3 POPULATION AND SAMPLE................................................................................8
3.3.1 POPULATION.......................................................................................................... 8
3.3.2 SAMPLE AND SAMPLING METHOD.............................................................................8

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3.4 THE RESEARCH INSTRUMENT...........................................................................9
3.5 PROCEDURE FOR DATA COLLECTION................................................................9
3.6 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION..............................................................9
3.7 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY.............................................................................9
3.8 VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY................................................................................9
3.8.1 EXTERNAL VALIDITY.............................................................................................. 10
3.8.2 INTERNAL VALIDITY............................................................................................... 10
3.8.3 RELIABILITY......................................................................................................... 10

4 ETHICS APPROVAL................................................................10

5 RESEARCH PLANNING..........................................................11
5.1 TIME-TABLE...................................................................................................11
5.2 CONSISTENCY MATRIX...................................................................................11

REFERENCES...................................................................................13

APPENDIX A.....................................................................................14
ACTUAL RESEARCH INSTRUMENT..............................................................................14

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: List of respondents (if appropriate).......................................................8

Table 2: Time-plan for completion of research report by xxxx.......................10

Table 3: Consistency matrix...............................................................................11

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Title of the Figure (reference)...............................................................5

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1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Purpose of the study

The purpose of this research is to . . . . .

1.2 Context of the study

Describe the background to the research, remembering that examiners and other
readers may not know much about your industry or even your country, and need a
good idea of the context in which you will be conducting your study. Remember to
REFERENCE all the statements that you make (according to the APA format).
Remember to include recent (less than 5 years old) references, especially when
describing the current situation / context for your research.

Also take note of when the articles you reference were published relative to one
another, ie which ones were written first, which ones are more recent. More recent
authors may have similar findings to older ones, but not the other way around.

Include a description of the business or management problem or gap in

knowledge or practice that you intend to address in your research.

1.3 Problem statement

1.3.1 Main problem

Have a verb at or near the beginning of your statement, and make it a statement,
not a question. Break your statement up into logical sections to create your sub-
problems. The research problem statement is a statement of how you will
address the problem. Make sure you include relevant, searchable key words.

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Your sub-problems combined should = your problem, and should also have a verb
at or near the beginning. Do not add any new concepts or ideas in your sub-
problems. Include relevant, searchable key words to use for your literature review.

It is not always necessary to have sub-problems – it may not be possible to break

your problem into smaller parts.

1.3.2 Sub-problems

The first sub-problem is ….

The second sub-problem is ….

1.4 Significance of the study

The study fills a gap in that . . .

Describe and explain the gap in the theory that might be filled by your study,
because of its focus, method, or other reason. Justify your reasoning and
REFERENCE your sources.

The study will provide guidance to …

describe the aspects (of management or business practice or theory) that the
study will be of value to. Describe who will benefit from the study and how they
will benefit.

1.5 Delimitations of the study

Delimitations are used to narrow the scope of the study. State what will be
included and what will be excluded, eg your research topic may focus on a
specific market sector, organisation type, level of employees in an organisation,
methodology, etc. The sample that you plan to use may be drawn from a specific
geographical area (eg Western Cape), but this is NOT a delimitation; it is a

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convenience sample and should be discussed under sampling in the Methodology
Chapter.

1.6 Definition of terms

Include definitions that the reader needs to understand in order to make sense of
the proposal if any. Do not define well-known terms or terms that you do not use
extensively in the proposal. REFERENCE definitions where appropriate.

1.7 Assumptions

State any assumptions that could influence the outcome of the research. Discuss
the reasonableness of each assumption, and the sensitivity of the research
outcome to the assumption.

Present these in bullet points for easier reading.

Eg you probably assume that your respondents will have enough knowledge in
your area of research to be able to clearly articulate answers to your questions.

1.8 Ethics

Have ethical, confidentiality, access and privacy issues been adequately dealt
with? Has Ethics form been submitted?

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2 LITERATURE REVIEW

You MUST reference all statements and claims made. Failure to do so

means that you are plagiarising. The format for your references is APA –
apply the correct format for in-text referencing AND the reference list at the
end of the document.

2.1 Introduction

Introduce the literature review, and describe briefly the structure and contents of
the review by each sub-problem in turn. Give some background to the problem
and sub-problems.

Discuss key definitions relevant to your topic (and REFERENCE them), then state
or describe and justify which one you will be using in this study.

Briefly explain how and where you searched for literature and WHO you followed
(eg Manikas & Hansen, 2013). Did you use recent lit (less than 5 years old) in
journals (A rated?), did you use UCT Journal library database, Google Scholar?
What keywords did you use, “Information”, “Systems” etc. Used following
combinations of search terms to locate articles published after 2013. Followed
citations in articles to source more. Used citation index, Journal impact index etc.
This shows a scientific approach to the LR- whose stuff did you read to get lay of
the land, could have a table with Journals and impact factors & then determined
which were significant authors – so can now read all significant authors in field –
protect yourself.

2.2 Definition of topic or background discussion.

If you define your topic here, be sure to specify which of the definitions you
discuss (because there will probably be more than one) you are going to adopt as
your working definition and WHY.

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2.3 First theme/sub-problem discussion heading

Introduce first discussion section. ONLY write about the first sub-problem here.

2.3.1 Theme 1/Sub-heading 1

Discussion of an idea or concept using appropriate integrated references.

2.3.2 Theme 2/Sub-heading 2

Discussion of an idea or concept using appropriate integrated references.

2.3.3 Hypothesis 1 OR Proposition 1 OR Research Question 1

State your proposition (etc) here, not as the actual sub-heading. Your hypothesis,
proposition or research question must be phrased almost as though it is a single
sentence summary of the literature reviewed for this section. It will often have very
similar wording to the theme/sub-problem on which this section of the literature
was based.

2.4 Second theme/sub-problem discussion heading

Introduce second discussion section. ONLY write about theme/sub-problem 2

here.

2.4.1 Theme 1/Sub-heading 1

Discussion of an idea or concept using appropriate integrated references.

If you include a figure, give it a title, eg Figure 1, a title and a reference. Figure
headings go below the image as shown.

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 Figure 1: Title of the Figure (reference)

2.4.2 Theme 2/Sub-heading 2

Discussion of an idea or concept using appropriate integrated references.

2.4.3 Hypothesis 2 OR Proposition 2 OR Research Question 2

State your proposition (etc) here, not as the actual sub-heading. Your hypothesis,
proposition or research question must be phrased almost as though it is a single
sentence summary of the literature reviewed for this section. It will often have very
similar wording to the sub-problem on which this section of the literature was
based (ie Theme/Sub-problem 2).

2.5 Conclusion of Literature Review

Summarise and conclude the entire literature review. Then restate all the
hypotheses OR propositions OR research questions:

2.5.1 Hypothesis / Proposition / Research Question 1:

2.5.2 Hypothesis / Proposition / Research Question 2:

3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This section describes the methodology that will be followed to address the
hypotheses or propositions or research questions that you put forward as possible
solutions to your sub-problems in the Literature Review section.

For each sub-section, describe the theory AND how your own research fits the
theory, or where it does not and how you are going to overcome the
shortcomings.

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Describe briefly the structure of the section.

3.1 Research methodology / paradigm

Discuss the research paradigm and method (eg qualitative, quantitative or mixed)
you will use, focusing on why it is suitable for your research. Remember to
REFERENCE the theory that you are describing and describe how your research
is appropriate for the theory.

Discuss the assumptions of this methodology / paradigm and why they are
appropriate for your research.

3.2 Research Design

Give a description of the methodological approach you will adopt (eg case study,
interviews, survey, mathematical modelling etc), focusing on why that particular
approach is appropriate for your study.

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this method, as they pertain to your
research.

3.3 Population and sample

3.3.1 Population

Define the population for the research. If you are going to do a case study then
discuss the case site here (in which case the heading will be ‘case site’), in terms
of appropriateness for your study.

3.3.2 Sample and sampling method

Describe and discuss the sample and sampling method, including the number in
the sample, that you will use and why it is appropriate.

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State the number of interviews or questionnaire respondents or data points you
intend obtaining and how you will get them to participate.

Give a list of potential respondents in a table if appropriate. Do not give actual

names of individuals for confidentiality reasons. If it is too long put the table in an
Appendix. Note that table headings go above the table and that all Tables must be
numbered, eg Table 1, have a title and be referenced.

Table 1: Profile of respondents (if appropriate)

Description of respondent type, eg Manager, Union Number to be sampled

representative, student

3.4 The research instrument

Describe the actual instrument (eg open questionnaire, interview schedule,

mathematical model, conjoint questionnaire) that you will use for your own
research, indicating how each part addresses a specific issue in your research.
Create and include your actual instrument in an Appendix, with a covering letter to
the potential respondent motivating them to participate. If it is a standard
instrument that has been previously published or has been used before, discuss
its advantages and shortcomings as they relate to your use of it. Mention if
permission is required to use it, and if you have obtained such permission.

3.5 Procedure for data collection

Describe how you will gather the data using your instrument.

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3.6 Data analysis and interpretation

Describe how you will analyse the data. REFERENCE appropriate methodological
sources, and describe how these methods will be applied in your analysis
process. Eg regression analysis, descriptive statistics, content analysis.

3.7 Limitations of the study

Limitations identify and anticipate potential weaknesses in your study relating to

the methodology, sampling, analysis methods, etc. Describe these potential
weaknesses and their implications, particularly with respect to the interpretation of
your findings.

3.8 Validity and reliability

Describe what each of these in the context of your own research. If you choose to
use other validation criteria (particularly in qualitative or interpretive research),
then discuss them here. For each criterion discuss how you will ensure it happens
or at least make every effort to ensure it in your research. Remember to
REFERENCE your statements.

3.8.1 External validity

Describe (REFERENCE your source) how your research meets or does not meet
the external validity criteria. If necessary, explain how you will try to maximise your
validity.

3.8.2 Internal validity

Describe (REFERENCE your source) how your research meets or does not meet
the internal validity criteria. If necessary, explain how you will try to maximise your
validity.

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 3.8.3 Reliability

Describe (REFERENCE your source) how your research meets or does not meet
the reliability criteria. If necessary, explain how you will try to maximise your
reliability.

4 ETHICS APPROVAL

Describe how Ethics approval will be obtained from UCT’s Ethics committee.
Describe how permission to carry out this study at the various respondents’
organisation will be obtained in writing from the appropriate department(s).
Prospective respondents will be furnished with details of the study. Interviews will
only occur after written consent, and interviewees will be made aware of the right
to withdraw from the study at any given time.

Confidentiality of respondents and their organisations will be strictly preserved.

Individuals and firms will be referred to via non-identifiable aliases in any artefacts
of this research.

5 RESEARCH PLANNING

5.1 Time-table

Table 2: Time-plan for completion of research report by xxxx

date date date date date date date

Finalise proposal
Gain approval
Gather data
Do data analysis
Write report
Finalise report

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5.2 Consistency matrix

A consistency matrix is a powerful tool in assisting you to align your sub-

problems, the references that you used to investigate each sub-problem in turn
and the hypothesis or proposition or research question that resulted from the
literature that you reviewed. It also lists the analysis method you will use to
analyse the data.

It is also a process model – you carry out each step of your research in the
sequence shown in the consistency matrix, which is shown on the next page.

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 Table 3: Consistency matrix

Research problem stated here

Sub-problem Literature Review Hypotheses or Source of data Type of data Analysis
Propositions or Research
questions
Actual sub- List the most important Actual Hypothesis 1 OR Note the type of data, Describe the
Actual interview / eg discrete (are specific
problem 1 references that you referred to proposition 1 OR research questionnaire questions distinct and separate, analysis
stated fully as when writing the literature question 1 stated here in that will provide the i.e. they can be method you will
counted), nominal use – Quant
in the text review for sub-problem 1. exactly the same words as in data, preferably in (values can be (tests H by
the text of the proposal, and words assigned a code. You measuring
based on the literature that can count but not order central
Or other specific or measure nominal tendency,
you reviewed in the previous data. For example, variability,
sources of data, eg
step males could be coded correlation,
stock exchange regression etc)
as 0, females as 1),
Qual (draws
ordinal(values can be
patterns,
ranked (put in order) or
insights by
have a rating scale.
coding –
You can count and
Content
order, but not
analysis, GT)
measure), etc

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Research problem stated here
Sub-problem Literature Review Hypotheses or Source of data Type of data Analysis
Propositions or Research
questions
Actual sub- List the most important Actual Hypothesis 2 OR Actual interview / Note the type of Describe
problem 2 references that you referred to proposition 2 OR research questionnaire questions data, eg the specific
stated fully as when writing the literature question 2 stated here in that will provide the nominal, ordinal, analysis
in the text review for sub-problem 2. exactly the same words as in data, preferably in etc method
the text of the proposal and words you will
based on the literature that use.
Or other specific
you reviewed in the previous
sources of data eg
step
stock exchange

So on if more
sub-problems

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REFERENCES

All references that are used in the text of the proposal MUST be included here, in the
correct APA format., and all references listed here must be in the text of the proposal.

Follow the format in the Proposal example – guidelines are given in text boxes in the
actual reference list of the proposal.

eg in the references below. For journal articles (Abdolvand, Albadvi & Ferdowsi, 2008),
the name of the journal must be in italics, followed by the Volume number, then the issue
in brackets, then the page numbers of the article. Book example is Baltzan and Phillips
(2008), and a web article example is Dugger (2010).

EXAMPLES:

Guttentag, D. (2015). Airbnb: disruptive innovation and the rise of an informal tourism
accommodation sector. Current issues in Tourism, 18(12), 1192-1217.

Heo, C. Y. (2016). Sharing economy and prospects in tourism research. Annals of

Tourism Research, 58(C), 166-170.

Holgate, C. (2016). How South Africans too are embracing the Sharing Economy.
Available from http://atmosphere.co.za/newsroom/how-south-africans-too-are-
embracing-the-sharing-economy/.

Holland, P., & Bardoel, A. (2016). The impact of technology on work in the twenty-first
century: exploring the smart and dark side. The International Journal of Human
Resource Management, 27 (21), 2579-2581.

Karlsson, L., & Dolnicar, S. (2016). Someone’s been sleeping in my bed. Annals of
Tourism Research, 58, 159–162.

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The style is slightly different for Acts of parliament, newspaper articles, etc, so check up
on the correct format before handing in.

Also check the style for referencing in the text of your proposal, eg no initials or first
names, just surname and date, except for direct quotes when you give the page number
as well.

APPENDIX A

Actual Research Instrument

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