ELEMENTS OF A RESEARCH PROPOSAL

...more tips for writing Chapter 1

Group Preparation
Here are some questions to guide you in writing the research proposal: 1. What is your proposed research topic? 2. What research questions are suggested by your research topic? 3. What research objectives are suggested by your research topic? 4. To what literature does your research topic relate? 5. What are the key dependent and independent variables in your proposed study? 6. What relationship between the dependent and independent variables do you think you will find?

IN-CLASS ACTIVITY

Having given thought to the research topic, and the theoretical framework (THEORIES) in which it is to be set, students should find it straightforward to move on to the drafting of an outline proposal. The most important component of this exercise is the matching of the research questions and the methodology. The matching of the various aspects of the project is essential to an effective piece of research.

RESEARCH CHOICES

WHAT TO DO? Example... Title: Customers Experience: The Fanny Ice Cream Way

Draw up your own simple matrix with the following Research Questions Methods headings:
Create questions which contains the respondents demographic information. They could answer by ticking the appropriate box that corresponds to their profile. Frequency distribution will be used to analyze the results.

1. What is the respondents profile in terms in terms of age, gender, civil status, occupation, income?

Research Questions 2. What are the ways used by Fanny Ice Cream to attract prospective and existing customers?

Methods
Face-to-face interview with Fanny Ice Cream managers and staff will be done. A tape recorder or video camera will be used to record the conversation. Questions will be prepared by the researchers ahead of time. Observation will also be done by the researchers themselves. Internet search using their websites, Hanoi social sites, etc.

Research Questions 3. What is the behaviour of customers towards experiencing Fanny Ice Cream Products?

Methods
Compose Yes/No, Likert Scale, other response format. Examples: Are you aware of Fanny Ice Cream? Yes or No? How often do you go to Fanny Ice Cream? 4-Always 3-Seldom 2-Rare 1-Never

Research Questions 3. What is the behaviour of customers towards experiencin g Fanny Ice Cream Products?

Methods
What can you say about the taste of Fanny Ice Cream products? 5-Very delicious 4-Delicious 3-Normal taste 2-Not Delicious 1-Very Bad taste How do you perceive the price of Fanny Ice Cream products? 5-Very affordable 4-Affordable 3-Neutral 2-Expensive 1-Very expensive

Research Questions 3. What is the behaviour of customers towards experiencin g Fanny Ice Cream Products?

Methods
Do you think the ice cream presentation is creative? Yes No I dont know. What flavour do you like most? Chocolate Coffee Strawberry Vanilla Etc.

Research Questions 4. Is there a significant relationship between the age of respondents and the taste of ice cream?
consider other demographic profiles as well...

Methods The source of data will be from the questions about the age of respondents and the taste of ice cream. Statistical treatment on correlation will be used to determine the relationship.

Research Questions 5. Is there a significant relationship between the taste of ice cream and its price?

Methods
The source of data will be from the questions about the taste of ice cream and the perception of customers about its price. Statistical treatment on correlation will be used to determine the relationship.

Importance of Matching...

This seemingly simple exercise serves to stress the importance of ensuring that the particular question matches the method chosen to assist its achievement. Method must be suitable for a particular research question.

This simple approach prompts the student to think about multi-method approaches since it may be that different questions may be best achieved by different methods.

Action Plan: Gantt Chart for a Research

Project

Research Ethics at Different Stages

Research Ethics: The Nature of Participant Consent

Homework

After doing the matrix, write your questionnaire on a separate sheet.

survey questionnaire (for quantitative) and/or interview questions (for qualitative)

Make sure the questionnaire is aligned with the Research Questions.

This is actually part of Chapter 3: Research Methodology. I would advice that you do it in NOW so that you could see the connection between Research Questions and Survey Questionnaire.

Precoded Questions: examples