Research proposal

RICHMOND THE AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL

UNIVERSITY IN LONDON

RICHMOND BUSINESS SCHOOL

MGT 5210 Research Methods

Research Proposal Fall 2017

In Week 2 you will decide on a topic for your Research Project. The Research must be related to your

Major: i.e. some aspect of Business/Management or Economics. It is usual for Research to start with

a question to be answered or a hypothesis to be tested.

Generating research ideas Ideally, choose a topic you find engaging and one in which you already have some academic

knowledge. Previous projects can be a good starting point to consider topics that capture your interest

and that you can develop further (be aware that this can also lead to plagiarism!). A good starting

point is to search for topics through an initial literature search.

The Research Proposal serves a number of purposes: It forms a coherent statement of intent, which

entails expressing exactly what you are planning on investigating. The proposal also serves to convince

audiences that your research is worthwhile and achievable within the constraints of time and available

resources. In a professional context, a proposal is the evidence of a contractual obligation by two

parties: the researcher and the client.

The main points to cover when approaching a Research Proposal

• Choice of research idea: Develop a topic you are interested in within the business world by researching facts and news reports from either international or national sources.

• Elaborate a research question: Justify which aspect of your research idea you would like to investigate further. Indicate the novelty of your question and how it is similar or different from

other research questions in the same area.

• Proposed Methods: Examine the methodology you propose to use in your research, and why that methodology might be the most appropriate.

• Critical literature review: Analysis of the main literature sources and explanation of inclusion using appropriate referencing.

• How your Research Proposal contributes to your Research Project: How your research proposal will provide a foundation to develop the entire project.

Content of a Research Proposal (maximum 1,000 words):

• Title

• Background/Problem Statement

• Research Question and Objectives

• Critical literature review

• Methodology (research design and data collection)

• Timescale

• Resources

• Ethical statement

• Bibliography

2

Please note that particular emphasis is placed on your critical understanding of the information

rather than the mere amalgamation of it

Format Deadline: 16 October 2017. Submission is via both hard copy and a soft copy via Blackboard (Safe

Assignment).

The written Proposal must not exceed 1,000 words (+/- 10%), include a cover page, a list of contents

and a bibliography. The reference style is Harvard. The word count has to be given on the front page

of the paper. The bibliography is essential and by definition a list of all the works used as sources. A

missing or incomplete bibliography, or the inclusion of untraceable sources will potentially result in

non-acceptance of the project and a grade not being awarded.

Ethics: Please enclose the Student Research Ethics form if you intend to include any human participants as

part of your research and prior of doing so.

Assessment

Title (5%)

Provides a clear title that reflects the content of the proposal.

Research question and objectives (20%)

Provides a clear statement of what the proposal seeks to achieve. This flows from the previous

section.

Clarity and novelty of your research question and how it is justified by your preliminary enquiry

into your research idea.

Research Methodology (20%)

Justification of the proposed methods to be used to answer the research question and how

appropriate are for the business area where research will be taking place.

The methodology section addresses adequately the research design, data collection and has an

ethical statement included

Critical literature review (30%)

Indicate, with adequate referencing, the main literature sources for your research, justifying

their relevance to investigate the research question. Students must ensure that they use high

quality relevant literature.

Time and resource implications (5%)

Reflects on and evaluates the resources required and the timescale of the project.

Overall structure (15%)

Uses appropriate format and present items in a logical structure. Uses Harvard referencing in

text and has a reference list.

Bibliography (5%)

The use of appropriate references with a minimum of 4-6 academic references

Plagiarism: The use of themes/subjects that you might have used in other subjects is not encouraged. Please bear in mind that your proposal will be rejected if SafeAssignment in Blackboard finds a similarity of over 15% with any of your previous assignments.