1. FOR 500 PRINCIPLES OF RESEARCH: PROPOSAL WRITING PROCESS
Dr. Kofi Akamani, Department of Forestry, SIUC
01/22/2013

2. THE RESEARCH PROCESS Phases of research (Graziano & Raulin 2007)
Idea-generating phase
Problem-definition phase
Procedures-design phase
Observation phase
Data-analysis phase
Interpretation phase
Communication phase

3. THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Attributes of a good proposal (Przeworski & Salomon 1995)
Conceptually innovative
Methodologically rigorous
Rich substantive content

4. PRESENTATION OUTLINE Choosing a research topic
Choosing a research approach
Reviewing the literature
Considering the role of theory
Writing the proposal

5. CHOOSING A TOPIC Identify a research topic based on a research problem
“A research problem is the issue that exists in the literature, in theory, or in practice that leads to a need for the study” (Creswell 2003: 80)
Sources of research problems
Personal experience of researcher
Debates in the literature
Policy debates
Draft a tentative title for the study

6. CHOOSING A TOPIC Judging a good topic Can the topic be researched?
Availability of resources and skills
Should the topic be researched?
Intellectual merit
Broader impacts
Personal benefits

7. CHOOSING AN APPROACH Choices in research Paradigms Approaches
Post-positivism, constructivism, pragmatism etc.
Approaches
Qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods
Methodologies
Survey methodology, case study, grounded theory etc.
Methods
Questionnaire, interviews, focus groups etc.

8. CHOOSING AN APPROACH
Choice of research approach has philosophical and methodological implications
Criteria for selecting an approach
Match between problem and approach
Personal experience and philosophy
Audience

9. CHOOSING AN APPROACH Qualitative approach
Aims at understanding meaning of phenomena from participants’ perspective
Assumption of multiple realities
Assumption of relative truths
holistic

10. CHOOSING AN APPROACH Quantitative approach
Aims at explanation and prediction of relationships
Used in testing theory
Assumes existence of objective realities and absolute truths
Reductionist

11. CHOOSING AN APPROACH Mixed methods approach
Combines multiple methods to understand research problem
Problem-centered/policy-oriented
Based on pragmatic assumptions

12. REVIEWING THE LITERATURE
Purpose of literature reviews
To identify and discuss related studies
Relate a study to the broader literature
Establish knowledge gaps and opportunities for further research
Establish importance of a study

13. REVIEWING THE LITERATURE
Qualitative literature review
More or less literature depending on theoretical orientation
Used in introduction to frame the problem
Placed in separate section of proposal
Incorporated into final section of study

14. REVIEWING THE LITERATURE
Quantitative literature review
Used to introduce research problem
Used deductively to derive research questions or hypotheses
Used to compare findings

15. REVIEWING THE LITERATURE
Mixed methods literature review
Uses either qualitative or quantitative approach to literature review
Literature use depends on type of mixed methods design and the major type of research approach

16. REVIEWING THE LITERATURE
Steps in literature review
Begin with key words e.g. from research topic
Search library data base for journals and books
Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC)
Social Science Citation Index
Dissertation Abstracts International
Annual reviews, specific journals, special issues etc

17. REVIEWING THE LITERATURE
Steps in literature review
Prepare an annotated bibliography i.e. summaries and critique of relevant works
Synthesize the research literature
Clarify roots of your research questions/objectives
Major themes, knowledge gaps etc.
New relationships and conceptualizations
Need for further research

18. THE ROLE OF THEORY Defining theory
“A theory is an interrelated set of constructs (or variables) formed into propositions, or hypotheses, that specify the relationship among variables” (Creswell 2003: 120)
Theories are useful in understanding, explaining and predicting phenomena

19. THE ROLE OF THEORY Theory use in qualitative research
May or may not be used explicitly
Used as lens or perspective to frame research question
Used to present key elements of the context
Used to suggest potential emergent patterns
Used inductively at the end of the study

20. THE ROLE OF THEORY Theory use in quantitative research
Used to present constructs and propositions
Serves as framework for research questions, hypotheses, data collection etc.
Generally introduced early in the proposal

21. THE ROLE OF THEORY Theory use in mixed methods research
Used in theory testing
Used to understand emergent patterns
Used as lens to guide the entire study

22. WRITING THE PROPOSAL Introduction Research purpose
Literature review
Theory
Research purpose
Research questions/hypotheses
Methods
Outcomes/Final products
Work plan
Budget

23. WRITING THE PROPOSAL Introduction
Identification of problem and background
Review of studies on the problem
Gaps in the existing literature
Focus and justification of the proposed study

24. WRITING THE PROPOSAL Purpose statement
Provides orientation about the intent and direction of the study
Purpose statements vary among research approaches
Qualitative research purpose statements include: “describe,” “understand,” “explore,” “develop,” “examine the meaning of,” etc.

25. WRITING THE PROPOSAL Purpose statement
Quantitative purpose statements identify variables and contains words connecting variables, such as “the relationship between,” and “comparison of”
Mixed methods purpose statements contain both qualitative and quantitative components

26. WRITING THE PROPOSAL Research questions and hypotheses
Qualitative approach
Use research questions (central questions and sub questions), not hypotheses
Use words that convey exploratory or emergent research, e.g. “how”
Avoid quantitative terminologies, such as “affect” “impact,” “determine,” “cause,” “relate” etc
Research questions may evolve

27. WRITING THE PROPOSAL Research questions and hypotheses
Quantitative approach
To avoid redundancy, research questions or hypotheses may be used but not both
Mixed methods
Use both qualitative and quantitative research approaches

28. WRITING THE PROPOSAL Methods
Clarify and justify your research paradigm, research approach, and methodology
Provide detailed procedures of methods
Sampling (probability/non-probability)
Data collection/data generation
Data analysis
Validity and reliability/trustworthiness and credibility

29. WRITING THE PROPOSAL Final products Work plan/schedule Budget
Thesis/dissertation
Publications
Conference presentations
Work plan/schedule
Budget

30. REFERENCES
Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (2nd ed). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Graziano, A. M., & Raulin, M. L. (2007). Research methods: A process of inquiry (6th ed). New York: Pearson.
Przeworski, A., & Salomon, F. (1995). On the art of writing proposals: Some candid suggestions for applicants to Social Science Research Council Competitions. New York: Social Science Research Council.