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Queen Mary University of London
School of Business and Management
M.Sc. (Management), M.Sc. (Innovation and Management) and M.Sc. (Marketing)
BUSM145 Research Methods (2020/2021)
Research Proposal Assignment
The aim of the proposal
The research proposal requires you to demonstrate your ability to identify, analyse a research problem related to business and management, and to set out a plan for a research project to investigate that problem. The aim of this assessment is to enable you to develop and demonstrate your ability to: (a) diagnose a problem in business and management, (b) arrive at the consequent research questions, (c) determine how to answer these questions by drawing on the academic literature, (d) assess the potential of different research methods and (e) plan a small-scale research project.
Your report is intended to form the plan for how you might use the literature (by drawing on the ideas and findings of others), design a research project and analyse the findings.
This report is among the most challenging assignments set during the M.Sc. programmes. You are being asked to anticipate the issues that will confront you in conducting a small research project. Thus it is quite different from, and more difficult than, writing a conventional coursework paper. The best reports are usually those produced by those students who have devoted considerable thought to the assignment before even beginning to write the report.
Your choice of problem for the project proposal report does not commit you to that topic for your dissertation. You can just complete the report as a free-standing exercise in which you are assessed on your ability to analyse a problem, grasp the arguments and the evidence contained in the literature and devise a suitable research design. You are free to select a different topic for your dissertation if you so wish, although there are obvious advantages in sticking to a topic to which you have already given thought and invested some work (although you must avoid cutting-and-pasting parts of the proposal into the dissertation).
The Research Proposal requirements
The report must include the following main elements:
- Title. This can include a subtitle and should indicate what the research is essentially about. (5%)
2 - Abstract. The abstract sums up the research problem/questions, research design and methods, and relation to the literature and/or practice. (10%)
- Introduction in the form of a statement of the problem to be addressed. This introductory material will include a clear statement of the problem, the question(s) to be researched, the importance of those questions and an indication of the potential role of business and management theories in answering the questions. The introduction should have clear labelling of the aim and objectives. (15%)
- A summary critical review of the relevant literature, both theoretical and applied. This section will indicate what can be learnt from the current literature and will seek to identify some of the strengths and weaknesses of that literature. You are not expected to provide a comprehensive guide to the literature but you are expected to communicate an understanding of some of the main ideas, theories and evidence relating to your topic. You must refer to the academic literature and not just to the professional literature (note that the former usually involves seeking an in-depth and critical understanding of problems while the latter is usually restricted to matters of ‘how-to-do-it’). (30%)
- An outline of the proposed research design and methods. You should outline the research design and the likely methods, taking care to point to the strengths and weaknesses of your proposed research methods. You must demonstrate that the research can be done within the constraints of the M.Sc. dissertation process, that you have good reason to believe that the necessary data is available and can be collected, that your choice of method(s) is reasonable and likely to produce reliable and valid results, and that you have considered any ethical questions raised by the research. (20%)
- Conclusion. The conclusion summarizes the problem, the purposes of the study, the research question/s, and the methodology. It should also acknowledge any ethical issues and the possible limitations of the approach (e.g. generalizability from limited number of cases). (5%)
- Presentation. Appendix, references, and general presentation of the work. Using the Harvard approach to referencing and the references are done correctly in alphabetic order. The format of the references is correct. The Appendix only has the required sections, if any. The general structure of the proposal is correct as above with section and subsection numbering. Diagrams and tables are numbered, captioned, and presented correctly. (15%)
To pass the assignment, you must include all these key elements. However, you do not have to devote an equal number of words to each of them. In particular, the statement of the problem is very likely to be shorter than the other elements.
What you should NOT do (these reflect the failings of past research proposals)
• Do not write an essay about a general topic.
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• Do not just describe the application of a particular management technique or method (e.g. TQM, a project management technique), you must analyse the underlying problem and critically evaluate the alternative ‘solutions’.
• Do not write a literature review that is solely or largely dependent on pop management books or the professional rather than the academic literature.
• Do not write a literature review in the form of an annotated bibliography.
• Do not write a general essay on research methods. Instead critically evaluate those methods you are likely to use.
• Do not include lots of incidental, trivial detail about how you would actually carry out the research.
What makes for a good topic for the report?
(Further guidance will be given in class) - Are you interested in the topic? You are going to spend a lot of time studying it, and if you are not interested, your motivation will be low.
- Is the topic relevant and timely? A good way of finding a topic is to ask yourself what issues are of current concern in the academic and professional literature. Another way is to consult your former or present employers.
- Is the topic specific enough? Most students start with too broad a topic. Usually, the more successful project report/dissertations have a specific and clearly defined problem and set of research questions. A dissertation that goes deeply into a narrow topic is much better than one that touches the topic’s surface.
- Can the topic be completed in the time available? Most students begin with an overly ambitious topic. Remember that you have only a short period of time in which to plan and research the topic. Can you obtain the necessary data? You can, at this stage, just indicate the main issues involved in gathering the necessary data or information.
- Have you the skills to use the necessary research methods? You should avoid committing yourself to use a research method which involves skills which you do not have, for instance avoid highly quantitative methods if you are uncertain of your numeracy skills.
- Are there any ethical issues involved, such as problems of confidentiality?
What makes for a good research proposal
There are many ways to write a project proposal report, and we have no particular model answer in mind. The following are some of the points we are looking for:
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• You must have a problem which you can analyse, define and for which you can devise feasible research questions.
• You should explain the main issues in your chosen topic and their wider academic and practical relevance.
• When reviewing the literature, you should communicate an awareness of the quality of the evidence on which an author draws and of the methodological issues posed by the way in which that evidence has been gathered.
• You should give a sense of how the literature has developed and identify the main themes of schools of thought in the literature. How do later articles and contributions in books build on the earlier results findings, and ideas in the literature?
• Most importantly, you should be critical and evaluative. Do not just describe the literature you survey, explain why the authors have arrived at the conclusions they have. State whether you consider the authors have achieved their aims. Explain any weaknesses you feel there are in specific articles or books and, if possible, how those weaknesses could have been overcome. It is better to evaluate critically fewer references rather than cite many references with little critical appraisal.
• You should indicate the wider significance of your study – what are the wider implications of what you have found both for the academic literature (whose approaches/viewpoints/hypotheses do your findings support?) and for practice (e.g. should people in organizations do things differently as a result?).
• Observe the usual requirements for a good presentation – be grammatical, use punctuation marks correctly, try to avoid jargon etc. You should use headings and sub-headings to organise your material.
Formal Requirements
The report should be no more than 3000 words in length (excluding the bibliography), with a 10% upper limit and should be organised as indicated above.
The report should be double-spaced, well presented and structured. Appendices should only be used when judged to be strictly necessary to the understanding of the project. The work should use the Harvard system of references, and all references should be included in a properly presented bibliography.
Marking descriptors
(80-100) Exemplary definition of a relevant research question, very focussed and critical literature review, very clear and concise research design, convincing rationales for the suggested research method(s), outstanding description of the suggested method(s) and critical reflection on the research limitations.
(70-79) Excellent definition of a relevant research question, well focussed literature review, development of a clear research design, good rationales for the suggested
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research method(s), excellent description of the suggested method(s) and good reflection on the research limitations.
(65-69) Very good definition of a relevant research question, thorough and comprehensive literature review, development of good research design, good rationales for the suggested research method(s), very good description of the suggested method(s) and good reflection of on the research limitations.
Merit (60-64) Good definition of a relevant research question, sound literature review, development of good research design, good rationales for the suggested research method(s), good description of the suggested method(s), and adequate reflection on the research limitations.
Pass (50-59) Definition of a relevant research question, basic literature review, development of good research design, adequate rationales for the suggested research method(s), adequate description of the suggested method(s), and reflection on the research limitations.