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FOR 500 PRINCIPLES OF RESEARCH: PROPOSAL WRITING PROCESS

Dr. Kofi Akamani, Department of Forestry, SIUC01/22/2013

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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

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THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Attributes of a good proposal (Przeworski & Salomon 1995)

• Conceptually innovative• Methodologically rigorous• Rich substantive content

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PRESENTATION OUTLINE

• Choosing a research topic• Choosing a research approach• Reviewing the literature• Considering the role of theory• Writing the proposal

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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

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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

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CHOOSING AN APPROACH

Choices in research

• Paradigms– Post-positivism, constructivism, pragmatism etc.

• Approaches – Qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods

• Methodologies – Survey methodology, case study, grounded theory etc.

• Methods – Questionnaire, interviews, focus groups etc.

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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

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CHOOSING AN APPROACH

Qualitative approach

• Aims at understanding meaning of phenomena from participants’ perspective

• Assumption of multiple realities• Assumption of relative truths• holistic

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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

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CHOOSING AN APPROACH

Mixed methods approach

• Combines multiple methods to understand research problem

• Problem-centered/policy-oriented• Based on pragmatic assumptions

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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

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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

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REVIEWING THE LITERATURE

Quantitative literature review

• Used to introduce research problem• Used deductively to derive research questions

or hypotheses• Used to compare findings

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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WRITING THE PROPOSAL

• Introduction– Literature review– Theory

• Research purpose• Research questions/hypotheses• Methods• Outcomes/Final products• Work plan• Budget

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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WRITING THE PROPOSAL

• Final products– Thesis/dissertation– Publications– Conference presentations

• Work plan/schedule• Budget

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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.