Reference no: EM134044256

Proposal & Literature Review

Assessment: Research Proposal Report

Purpose: Identify research problems and undertake quantitative research techniques and qualitative literature review methods.
Formulate research questions and design hypotheses.
Search, analyse and critique relevant literature.
Research project design - models, epistemology and ontology.
Develop and communicate research proposals and plans.

Assessment Overview

Students are required to prepare an individual 5,000-word Final Research Proposal Report based on the approved research topic developed throughout Assessments 1 and 2. The Final Research Proposal Report represents the conclusion of the research proposal development undertaken in MR601 and should demonstrate a clear, coherent and feasible plan for the research that students intend to progress in the subsequent research project units.

The assessment builds directly on the Literature Review Report completed in Assessment 1 and the Research Proposal Draft Report completed in Assessment 2. Students are expected to review and respond to feedback received on both assessments and use this feedback to substantially refine and strengthen the final proposal. Assessment 2 already requires students to progress from the literature and research gap to the research problem, research questions, objectives, methodology, ethics, feasibility, expected contribution and research timeline. Assessment 3 requires these elements to be developed in greater depth and integrated into a comprehensive and internally consistent research proposal.

Students must continue with the same approved research topic developed in Assessments 1 and 2. A change of topic will not normally be permitted at this stage. The Final Research Proposal Report should demonstrate a clear progression from the existing literature and identified research gap to a well-defined research problem, theoretical or conceptual foundation, research aim, questions and objectives, and a detailed and justified methodology.

Students are expected to revise, extend and substantially develop their previous work rather than simply reproduce material submitted in Assessments 1 or 2. Relevant material may be incorporated where appropriate, but it must be critically reviewed, refined, synthesised and adapted to reflect the development of the research proposal and feedback received.

The body of scholarly literature established in Assessments 1 and 2 should be further developed through the inclusion of additional relevant and current sources where necessary. The literature should provide a robust theoretical and empirical foundation for the proposed study and clearly support the research problem, research gap, conceptual or theoretical framework, research questions, methodology and anticipated contribution.

The Final Research Proposal Report should:

clearly establish and justify the research problem and its significance;
provide a comprehensive and critically synthesised review of the relevant literature;
clearly establish the theoretical, empirical, practical, methodological and/or technical research gap;
develop an appropriate theoretical or conceptual foundation for the proposed study;
present a clear research aim, focused research questions and aligned research objectives;
present hypotheses or propositions where appropriate to the research design;
provide a detailed and well-justified research approach and methodology;
clearly explain the proposed population, sample, participants, data sources, systems or datasets;
specify appropriate methods of data collection and analysis;
address validity, reliability, credibility, trustworthiness, data quality or technical evaluation, as relevant;
address research requirements, ethics, limitations, risks and feasibility;
explain the expected academic and practical contribution of the proposed study; and
provide a realistic research timeline demonstrating how the research can be completed during the subsequent research project stages.

Research Proposal Report Requirements

Introduction and Problem Domain

Provide a clear, focused and well-developed introduction to the proposed research. The introduction should establish the context and significance of the study and clearly articulate the problem that the research intends to address.

The introduction should:

establish the broader academic, professional, industry, organisational or technical context of the research;
clearly describe the research problem or problem domain;
explain the current issue, limitation, challenge or opportunity motivating the research;
provide a clear rationale for undertaking the study;
explain the academic and practical significance of the research;
define the scope and boundaries of the proposed study; and
provide a concise overview of the structure of the report.

Students should demonstrate how the research problem arises logically from the existing literature and relevant professional, organisational, industry or technical context.

2. Literature Review and Research Gap

The literature review should substantially develop the literature reviewed in Assessments 1 and 2. Assessment 2 already requires students to critically analyse themes, theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches, debates, limitations and the research gap. In Assessment 3, students should develop this into a more comprehensive and integrated review that provides the scholarly foundation for the final proposal.

The review should:

critically analyse and synthesise relevant scholarly literature rather than summarising sources individually;
identify and evaluate major themes, findings and developments;
critically examine relevant theories, models and conceptual frameworks;
compare methodological approaches adopted in previous studies;
identify debates, inconsistencies and conflicting findings;
evaluate strengths and limitations of existing research;
identify areas that remain insufficiently explored or understood;
demonstrate how the proposed study is positioned within the existing body of knowledge;
clearly establish and justify the specific research gap addressed by the study.

Theoretical or Conceptual Framework

Within the Literature Review and Research Gap section, students should identify and explain the theoretical, conceptual or analytical foundation that will guide the proposed research.

Where relevant, students should:

identify the principal theory, theories, models or conceptual frameworks underpinning the study;
explain how these relate to the identified research problem and gap;
define and explain the principal concepts, constructs or variables;
describe expected relationships between relevant concepts or variables;
critically justify why the selected theoretical or conceptual framework is appropriate;
explain how the framework informs the research questions, objectives and methodology; and
present a conceptual model or framework diagram where appropriate.

For research where a conventional theoretical framework is not suitable, such as some applied, technical, computational or design-based studies, students should provide an appropriate conceptual, analytical or technical framework explaining how the major elements of the proposed study relate to one another.

The final part of the literature review should clearly explain:
what is already known;
what remains unresolved or insufficiently investigated;
why this gap is significant; and
how the proposed research will address the identified gap.

Students should continue to draw primarily on high-quality peer-reviewed academic sources, supplemented where appropriate by credible government, professional, industry or technical sources. Assessment 2 already requires students to build on the body of literature established in Assessment 1 and incorporate additional sources as required. This needs to be further extended and developed in Assessment 3.

3. Research Aim, Questions and Objectives

Research Aim

Clearly state the overall aim of the proposed research. The aim should concisely explain what the study intends to achieve.

Research Questions

Present clear, focused and researchable questions derived directly from the research problem, literature review and identified research gap. Students should include a maximum of three research questions.

The research questions should:

be specific and researchable;
align with the identified research problem and gap;
be supported by the literature and theoretical/conceptual framework;
be answerable through the proposed methodology; and
provide the basis for the research objectives and subsequent analysis.

Research Objectives

Present specific research objectives that clearly identify what will be undertaken to achieve the research aim and answer the research questions.

Objectives should:
align directly with the research questions;
be specific, clear and achievable;
reflect the intended scope of the study;
indicate what will be analysed, examined, evaluated, compared, developed or tested; and
provide a clear foundation for the proposed methodology.

Hypotheses or Propositions, where applicable

Where appropriate, students should formulate hypotheses or propositions derived from the literature and theoretical/conceptual framework. Hypotheses may be appropriate for quantitative, experimental or explanatory research, while propositions may be appropriate for some qualitative or conceptual studies. They should not be included where they are not appropriate to the research design.

4. Research Design and Proposed Methodology

This section should provide a detailed and well-justified methodological plan that is sufficiently developed for implementation in the subsequent research project units.

Research Approach and Design

Explain and justify, where relevant:
whether the study will adopt a quantitative, qualitative or mixed-methods approach;
the proposed research design, such as experimental, case study, observational, design-based, simulation-based, secondary-data or another appropriate design;
whether the study will use primary data, secondary data or a combination of both;
the relevant research philosophy, epistemological or ontological position where appropriate; and
why the selected approach and design are suitable for answering the research questions.

Population, Sample, Participants, System or Dataset

Clearly specify, where relevant:
the target population;
the proposed sample;
the sampling strategy and sample-selection criteria;
participants or organisations;
industry or geographical context;
system, technology or application environment;
dataset and unit of analysis; and
inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Data Sources and Data Collection

Explain:
the proposed source(s) of data;
how data will be obtained;
data-collection procedures;
proposed surveys, interviews, focus groups, observations, experiments, simulations or other instruments;
publicly available, proprietary or organisational datasets;
technical or computational data-generation processes, where relevant; and
permissions or access requirements.

Where primary data collection is proposed, students should provide a draft research instrument or protocol in an appendix, where practicable.

Data Analysis

Clearly specify and justify the proposed analytical techniques. Depending on the research topic, these may include:
descriptive or inferential statistical analysis;
financial or econometric analysis;
regression or structural modelling;
qualitative or thematic analysis;
content analysis;
machine-learning or computational modelling;
experiments and simulations;
algorithm or software evaluation;
prototype or system testing;
performance, usability or security evaluation; or
other appropriate analytical methods.

Students should identify relevant software, programming languages, platforms, statistical packages, models or analytical tools where appropriate.

Research Quality

Explain how the quality and robustness of the proposed research will be addressed through relevant concepts such as:
reliability;
validity;
credibility;
dependability;
transferability;
data quality;
robustness;
reproducibility;
model validation;
system performance; or
other appropriate quality criteria.

The methodology must demonstrate clear alignment between the research gap, research questions, objectives, theoretical or conceptual framework, data and proposed analysis.

Students are not expected to undertake the proposed data collection or analysis as part of MR601. The purpose of Assessment 3 is to present a sufficiently detailed and justified plan for conducting the research in the subsequent research project units.

5. Research Requirements, Ethics and Feasibility

Research Requirements

Identify and justify the major resources required to undertake the research, including where applicable:

access to participants, organisations or industries;
access to datasets, databases or systems;
research instruments;
software, hardware or analytical platforms;
programming environments;
specialist equipment or computing resources;
permissions, licences or approvals; and
other resources required to complete the study.

Briefly explain and justify why each major requirement is needed.

Ethical Considerations

Identify any ethical issues associated with the proposed research, including where relevant:

informed consent;
voluntary participation;
confidentiality and anonymity;
privacy and data protection;
secure data storage;
use of organisational, personal, or sensitive information;
cybersecurity or responsible use of technology;
potential harm or risk to participants; and
responsible collection, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of data.

Students should indicate whether the proposed study is likely to require ethics approval. Research involving human participants will normally require an appropriate ethics application. Where ethics approval is unlikely to be required, students should briefly explain why.

Feasibility and Limitations

Explain whether the proposed research can reasonably be completed within the available timeframe and resources.

Identify:

access to data or participants;
practical or organisational constraints;
methodological limitations;
technical limitations;
resource constraints;
time constraints;
potential research risks;
delimitations or boundaries of the study; and
strategies for managing significant limitations or risks.

6. Relevance and Expected Contribution of the Study

Explain clearly what the research is expected to contribute and why the study is worth undertaking.

Students should distinguish, where appropriate, between:

Academic contribution, such as:
addressing an identified theoretical or empirical gap;
extending, refining or testing theory;
providing new empirical evidence;
developing or evaluating models, frameworks or methods; or
contributing new knowledge or understanding.

Practical contribution, such as:
informing managerial or professional decision-making;
improving strategies, practices or operations;
improving financial, organisational or technical performance;
supporting policy or professional practice;
supporting technological innovation;
improving systems, processes, security or efficiency; or
addressing an identified real-world problem.

The expected contribution must be realistic, clearly connected to the research questions and proposed methodology, and supported by the literature reviewed.

7. Proposed Research Timeline

Provide a detailed and realistic timeline showing the major stages of the proposed research. The timeline should preferably be presented as a Gantt chart and should include, where relevant:

further literature review;
refinement of research instruments or technical specifications;
ethics application and approval;
data collection or acquisition;
data preparation and analysis;
development, testing, or evaluation activities;
interpretation of findings;
thesis drafting and revision;
final submission.

The timeline should demonstrate that the proposed research is appropriately sequenced, realistic and feasible for completion during the subsequent research project stages.

8. Conclusion

Provide a concise conclusion that:
restates the research problem and research gap;
summarises the research aim and questions;
summarises the proposed theoretical or conceptual foundation and methodology;
reinforces the expected academic and practical contribution; and
confirms the proposed direction of the research as it progresses into the subsequent research project unit.

The conclusion should not introduce new literature, arguments or methodological elements.

Recommended Report Structure

To assist students in organising their report, the following structure is recommended:

Introduction and Problem Domain
Literature Review and Research Gap
Research Aim, Questions and Objectives
Research Design and Proposed Methodology
Research Requirements, Ethics and Feasibility
Relevance and Expected Contribution of the Study
Proposed Research Timeline
Conclusion
Reference List
Appendices, if applicable

Students may use additional headings and subheadings where appropriate to improve the organisation and flow of the report. In particular, the Theoretical or Conceptual Framework may be presented as a subsection within the Literature Review and Research Gap, and Hypotheses or Propositions may be included within the Research Aim, Questions and Objectives section where appropriate.

Reference sources must be cited in the text of the report and listed appropriately at the end in a reference list using APA 7th edition (School of Business) or IEEE (School of IT and Engineering) referencing style.