BMPM5005 Faculty of Business and Law Research Proposal Assignment De Montfort University

Assessment Information 

Produce a 2000 word +/- 10% research proposal outlining a piece of research you plan to conduct for your dissertation. 

A research proposal is an "action plan" for your proposed piece of research. It is a concise and coherent summary of your proposed research. It sets out the central issues or questions that you intend to address in a study, and demonstrates the originality of your proposed research. It outlines the research topic you are interested in, referring to the current state of knowledge and any recent debates on the topic, and describes how you intend to carry out your research. This proposal is a preparatory document for your dissertation module.

Further Section Details

Your proposal should be 2000 words +/-10%. The title, abstract, reference list and research timetable/schedule and AI use statement are not included in the word count but in-text citations are. Include front cover page with tutor’s name on and No appendices should be included.

1). Front Cover 

2). Title 

Is your title focused, e.g. in terms of a specific area, literature, timespan?
Does your title point your study at specific bodies of academic literature that already exist – e.g. consumer behaviour, strategy, digital consumerism, tourism development, financial derivatives etc? 

3). Abstract 

Remember – an abstract is not an introduction.
Does your abstract provide a self-contained overview of your entire proposed work? 

4). Introduction/Background statement 

The introduction sets the context for your proposed research study and should aim to capture the reader’s interest. It introduces the topic and presents an overview of why the topic is interesting, relevant and worth exploring. 

Does your introduction open ‘a window’ on your work? Does it ‘set the scene’? 
Does it start with a broad statement…. And lead to the focal problem/ research question?
Think about the role of an introduction… does it entice, stimulate interest, inform? 

What literatures you are planning to use?
Are there terms or concepts that need defining? This is where you might include them.

5). Aims and objectives OR research question(s)

You may state research aims and objectives, or research questions. 

What is your overarching research question? 
Do your aims connect to your objectives?
Remember – one or two aims only – ideally one for clarity.
Remember – 3  objectives only – ideally up to three objectives; you do not want too many avenues to pursue. Ensure focused. What is it your research intends to Examine, to identify or to understand.  The relationships to be tested.
Do your aims and objectives relate to your research proposal title?

6). Literature Review

The literature review develops broad ideas of what is already known in a field, and what questions are still unanswered.  It will highlight any theories/frameworks/models that may exist to support developing hypotheses and can help narrow the problem for investigation.  This process also helps you to be sure that your investigation is not just “reinventing the wheel.”  A discussion of the present understanding and/or state of knowledge concerning the problem or issue sets the context for your investigation. 

Are you clear what you understand by ‘a literature’?
In relation to which specific ‘literatures’ or subject/topic areas is your work positioned?
Does your work use one or a number of academic literatures?
Does your work fall between literatures? … (Must draw on a number of literatures in order to make sense of your chosen area?)
Is there apparently no literature on your chosen topic? …perhaps rephrase/rethink your topic?
Does what you have written link/relate to your Title, research questions and aims and objectives? Is there something you have under-worked or overlooked?
If there are theoretical frameworks/models related to the topic and literature have you identified and referenced them?
Is academic and empirical research correctly referenced using cite them right Harvard?

7). Approach – Research Methodology

The Research Methodology section should contain the following sub-headings:

• Research approach
• Research design and strategy
• Approach to data collection 
• How you plan to analyse the data

A research proposal’s methodology outlines the strategy for conducting an investigation in order to answer a research question.  In this section you will briefly review different approaches, designs, procedures, and methods for investigating your area of research.  You will describe your research design and the specific tools that will be used to help you to meet your research goals.  Regardless of research design and choice of research methods chosen, it should be realistic and feasible, and be formulated with time and resource constraints in mind. 

Should be clear what your overall methodology is
Be clear inductive or deductive approach 
Should briefly discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your chosen method 
Should be clear the types of data you intend to collect/use and why - quantitative and/or qualitative data
Research Strategy chosen must be clear and justified
Be clear why you have chosen a particular research strategy. 
Be clear how you intend to collect data 
Data collection should be appropriate for the research objectives, the research design and the research strategy
Approach, tools/techniques relevant to analysing the data you intend to collect
You must reference using cite them right Harvard data analysis tools and techniques
Referencing is required throughout this section in order to support and justify you research design, research strategy and plan for analysis

8). Ethical issues and considerations 

Outline what are the ethical issues that arise with your proposal in relation to you, your respondents and others? What measures will you take to deal with them? Have you identified an appropriate code of ethics that you will adhere to? Reference DMU Code of Ethics and maybe one other research methodology ethics reference. If unsure you may use ethics screening form to identify if you will need to obtain ethics approval. Note: Ethics approval should NOT be applied for until discussed with your supervisor. If planning to collect empirical/primary data then a Worktribe ethics application should be mentioned.

9). Expected Contribution

Suggested gap in the literature the research may contribute to. You may also consider The project management implications of your proposed research? Why would project businesses/ managers find your research interesting/ worthwhile? Are there any limits with regards to your proposed instruments, sample, time and resource constraints?
Are there any issues with regards to access that you need to consider/ acknowledge? 

10). Research timetable/schedule

You should provide a realistic timetable/ schedule outlining all the key stages in the dissertation process and the time you would allocate to each task. This can be presented in the form of a Gantt chart.

Have you identified all the key tasks that you will need to undertake in your dissertation?
Is a realistic amount of time allocated to each phase of your work? 
To what extent will various stages of the work overlap with each other?

11). References & Writing Style

A reference list should be provided at the end of your proposal and should include all the material cited in the main text. It should be presented using the Harvard System of referencing. Cite them right – see DMU Library Referencing pages.
You must follow the structure for the research proposal.

12). AI USE Statement (Not included in word count)

Do see later section of this brief for templates to use for your statement.  

This assignment is designed to assess the following learning outcomes: 

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the main methodological approaches relevant to business and management research
2. Identify a suitable research topic and appropriate (focused) objectives aligned with their programme of study