BUILDING A DISSERTATION/RESEARCH PROPOSAL

BUILDING A DISSERTATION/RESEARCH PROPOSAL

STEPS IN BUILDING A DISSERTATION/RESEARCH PROPOSAL

(Source: Instructor resources for Creswell & Creswell, Research Design, 2018)

Contents

Chapter 1: The Selection of a Research Approach. 2

Chapter 2: Review of the Literature. 3

Chapter 3: The Use of Theory. 4

Chapter 4: Writing Strategies and Ethical Considerations. 5

Chapter 5: The Introduction. 6

Chapter 6: The Purpose Statement 7

Chapter 7: Research Questions and Hypotheses. 9

Chapter 8: Quantitative Methods. 11

Chapter 9: Qualitative Methods. 13

Chapter 10: Mixed Methods Procedures. 16

 

 

Chapter 1: The Selection of a Research Approach

Select a topic that you would like to study. Note how you might address each of the following components in the design of a proposed study about your selected topic.

 

What is your topic?

 

What would you like to learn about this topic?

(These are preliminary/draft/generic research questions.)

 

Which worldview will you bring to the study?

(These are the assumptions about ontology, epistemology, generalizability of knowledge, what is knowledge for, and theoretical perspectives/traditions of inquiry)

 

What are the implications of this worldview for your study?

(Does your worldview require/lead to quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods?)

 

 

What is the general methodological approach you are likely to employ under the quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods approach? (Remember the following general methodological approaches: experimental research, ethnography, survey research, phenomenological research, grounded theory, action research, discourse analysis, and feminist research (re-visioning). Yours may be different from these.

 

 

Chapter 2: Review of the Literature

 

What is your topic?

Working title for your project?

 

What central question do you want to answer? What are the secondary questions (sub-questions) do you want to answer?

(Remember the preliminary question(s) you formulated in chapter 1. Revise and refine them. You will need to further refine them later in the course.)

 

What keywords will you use to search the literature based on your topic and title?

 

What is your strategy in your literature search: database to search, keywords, priority in selecting a literature)? How would you summarize (map or tabulate) your literature search results?

 

Based on the type of approach (qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods), what will the role of the literature be in the study? (remember Table 2.1 in Creswell & Creswell.)

 

 

 

Chapter 3: The Use of Theory

 

What is your topic? What is you title?

 

What is the central question do you want to answer? What are the secondary questions (sub-questions) do you want to answer?

 

What is your theoretical lens? This may be one of the policy process theories (PADM 573), a public administration theory (e.g., public service motivation), or another theory (supply side economics, principal-agent theory, etc.).

 

What is your theoretical model: independent variables, dependent variables, and control or intervening variables? (This is important particularly if your study is quantitative, but it can be useful even if your study is qualitative or mixed methods.)

 

How does this theory help you answer your research questions? Is there are logical fit between your theory and research question?

 

Foes this theory fit into the worldview you identified before?

 

Does this theory have a good fit with your 

general methodological approach (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods)?

Does it have a good fit with the methodological approach you are likely to employ: experimental research, ethnography, survey research,                                                                         phenomenological research,                                                      grounded theory,  action research,                                                                                    discourse analysis, and feminist research (re-visioning), etc.?

 

How will you use the theory in your study: deductively, inductively, or both? How does this approach fit your methodological approach (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods)?

 

Where would you place the theory in your study (beginning, end)? This depends on your use of theory (deductive or inductive) and your general methodological approach (quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods). See the Creswell and Creswell book for details.  

 

Chapter 4: Writing Strategies and Ethical Considerations

See the discussions in the book and course slides before you answer the following.

 

Study topic

Describe the ethical issue

How the issue might be addressed?

Ethical issue 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ethical issue 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ethical issue 3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 5: The Introduction

Depending on the approach you take (quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods), your introductions may be written differently, but there are some common elements too, as you will remember from the textbook and course slides. Apply what you have learned from the book in the following.

 

Study topic

 

State the research problem

 

Review studies that have addressed the problem (literature review): You do not need to be elaborate in this box yet. You may list a sample of the sources and present them in thematic groups.

 

Indicate deficiencies in the studies (if this is your approach in the literature review).

 

What is the significance of the study for particular audiences (academic, practitioner)?

 

State the purpose statement in simple terms. (A more elaborate version can be written after the next chapter.)

 

 

 

Chapter 6: The Purpose Statement

This time, your purpose statement should be more specific and elaborate.

If the study is qualitative or mixed methods

Qualitative strategy of inquiry

 

Action verb

 

Central phenomenon

 

Participants

 

Research site

 

Working definition of the central phenomenon

 

 

If the study is quantitative or mixed methods

Quantitative strategy of inquiry

 

Theory being tested

 

Independent variable(s)

 

Dependent variable(s)

 

Control variable(s)

 

 

If the study is mixed methods

Mixed methods design

 

Reasons for combining both types of data

 

Type of quantitative data collection

 

Type of qualitative data collection

 

 

 

Using the scripts from the textbook, write a purpose statement for your study:

 

Chapter 7: Research Questions and Hypotheses

Research questions are crucial in all empirical forms of research. Fill in the following boxes after reading the textbook and the course slides.

 

If the study is qualitative:

Qualitative strategy of inquiry

 

Central phenomenon

 

Participants

 

Research site

 

 

Using one of the scripts from the textbook, write a central question for your study:

 

 

 

 

 

If the study is quantitative:

Independent variable(s)

 

Dependent variable(s)

 

Control variable(s)

 

 

Write a descriptive research question for a dependent variable:

 

 

 

Using the scripts from the textbook, write an inferential research question to compare groups or related variables.

 

Using the examples from the textbook and the document “Hypothesis Formulation Guidelines and Examples,” formulate your hypotheses here.

If the study is mixed methods:

Mixed methods design

 

Mixing procedures that you will use (e.g., use qualitative data to explain initial quantitative results or compare and contrast qualitative results with the quantitative results)

 

 

Overall content goal of the study

 

 

Based on your mixed methods design, will you list your quantitative or qualitative questions first? Explain.

 

 

Write a mixed methods research question that conveys the content goal of the study:

 

 

Write a mixed methods research question that conveys the procedures for mixing within the study.

 

For the quantitative part of your study, using the examples from the textbook and the document “Hypothesis Formulation Guidelines and Examples,” formulate your hypotheses. 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 8: Quantitative Methods

Remember the topic you decided to study on chapter 1. Note how you might address the elements of the quantitative methods for a proposed study about your selected topic.

 

If the study is a survey

Research topic

 

The survey design

 

Purpose of the survey

 

Survey type

 

The population and sample

 

The population

 

Sampling design and selection process

 

Sampling frame

 

Instrumentation

 

Survey instrument

 

Sample item

 

Variables in the study

 

Data analysis and interpretation

 

Expected response rate

 

Concerns about response bias

 

Example of descriptive analyses

 

Example of inferential analyses

 

 

If the study is an experiment

Research topic

 

Participants

 

Sampling

 

Assignment to groups

 

Sample size

 

Variables

 

Treatment variable

 

Other independent variables

 

Dependent variables

 

Instrumentation and materials

 

Instruments

 

Materials for the treatment

 

Experimental procedure

 

Type of design

 

Threats to validity

 

Expected threats to internal validity

 

Expected threats to external validity

 

 

 

Chapter 9: Qualitative Methods

Remember the topic you decided to study on chapter 1. Note how you might address some of the elements of the qualitative procedures for a proposed study about your selected topic.

 

Research topic

 

Central phenomenon

 

The strategy of inquiry

 

Which strategy?

 

Why is it appropriate?

 

Data collection

 

Who will your participants be?

 

How will you select participants?

 

 

Assume that you plan to conduct interviews as part of your project. Develop an interview protocol using the provided template by writing in your open-ended interview questions.

Once your interview protocol is prepared, practice conducting a mock interview with one of your classmates. Be sure to tell your classmate what participant characteristics you want him or her to role play.

Interview Protocol Template

I. Information about the interview:

 

Interviewee:                                                                Interviewer:                                                   

 

Date:                                       Time:                                      Place:                                                

 

II. Consent and introduction

• Introduce yourself.
• Review the study’s purpose, how long you expect the interview to take, and your plans for using the results from the interview. 
• Note that the interview will be audio recorded and that you will keep their identity confidential.

 

III. Ice breaker question

 

1.

 

 

 

IV. Interview questions

1.

 

 

2.

 

 

 

3.

 

 

 

4.

 

 

 

5.

 

 

 

6. What else would you like to tell me about?

 

V. Wrap up and thank participant

• Thank you very much for your time today. I appreciated hearing your insights on this topic.

 

 

Chapter 10: Mixed Methods Procedures

Remember the topic you decided to study on chapter 1. Decide what core mixed methods design best fits the study. Use the appropriate template to draw a diagram of procedures for a proposed study about your selected topic. Use appropriate notation (e.g., QUAL, quan) in the figure boxes.

 

Template for an Explanatory or Exploratory Sequential Mixed Methods Study

 

 

First phase

Data collection

 

 

Describe the data collection procedures.

¯

 

 

Data analysis and results

 

 

Describe the data analysis procedures.

¯

 

 

CONNECT the phases

 

 

Describe how the strands will be connected.

¯

 

Second phase

Data collection

 

 

Describe the data collection procedures.

¯

 

 

Data analysis and results

 

 

Describe the data analysis procedures.

¯

 

 

Overall mixed methods interpretation

 

 

Describe how the results will be reported and interpreted.

Template for a Convergent Mixed Methods Study

 

Quantitative strand

 

 

 

 

 

Qualitative strand

Describe the data collection procedures.

 

 

 

Data collection

 

 

 

 

Data collection

 

 

Describe the data collection procedures.

 

 

¯

 

¯

 

 

Describe the data analysis procedures.

 

 

 

Data analysis and results

 

 

 

 

Data analysis and results

 

 

 

Describe the data analysis procedures.

 

 

æ

 

Ã¥

 

 

Describe how the strands will be integrated.

 

 

 

INTEGRATE the strands

 

 

Describe how the strands will be integrated.

 

 

 

¯

 

 

 

Describe how the results will be reported and interpreted.

 

 

 

Overall mixed methods interpretation

 

 

Describe how the results will be reported and interpreted.