Assignment skills: Research Proposals

A research proposal is a document that explains a piece of research that you want to do, including what you are trying to prove or find out, how you are going to do it, and what methods you are doing to do. 

• Start by defining your project 
• Decide on the methodology you will use 
• Choose your research methods 
• Conduct background reading/research 
• Write your proposal

Reference:  Dawson, C., 2006, A Practical Guide to Research Methods:A user-friendly manual for mastering research techniques and projects, 2nd ed. How to Books Ltd, Oxford

Qualitative Research is a technique used to uncover emotions and motivations rather than to look at purely numeric data. This type of research involves techniques including surveys, interviews, observations, focus groups, and case studies. 

Quantitative Research is used to generate statistics through large scale data collection. The contact with people is quick, and usually involves the completion of the questionnaire or a short interview. 

Reference:  Dawson, C. 2006. A Practical Guide to Research Methods: A user-friendly manual for mastering research techniques and projects, 2nd ed., How to Books Ltd, Oxford