Research Methodology Workshop

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• Research Methodology Workshop 1
• Introduction to Writing Research Proposal
• by Binam Ghimire

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Learning Objectives

• Understand research proposal
• Basic skills for generating research ideas,
  title, aim, research questions and research
  objectives
• Convert an area of research into a research title
• Be familiar with the contents of a research
  proposal
• Prepare Gantt Chart using Microsoft Project/
  Excel

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Welcome

• Venue/ Timetable

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Dates

• Room No
• Four sessions of . hrs each (total . hours)

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Submission

• Email

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Proposal

• This is part of Alices conversation with the
  Cheshire Cat. In this Alice asks the cat
  (Carroll, 198963-4)
• Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to
  walk from here?
• That depends a good deal on where you want to
  get to, said the Cat.
• I dont much care where, said Alice.
• Then it doesnt matter which way you walk, said
  the Cat. (Saunders et al, 2003)

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Proposal What is it?
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The Proposal is

• A brief document!
• The first stage of your dissertation
• Requires some reading and thought but NOT
  intended to be a stumbling block
• Ensures you start with a realistic and feasible
  dissertation topic
• Helps you plan your work and visualise what your
  research project will look like
• A work in progress your plans will probably
  evolve as you work on your dissertation

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The Proposal is

• Good when it is a work

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Proposal

• An investigation into the causes of the global
  financial crisis and the sub-prime crisis and the
  after-effects

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Proposal

• Above was an example of what is not doable

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Proposal Headings

• Title
• Background
• Industry Background
• Research aim, research questions or hypotheses
  and objectives
• Research Methodology
• Timescale
• Resources
• References

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Title
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Title

• Areas of interest
• Title/ Topic same here
• What do you think this book is about? War and
  Peace

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Title

• MINIER, J. 2009. Opening a Stock Exchange.
  Journal of , 90, 1, 135-143.
• What do you think the above article is about?

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Title

• A large body of theoretical and empirical
  literature has established a positive
  relationship between levels of stock market
  development and economic growth. However,
  previous empirical work has been based on samples
  of approximately 40 countries with the most
  highly developed financial systems. Since 1950,
  over 70 countries have opened their first
  national stock exchanges. Can such exchanges
  increase economic growth? I present a data set of
  my construction that describes the exchange
  openings that occurred between 1960 and 1998, and
  find that these exchanges have generated
  increases in growth during their first 5 years of
  existence, although the longer-term results are
  ambiguous.

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Title

• Corporate Social Responsibility at
  Tescos/BP/Shell etc.
• A Case Study of BPs Oil Crisis in 2010
• An examination of the use of Facebook in
  marketing campaigns for teenage clothes
• The Causes of the Global Banking Crisis
• Delivering the 2012 Olympics on Time and in
  Budget
• A study of stock market performance or A study of
  employee performance

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Title

• Topic An empirical study on Capital Structure
  and Profitability Relationship and its Impact on
  the Value of Firm
• What do you think about the above?

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Title
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Title

• Feedback on title Title could be worded better

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Title

• A similar work in a journal
• The Research on the effects of Capital Structure
  on Firm Performance and Evidence from the
  Non-Financial Industry of Taiwan 50 and Taiwan
  Mid-Cap 100 from 1987 to 2007

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Title

• Redefining the title
• An empirical study on Capital Structure and
  Profitability Relationship and its Impact on the
  Value of Firm Evidence from large non-finance
  companies listed in FTSE 100

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Title

• Flying High? The evolution of British Airways
  corporate strategy 2000-2010
• Shopping Around Credit Card Switching Behaviour
  in the UK 2000-2010
• Supply Chain Management in the UK Clothing
  Business Next Plcs future strategy
• Also note the use of ?,

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Title

• Budgeting and Budgetary Control System as a
  Management Control Tool A case study of footwear
  retail sector of Pakistan
• A Critical Evaluation of Budgeting as a Tool for
  Management control A case study of footwear
  retail sector of Pakistan

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Title

• The Implementation of Principles of Sound
  Corporate Governance in Emerging countries
• An investigation into the nature of corporate
  governance and its affect to major stakeholders
  with reference to companies in UAE. 
• An investigation into the nature of corporate
  governance and its relationship to firm
  performance with reference to 50 listed companies
  in UAE

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Title

• MYERS, S. C. (1984) The capital structure puzzle.
  Journal of Finance, 39, 34, 575 - 592.
• What do you think the above article is about?

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Title

• Attributes of a good dissertation title/topic

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Title

• Need for research
• Amenable to research methods
• Achievable in a reasonable time
• Symmetry of potential outcomes
• The research topic should match both your
  interests and capabilities
• Area for professional development
• Contribution to knowledge
• Attractive for funding

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Title

• Key words may be useful a critical
  evaluation, a case study, a longitudinal
  study

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Title

• Should be explanatory, short and snappy
• colons are useful
• look at book or journal article titles for ideas
• Born to buy the commercialised child and the
  new consumer culture by Juliet Schor (2004)

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Title

• Finance, Firm Size, and Growth
• Finance, Inequality and the Poor
• Stock Markets, Banks, and Economic Growth

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Title

• Financial Intermediation and Growth Causality
  and Causes
• Internal Finance and Growth Microeconometric
  Evidence on Chinese Firms.
• Financial Development and Economic Growth
  International Evidence
• Modern Economic Growth Rate, Structure and
  Spread
• Bank-Based or Market-Based Financial Systems
  Which is Better?
• Productivity Growth, Convergence, and Welfare
  What the Long-Run Data Show
• Stock Markets, Banks, and Growth Panel Evidence

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Title

• Topic is not too topical, but has been explored
• Not set in stone it may change as the research
  progresses
• Remember a subject area (or a couple of key
  words) is not a topic!
• Related to your course

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Background

• Need for research
• Background section Review of Literature (no more
  than 2000 words)

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Background

• Why is research that you are planning worth the
  effort?
• Use of academic journals
• Identify your area of research
• Demonstrate your knowledge of the relevant
  literature
• Clarify where your proposal fits into the debate
  in the literature
• Identify gaps in existing literature
• Show a clear link between the previous work that
  has been done in your field of research interest
  and the content of your proposal etc
• Identify relevant academic theory, models,
  frameworks and concepts.

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Background

• This also requires knowledge on how to review the
  literature
• The section on Review of literature will be
  explained separately

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Industry Background

• No more than 250 words

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Industry Background

• Place the research into context
• This should clarify further why the research is
  being done, under what conditions it is being
  done and what its impact is hoped to be

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Research aim, research questions or hypotheses
and objectives

• What does this research aim to explore/find out?
• Hypotheses
• Objectives
• Research questions

1, 2, 3 4, 1-2
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Research aim, research questions or hypotheses
and objectives

• Research Ideas Title Aim Hypotheses
  Questions Objectives
• Visit and refine as needed

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Research Ideas

• Generating Research Ideas (Saunders et al, 2007)
• Examining own strengths and interests
• Looking at past project titles
• Discussion
• Searching the literature
• Keeping a notebook of ideas
• Exploring personal preferences using projects
• Relevance trees
• Brainstorming

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Turning Research Ideas into Research Projects

• Writing Research Questions
• Writing Research Objectives

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Research Questions
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Research Questions

• Writing Research Questions

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Research Questions

• One or a maximum of two general focus research
  question
• The question(s) may lead to several more detailed
  questions (or the definition of research
  objectives)

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Research Questions

• Beware of questions that are too easy to answer
  and avoid the difficult ones (Saunders, 2007)

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Research Questions

• What is the proportion of graduates entering the
  civil service who attended the old established UK
  universities?

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Research Questions

• Why are graduates from old-established UK
  universities more likely to enter the civil
  service than graduates from other universities

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Research Questions

• Saunders et al (2007)
• Unofficial processes that go on at staff
  selection which may favour one type of candidate
  over another.
• Over-reaching yourself in the definition of
  research questions is a danger

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Research Questions

• Clough and Nutbrown (2002) Goldilocks test
• Too big
• Too small
• Too hot

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Research Questions

• Clough and Nutbrown (2002) Goldilocks test
• Just right

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Research Questions

• Match Too big, too small, too hot, just the
  right
• with the followings
• insufficient, sensitivities that may be aroused
  as a result of doing the research, investigation
  at this time by this researcher and in this
  setting, funding problem

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Research Questions

• Research idea into research questions

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Research QuestionsResearch Idea Research
Question

• Research idea
• Volatility in stock market

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Research QuestionsResearch Idea Research
Question

• Research Question
• Why does stock market volatility change over
  time? (Schwert, 1989)

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Research QuestionsResearch Idea Research
Question

• Research idea
• Developed countries developed stock market and
  developed intermediaries

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Research QuestionsResearch Idea Research
Question

• Research Question
• Do countries with well-developed stock markets
  also have well-developed banks and nonbank
  financial intermediaries? (Kunt and Levine, 1996)

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Research QuestionsResearch Idea Research
Question

• Turn the following research ideas into research
  questions
• Advertising and share prices
• Job recruitment via the internet
• The use of aroma as a marketing device
• The use of internet banking
• The use of mobile banking

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Research QuestionsResearch Idea Research
Question

• Advertising and share prices
• How does the running of a TV advertising campaign
  designed to boost the image of a company affect
  its share price?

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Research QuestionsResearch Idea Research
Question

• Job recruitment via the internet
• How effective is recruiting for new staff via the
  internet in comparison with traditional methods

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Research QuestionsResearch Idea Research
Question

• The use of aromas as a marketing device
• In what ways does the use of specific aromas in
  supermarkets affect buyer behaviour?

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Research QuestionsResearch Idea Research
Question

• The use of internet banking
• What is the affect of internet banking into the
  uses customers had on branch facilities
• What is the affect of growth of internet banking
  into the uses customers had on branch facilities

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Research QuestionsResearch Idea Research
Question

• The use of mobile banking
• What is the affect of consumers knowledge about
  mobile banking into the uses customers had on
  branch facilities
• How does the consumers knowledge about mobile
  banking affect its adoption in XXX?

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Research Objectives
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Research Objectives

• Greater specificity than research questions

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Research ObjectivesQuestion Objective

• Example
• Why have organisations introduced team briefing?
• To identify organisations objectives for team
  briefing schemes

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Research ObjectivesQuestion Objective

• Example
• How can the effectiveness of team briefing
  schemes be measured
• To establish suitable effectiveness criteria for
  team briefing schemes

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Research ObjectivesQuestion Objective

• Example
• Has team briefing been effective?
• To describe the extent to which the effectiveness
  criteria for team briefing have been met

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Research ObjectivesQuestion Objective

• Objectives are good when they pass the SMART Test
• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Timely

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Research Methodology
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Research Methodology

• Longest after Literature Review, but more than
  1500 words
• This section will detail how you intend to go
  about achieving your research objectives
• It will explain your choice of research
  philosophy (inductive /deductive)
• It will also justify your choice of method in the
  light of the research objectives
• It will also detail which sectors of the market
  you have chosen to research and why you chose
  these sectors
• It will explain how you will ensure validity and
  reliability
• Discuss the appropriateness of triangulation to
  your research

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Research Methodology

• Include an explanation of the general way in
  which you intend to carry out the research.
• Will it be based, for example, on questionnaires,
  interviews, examination of secondary data or use
  of a combination of data collection techniques?
• Explain why you have chosen your approach?

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Research Methodology

• If you are using a survey strategy you should
  specify your population and sample size
• You should also clarify how the survey instrument
  such as questionnaire will be distributed and how
  the data will be analysed
• If you are using interviews you would explain how
  many interviews will be conducted, their intended
  duration, whether they will be audio-recorded and
  how they will be analysed
• But it is not necessary to include precise detail
  of the method you will employ, for example the
  questionnarie questions.
• Include how you are going to adhere to any
  ethical guidelines (medical patients and children)

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Research Methodology

• This requires knowledge various methodologies
• It will not be in the scope of this RM sessions
• However few more common methodologies will be
  explained separately

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Timescale

• This section needs to be very detailed and
  realistic
• You must produce a detailed schedule that
  illustrates weekly activities and allows time for
  unexpected delays.
• A GANTT Chart might help!!
• See separate file on how to make Gantt chart
  using Microsoft Project

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Resources

• What resources do you need
• Will you be able to access the data that you need
  to conduct your research?
• Do you have the required skills to perform the
  analysis
• Limitations

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References

• How many?
• Style?

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Writing Proposal Best suggestion
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Sample

• Binams brief proposal
• Student work 1
• Student work 2

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Activity

• 1. Write down a list of topics associated with
  your Masters Degree that interest you enough for
  you to focus on
• 2. Once you have located your area of interest
  narrow it down to a central question that you
  would like to find the answer to or problem that
  you would like to find the solution to
• 3. Now write these down as a series of
  questions that you can try to answer during your
  research
• 4. Now try to work out what kinds of
  methodology you could use to do this

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Report your conclusions to your group members
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What am I expected

• ?

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What am I expected?

• Identification of a field of study
• Formulation of research questions
• Problem solving
• Data collection and analysis
• Inference (assumption, conclusion, conjecture,
  consequences, deduction, etc.)
• Proof (confirmation, substantiate)
• Dissemination (broadcasting, publication),and
• Communication.

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Thank you

• ?