Writing your research proposal

Author(s):  
William Eardley

In many ways it’s a reflection of yourself as a researcher and an insight into your proposed work. A poorly written proposal has the ability to wreck a project and embarrass the researcher before it has even begun. Similarly, a well-constructed proposal bodes well for the success of the project and displays the researcher in a good light amongst their peers and supervisors. The research proposal identifies: • What the topic is, both in terms of background and the individual area of interest. • What you plan to accomplish and why it needs doing. • What in particular you are trying to find out, i.e. the research question. • How you will get the answer to your question, i.e. your methodology. • What others will learn from it and why it is worth learning. • How long it will take. • How much money it will cost. Through your research proposal you are attempting to convince potential supporters that your project is worth doing, you are scientifically competent to run it, and are in possession of the necessary management skills to ensure its completion. The proposal concisely describes the key elements of the study process, although in sufficient depth to permit evaluation. It is a stand-alone document that must contain evidence of an answerable question, demonstrate your grasp of the literature, and also clearly show that your methodology is sound. A research time-table is required to demonstrate a realistic appreciation of how the study will progress through time. The research proposal serves many purposes to many different parties. Amongst these purposes, some of the key ones are: • Acting as a route map and timetable for all involved in your project. • Giving a clear overview of your planned work to ensure favourable decision at ethical review. • Gaining funding to carry out your proposed study. • Securing a place to undertake a higher scientific degree. • Being an opportunity to ‘blow your own trumpet’ on paper. Although there are several bodies who will be obliged to see your proposal, there is a reasonable chance it will end up being wider read than this, so a coherent piece of work will reflect well on you.

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-174
Author(s):  
A.M. Usenova ◽  
◽  
M.M Knissarina ◽  

The article attempts to define a set of methods and means for the development of creativity as a fundamental component of the management skills of students. Analysis of literature, products of creative activity of students, results of questionnaire survey confirm the relevance of development of creativity in the structure of managerial skills of HEI students. The pedagogical experience of teachers of psychologicalpedagogical disciplines was summarized in the form of practical recommendations for the development of creative thinking of future specialists in the management aspect. It is advisable to take into account the conditions of stimulation of the development of creative thinking, methodological peculiarities of the application of creative tasks, as well as factors preventing the development of creative approach of the individual, as the manager of his own activity, to the solution of educational and life tasks. Creative tasks in the study process contribute to the development of their creativity, educational motivation, responsibility for their educational activities.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0095327X2098519
Author(s):  
Celeste Raver Luning ◽  
Prince A. Attoh ◽  
Tao Gong ◽  
James T. Fox

With the backdrop of the utility of grit at the individual level, speculation has begun to circulate that grit may exist as an organizational level phenomenon. To explore this potential construct, this study used an exploratory, qualitative research design. This study explored grit at the organizational level by interviewing leaders’ perceptions of what may be a culture of organizational grit. Participants included 14 U.S. military officers. Seven themes emerged relative to the research question: “What do U.S. military officers perceive as a culture of organizational grit?” Themes included professional pride, team unity, resilience-determination, mission accomplishment, core values, growth mindset, and deliberate practice. This study indicated that a culture of organizational grit is likely a combination of converging organizational elements. Overall, findings indicate that there may be a culture of organizational grit in the military and at the least, more research examining the concept is warranted.


2012 ◽  
Vol 114 (11) ◽  
pp. 1-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie A. Marsh

Background/Context In recent years, states, districts, schools, and external partners have recognized the need to proactively foster the use of data to guide educational decision-making and practice. Understanding that data alone will not guarantee use, individuals at all levels have invested in interventions to support better access to, interpretation of, and responses to data of all kinds. Despite the emergence of these efforts, there has been little systematic examination of research on such efforts. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This article synthesizes what we currently know about interventions to support educators’ use of data—ranging from comprehensive, system-level initiatives, such as reforms sponsored by districts or intermediary organizations, to more narrowly focused interventions, such as a workshop. The article summarizes what is what is known across studies about the design and implementation of these interventions, their effects at the individual and organizational levels, and the conditions shown to affect implementation and outcomes. Research Design Literature review. Data Collection and Analysis This review entailed systematic searches of electronic databases and careful sorting to yield a total of 41 books, peer-reviewed journal articles, and reports. Summaries of each publication were coded to identify the study methods (design, framework, sample, time frame, data collection), intervention design (level of schooling, focal data and data user, leverage points, components), and findings on implementation, effects, and conditions. Findings/Results The review uncovers a host of common themes regarding implementation, including promising practices (e.g., making data “usable” and “safe,” targeting multiple leverage points) and persistent challenges (e.g., developing support that is generic but also customized, sustaining sufficient support). The review also finds mixed findings and levels of research evidence on effects of interventions, with relatively more evidence on effects on educators’ knowledge, skills, and practice than on effects on organizations and student achievement. The article also identifies a set of common conditions found to influence intervention implementation and effects, including intervention characteristics (capacity, data properties), broader context (leadership, organizational structure), and individual relationships and characteristics (trust, beliefs and knowledge). Conclusions/Recommendations The review finds that the current research base is limited in quantity and quality. It suggests the need for more methodologically rigorous research and greater attention to the organizational and student-level outcomes of interventions, comparative analyses, interventions that help educators move from knowledge to action, and specific ways in which the quality of data and leadership practices shape the effectiveness of interventions.


2010 ◽  
Vol 112 (11) ◽  
pp. 2833-2849 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Schultz

Background/Context Students spend a large part of their time in schools in silence. However, teachers tend to spend most of their time attending to student talk. Anthropological and linguistic research has contributed to an understanding of silence in particular communities, offering explanations for students’ silence in school. This research raised questions about the silence of marginalized groups of students in classrooms, highlighting teachers’ role in this silencing and drawing on limited meanings of silence. More recently, research on silence has conceptualized silence as a part of a continuum. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study The purpose of this project was to review existing literature and draw on two longitudinal research studies to understand the functions and uses of silence in everyday classroom practice. I explore the question, How might paying attention to the productivity of student silence and the possibilities it contains add to our understanding of student silence in educational settings? Silence holds multiple meanings for individuals within and across racial, ethnic, and cultural groups. However, in schools, silence is often assigned a limited number of meanings. This article seeks to add to educators’ and researchers’ tools for interpreting classroom silence. Research Design The article is based on two longitudinal qualitative studies. The first was an ethnographic study of the literacy practices of high school students in a multiracial high school on the West Coast. This study was designed with the goal of learning about adolescents’ literacy practices in and out of school during their final year of high school and in their first few years as high school graduates. The second study documents discourses of race and race relations in a postdesegregated middle school. The goal of this 3-year study was to gather the missing student perspectives on their racialized experiences in school during the desegregation time period. Conclusions/Recommendations Understanding the role of silence for the individual and the class as a whole is a complex process that may require new ways of conceptualizing listening. I conclude that an understanding of the meanings of silence through the practice of careful listening and inquiry shifts a teacher's practice and changes a teacher's understanding of students’ participation. I suggest that teachers redefine participation in classrooms to include silence.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 29-37
Author(s):  
Daiga Kaleja-Gasparovica

The study is devoted to the organization of the teaching/learning content of visual art and self-expression process in practice. The article, based on theory, explains creative self-expression in the context of pupil's meaningful learning, based on the new education policy and the developed guidelines in basic education. The individual experience of prospective primary school teachers and their understanding of self-expression in visual art has been clarified during the reflection and pedagogical observation in the study process in methods of teaching visual art which led to stating the research problem. The theoretical account offered in the article reveals pedagogical possibilities for prospective teachers to organize purposefully self-expression classes in visual art during the teaching practice so that the pupil, learning visual art without professional literacy in art, improved his/her transversal skills acquiring the experience of self-guided learning, critical thinking and problem-solving, innovation, cooperation, and civic participation.


1951 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frieda M. Kuhlmann ◽  
Helen P. Robinson

The Rorschach test appears to be decidedly useful as a diagnostic tool. The test interpretations supply a concise picture of the individuals’ outstanding personality characteristics and the underlying dynamics of behavior. Adoption studies are completed with far greater understanding and certainty on the part of the caseworker than when subjective evaluation alone is relied upon. The most important factor to be looked for in adoption applicants is the ability to relate to other people. Not only does the inability to relate to others indicate a poor adoption risk, but it would also raise serious question as to the accessibility of the person to treatment or modification of personality trends during a period of supervision. Another area in which the Rorschach gives specific evidence difficult to obtain in the interview is that related to the individuals’ feelings of security and adequacy. In studying interview and test material there appears to be a dearth of evidence in the former and a wealth of findings in the latter as to the way in which individuals use their inner resources to maintain themselves. The Rorschach test is a valuable tool in pointing up defenses and in revealing the ego strengths of the individual who must deal with these problems. The projective test is also of great value in indicating marked deviations and emotional disturbances, particularly in the psychosexual sphere, which might have a destructive influence on the child. The test findings can help define the extent to which the individual accepts his own femininity or masculinity. The use of Rorschach tests is not a substitute for skilled casework, and, in fact, should only be used where such workers are available. The test itself is of value only when it is conducted by a highly trained and experienced Rorschach expert and when a psychiatrist is available for consultation. The trend in adoption practice is toward placement of babies soon after birth when this plan appears sound so far as the natural mother is concerned. This implies additional risk as well as additional satisfaction for adoptive parents. It insures more security for a child. In view of this trend agencies are faced with the need to select couples with maximum surety as to their potentialities as parents. This use of Rorschach tests as a diagnostic tool is a step in that direction. Its results so far point to many other areas for research. Perhaps the findings of such additional research projects are the only means of proving the soundness of the study process used in this experiment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 254-266
Author(s):  
Barbka Huzjan ◽  
Ivana Hrvatin

Research Question (RQ): Chronic musculoskeletal pain is a complex condition and one of the most important causes of suffering of modern times. Self-management refers to the individual’s ability to manage the symptoms, treatment, physical and psychosocial consequences and life style changes inherent in living with a chronic condition. The research question is; what is the view on the selfmanagement of chronic musculoskeletal pain from the patient's perspective? Purpose: The purpose of this literature review was to review original articles that reported how selfmanagement educational programmes are viewed from the patient’s perspective. Method: We used an integrative review of the literature. The search was conducted from November 2019 to March 2020 on the PubMed, PEDro and OTseeker databases. We included original studies, written in English that examined the patients’ point of view on self-management. The included studies, needed to be conducted on adult patients of both sexes, that were suffering from chronic pain and were educated on self-management of their pain. Two authors independently searched for original studies. Results: Nine article were included in the review. Most of the studies included a multidisciplinary approach. Patients reported they more frequently used passive strategies to manage their pain. They want to be included in the management and be able to communicate with the provider of selfmanagement. There are several positive aspects of a multidisciplinary and groups approach. Organization: Health care providers can encourage an individual to proactively behave through ongoing processes of communication, partnerships and the creation of appropriate self-management plans over time. Society: We assume that the analysis will help to identify the social responsibility of the individual and society in the common concern for the health of the population and the individual within it. Originality: The research provides an up-to-date, new overview of the patients' perspective on self management on chronic pain. The review can be helpful to health care providers s they can compare their expectations with patients's. Limitations / further research: Further research would focus on high quality studies, and specific forms of multidisciplinary approach, and finding what patients use at a home setting and how to help them continue in the self management of their pain. Limitations of this review include the lack of risk of bias assessment and the fact that this is not a systematic review.


Author(s):  
Aleksey Shilikov

The article introduces a sociological survey that featured the development of conflict management skills in municipal employees of the Belgorod region. The methods involved a questionnaire survey and a semi-structured interview of Belgorod municipal authorities, teaching staff of the Higher School of Management of the Belgorod State University, and employees of the Institute of Regional Personnel Policy of Belgorod. The reasons behind the conflicts were divided into those caused by the specifics of the municipal service, the peculiarities of team relations, and the individual characteristics of a municipal employee. The results of the study can improve the practical work of municipal personnel departments or be used in teaching sociological disciplines. Further study is required to develop diagnostic methods to identify the conflict management skills in municipal officials, collect information, define conditions and patterns of development, draft resolution procedures, etc.


2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. E35-E39
Author(s):  
Gideon Koren ◽  
Linoy Gabay ◽  
Joseph Kuchnir

Purpose: Research training for clinicians is becoming relatively common for postdoctoral trainees in academic institutions. In contrast, there are relatively few such training programs for family physician residents. The purpose of this article is to describe a novel program for family medicine trainees in Maccabi Health Services, a large Israeli health fund. Methods: Following organizational approval and budget allocation, a call for family residents resulted in 18 applications, 15 of whom were selected for a two-year research training program. Each trainee submitted a research proposal, dealing with a community- based research question. Each protocol was allocated a budget. The Program, overseen by a steering committee of family physicians and scientists, has a designated clinical epidemiologist who coordinates all activities. The Project runs monthly face-to-face meetings where trainees present their research proposals. The group reviewed the protocols ahead of time, commented on them and criticized them. In parallel, the trainees participate in a detailed discussion of their research proposals face-to-face with the program director and clinical epidemiologist, and the revised research proposal is submitted to the Institution Review Board. Results: The Program received enthusiastic responses from the trainees and from Maccabi Health Services, which has already approved the budget for the second year of the Program with a new stream of trainees. The approved research proposals dealt with original and important community-based clinical questions. Conclusions: With the aim of developing clinician-researchers in the field of family medicine, this novel program will help change the research climate in a large organization, where community-based family practitioners were not typically involved in research.


2005 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenna G. Bower ◽  
Mary A. Hums ◽  
John L. Keedy

The purpose of this study was to discover factors influencing a person's decision to mentor students within campus recreation. The present study investigated four areas of inquiry within campus recreation: (a) What are the individual reasons for mentoring students? (b) What organizational factors inhibit or facilitate mentoring students? (c) What protégé characteristics attracted mentors?, and (d) What outcomes are associated with mentoring students? The phenomenological study relied on in-depth interviews of five campus recreation professionals. This research study utilized three in-depth phenomenological interviews with each participant as the primary means of collecting data. The researcher used the constant comparative method of analysis throughout the study. Analysis of the data produced personal life history portraits of each participant and provided themes and categories for each research question. Study findings provided valuable information for campus recreation directors wishing to successfully mentor students entering the campus recreation profession.


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