2-Write a Reasearch Proposal-Q&A

Including research aims and questions in the introduction section of a research proposal provides clear direction and focus for the study. Research aims set the overarching goal, while research questions break it down into specific inquiries. Defining the scope establishes boundaries to keep the research focused. Depth is prioritized over breadth in a research proposal, encouraging thorough exploration of a specific aspect. The three main functions of a literature review are demonstrating familiarity with existing research, identifying gaps, and informing methodological decision-making. Right, once you've narrowed down the topic and you've got that down into your introduction section the next thing, the next logical thing that you need to include there is your research aims and your research questions. So let's take a look at what an example of that might look like. Following from the previous example we had about consumer trust. Research aims might look something like this. Your research aim might be to identify the key factors that influence UK consumers' trust in robo-advisors and how these factors vary between demographic groups. So it's just a clear line indicating what your research aims are, your research questions would then echo that, so you might have two research questions. Number one what are the main antecedents or the main drivers of consumer trust in robo-advisors in the UK and your second question might be how does this vary between demographic groups. What you can see there is a very tight link between the research aims and the research questions. Essentially they're presenting the same thing in a different format. The last thing you need to cover in this introduction section is scope. Scope is essentially just creating a boundary, just creating a ring fence to say this is what I'm going to cover and this is what I'm not going to cover, obviously any topic that you look at. It's going to be a rabbit hole, you can go on and on and on and on you can connect A to B to C to D and very quickly your research can become very unfocused, can become very diluted. So the scope section here is just an opportunity for you to say that I am aware that these connections exist, that this links to that links to that, but this research is going to focus on just this piece over here and this is why it's going to focus on this piece. It's simply the justification is that you need to go deep within a dissertation or thesis. You need to narrow your focus and you need to do one thing really well. Don't feel the need to solve the world's problems. Don't feel the need to create a life's work. This is a dissertation or a thesis and going deep, going narrow is what it's all about. So don't be afraid to ring fence, don't be afraid to cut the non-focus out because it's completely acceptable and in fact it's expected. Right let's move on to the next ingredient. The third essential ingredient of a winning dissertation or thesis proposal is the literature review now that you've covered in your introduction chapter or in your introduction section, now that you've covered what it is that that you're going to be focusing your research on. The literature review is your opportunity to delve into and to provide a synthesis of all the existing research in relation to your research aims. So what you're doing here is presenting a clear narrative, a clear discussion of what the existing research says in relation to your research aims and to your research objectives. Now I'm not going to go into depth about how to full of a literature review, we've got a separate video on that and I'll include the link to that below this video but I will just quickly speak about the why. If you understand the why then the actual what of pulling off a literature review is much simpler. So what is the why, what are the three important functions of a literature review or at least my three important functions of a literature review. So the first thing that you need to demonstrate in your literature review is that you are very familiar and you understand the current state of the research. You can't take on within an academic world you certainly can't take on any sort of research without really understanding what's already been done. So the first function of the literature review is for you to show that you've done your reading, that you've done your homework and that you know exactly what's been done, who said what, how it all fits together. That is very important. The second function of the literature review is to demonstrate the gap. So just as I mentioned in your your introduction how you're going to be talking about your gap you're going to build on to that here or potentially rehash on that a little bit and show how there is a genuine need for the research that you're going to be doing. So it plays into the justification of your research. You need to show that you've done the reading and you found the gap. That you found the missing piece or one of the many many missing pieces in terms of the existing research. The third function of the literature review is to inform any sort of methodological decision making. When it comes to your research design whether you're going to do qualitative or quantitative that should be informed at least in part by the existing research. In other words what have people done in the past? How are they, how other researchers have, other authors approach this? You might build on that or you might say well therein lies the problem. Regardless you want to be paying attention to the methodological approaches of previous researchers in your space and you want to be showing that you are aware of what they've done. Also you might be able to borrow from the existing research. Very often at least with quantitative studies very often they will publish their question sets they'll publish the the scales etc and these have had a lot of work that has already gone into them and you can make use of them without having to go and design your own. Or of course you could build on to them. So it's important to understand those three components or at least those three objectives of a good literature review because those will ensure that you write something that is touching on all the essential requirements. One thing to be really careful about when you are writing up this literature review section is that you don't fall into the trap of descriptive writing. In other words it's very easy to go and write up a literature review which is basically just a history of what everyone has said. That is not what a good literature review is about. What a good literal view is about is synthesizing what everyone has said in relation to whatever your research questions are. So if your research questions are let's just take the previous example if you're looking into the drivers the antecedents of consumer trust what you want to be looking for in a literature review is to flesh out the drivers that people have previously found in the research. Which ones of these are agreed on? Which of these are disagreed on? Where is there some contention? How has that developed over time? How is it potentially relevant or irrelevant? How is it creating a gap in the research for for my specific research? So you want to be providing a synthesis of everything that's been said not just a pure account of it. Your writing needs to be analytical not just descriptive. We do have a great post on the grad coach blog which provides a good breakdown of a comparison between analytical writing and descriptive writing and that is a great way of sort of assessing where you where you fit in terms your writing. Assessing whether or not you you're playing too much to one side or the other. Again I'll include a link to that below this video. Regardless of whether you look at that or not keep in mind the trap of descriptive writing. Do not just provide an account of what everyone said. You need to pull that back to how is it relevant to my literature or rather to my research question. How is it a potential answer? How is it a potential problem in light of my research questions and my aims? So bring everything back bring it together synthesize everything and then tie it back to your specific research. Don't just provide a descriptive account of what everyone said. What is the significance of including research aims and questions in the introduction section of a research proposal? Including research aims and questions helps to provide clear direction and focus for the study. It ensures that the researcher establishes specific objectives and inquiries that align with the broader research topic. Can you explain the relationship between research aims and research questions as outlined in the text? Research aims set the overarching goal or purpose of the study while research questions break down this aim into specific inquiries to be addressed during the research process. They are interconnected and serve to guide the research endeavor effectively. What is the purpose of defining the scope of the research in the introduction section of a proposal? Defining the scope helps to establish boundaries for the research ensuring that the study remains focused and does not become overly broad or unfocused. It clarifies what aspects will be covered and what will be excluded allowing for a more structured and manageable research project. How does the text emphasize the importance of depth over breadth in a research proposal? The text emphasizes that in a dissertation or thesis depth is prioritized over breadth. Researchers are encouraged to focus on a specific aspect and explore it thoroughly rather than attempting to cover a wide range of topics superficially. What are the three main functions of a literature review according to the text? The three main functions of a literature review are to demonstrate familiarity with existing research, identify gaps in the literature, and inform methodological decision-making for the current study.