RESEARCH PROPOSAL FORM – ABERTAY MBA PROGRAM
Note: The Research Proposal will be the foundation of the research work being undertaken by the student. The Proposal will be approx. 1500 words; the distribution of word count for each section is given below against each section title. The research plan, annotated bibliography, timelines and the references will not be included in the word count.
You will write your answers in this given sheet itself.
1. Project (research topic) Title
Provide a concise and clear title of the research project work being undertaken by you.
2. Introduction (300 words)
Provide a brief introduction to your research topic, giving out the business company/ industry overview, including the issues/ problems prevalent in the organization/ concerned industry/ sector.
(a) Give out the aim of the research project, objectives and the research questions of your project work.
3. Background and Purpose of the Research (600 words)
A research background is the context and background information that provides a basis for understanding the research problem. It includes the history of the topic, related research, and other relevant information that helps to explain why the research is being conducted. You must refer to at least 10-12 good sources of literature, out of which at least 6-8 or more should be references from recognized academic publications found in peer reviewed articles/ journals.
4. Research question (or statement of the problem for consultancy-based projects)
A research question pinpoints exactly what you want to find out in your work. A good research question is essential to guide your research paper in the right direction.
5. Overview of the Research Design (400 words)
(a) Give out your research philosophy, research approaches and the methodology you will follow to conduct the research.
(b) Give out the methods of collecting your primary data, discuss the population and sampling methods you will use, by justifying the same.
(c) Discuss ethics, reliability and validity measures you are going to adopt in your research work.
6. Limitations of the research design (200 words)
The limitations in research are the constraints in design, methods or even researchers’ limitations that affect and influence the interpretation of your research’s ultimate findings.
Appendix to the Research Proposal
1. Research plan and timelines of thesis submission
(a) Please provide a plan of stages of your research development and thesis writing, with a timeline of proposed goals for your program.
(b) Your timelines should include your plan right from the preparatory stage, to writing the various chapters of the dissertation, to the final write up and submission of the project.
(c) The timelines should be put in tabular form and a Gantt chart made for the same thereafter.
2. Annotated Bibliography of planned reading
(a) Please provide references/ bibliography as per the Harvard Referencing System format.
(b) It must contain good quality references from at least 10-12 journals/ articles and other credible sources.
3. Consents/ Ethical Approval
Attach the approved Ethical Approval form.