Synthesising Knowledge: Learning /Technology Research Cycle and Future Trends.

 This post looks at the following article:

Fraenkel, J.R. & Wallen, N.E. (2006) How to Design and Evaluate Research in Education, Chapter 24 - Preparing Research Proposals and Reports. 6^th edition, Boston: McGraw-Hill.

           

Preparing a Research Proposals and Reports.

Research Proposal- completed before the study.

Research Report – completed after the study.

The structure of the Research Proposal can take the following format:

• Purpose of the Study.
• Justification of the Study
• The Research Question and Hypothesis including Variables.
• Definition of Terms.

Research Proposal.

The proposal shows the intention of the research and also makes clear the justification as to why the research to be undertaken is important / needed.  The proposal provides the author with the opportunity to identify problems and state the hypothesis to be addressed and the variables and terms which are relevant.  The proposal also provides the opportunity to determine the design of the procedures to analyse data which are to be included in the proposal as well as how that data will be analysed once collected.

Purpose of the Study.

In this section of the report the reviewer needs to succinctly state, what they propose to investigate in the study. Any assumptions should be outlined in this stage of the report.

Justification for the Study.

In the justification section the researcher must make clear why the topic / subject are important and why it is vital to be investigated further. The justification section also provides the reviewer with the opportunity to present the argument into the ‘worth’ of the study.  A good justification should also include any specific implications that follow if relationships are identified.

Research Question.

This is where the particular question to be investigated should be stated. Most reviewers favour a hypothesis for this  research strategy to be pursued.

Definitions

All key terms that will be referred to or assumed knowledge, should be included as a definition in this section of the proposal. The inclusion of any terms in this section will minimise the difficulties in data analysis / research when undertaking the report.

Literature Review.

This section of the report is quite lengthy; it provides a partial summary of a previous research into the area relating to the hypothesis.  The reviewer here is trying to show that they are familiar with the research and opinion of the topic and that they have an understanding of this research.

Sample / Populations.

This section is where in detail the reviewer describes how the subjects of the study will be obtained the sample and whether a generalized sample (random sample) will be included or if a more specific group – a convenience group is required (e.g. a specific demographic, age, gender etc)  then the specifics should also be included in this section.

Data Analysis

In this section – the reviewer should indicate how the data is to be collected and how it will be organized as well as what data will be included or excluded in the study.

My personal observations of the article.

Fraenkels’ article provides a strong basis for the topic areas that need to be included when preparing a Research Proposal. The article contains Questions to ask at various stages of the proposal and report process, these allow for the reviewer to track where the progress is at various stages of the process.