GUIDELINES FOR PREPARING A RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Before you begin to write your research proposal, first click on the appropriate link below to open and carefully read the Word document that describes your chosen research project. The document will provide you with a brief description of your project, the specific nature of the survey data that are available to you in the corresponding SPSS data file and, thus, the key variables (dependent and independent) on which your proposal and research project should focus. (NOTE: The SPSS Data File related to each project can be accessed only through SPSS software.)

Project Ideas and Related Data Files:

1.Project Description: Job Related Determinants of Job Stress and Turnover Intent
 Related SPSS Data File:Determinants of Job Stress and Turnover Intent

2.Project Description: Determinants of Entrepreneurial Aspirations
 Related SPSS Data File:Determinants of Entrepreneurial Aspirations

3.Project Description: Impact of Job Characteristics on Motivation, Job Satisfaction, and Loyalty
 Related SPSS Data File:Impact of Job Characteristics on Motivation, Job Satisfaction, and Loyalty

4.Project Description: Factors Impacting the Effectiveness of Virtual teams
Related SPSS Data File:Factors Impacting the Effectiveness of Virtual Teams

RESEARCH PROPOSALS MUST INCLUDE:

  • Introduction: This section introduces the subject, presents a justification for the study, and outlines the study's objectives (or main questions). In other words, this section often includes: (a) a brief introduction to the subject and why is it important to study it (i.e., what is its practical significance?), and a brief and broad explanation of what the study will be all about (i.e., what would be the study's main objective(s) and/or what types of questions would be addressed by the study?).
  • Literature Review: This section provides information on what is already known about this issue/topic (based on other studies). This section should emphasize the writings/studies by others (appropriately cited) regarding the variable(s) that are the primary focus of your study. That is, the focus should be on job stress and turnover in project 1 above; on entrepreneurial tendency/aspiration in project 2, on employee job satisfaction, motivation, and loyalty in project 3, and on effectiveness of virtual teams in project 4. Here you want to cover the variety of angles/perspectives from which the subject has been studied, as well as what may have been found/concluded/asserted in those studies with respect to your variable(s) of interest and its/their relationship with other determining factors (especially those that you have data on and, thus, would be including in your study's research model).
  • Theoretical Framework/Research Model (Hypotheses/Propositions to Be Tested): This section can be either a short separate section with its own title, or a continuation of the Literature Review section (see above). In either case, this section should focus only on the variables in your data file (that is, variables for which you have survey data available in your data file). Any variable that you do not intend to explicitly measure and include in your study, should NOT be part of your research model. So this section would address such questions as: What angle/perspective your study would take in examining the subject?What explanatory variables/factors would your study focus on? What relationships will you be examining? Based on the literature review and you logical reasoning, what do you expect to find regarding the relationships among your research variables?This section often ends with presentation of the research model diagram depicting the study's hypothesized relationships that the researcher(s) intends to examine/test .
  • Data Collection Method and Research Sample: This section should provide detailed information regarding how the research data will be (or was) obtained (e.g., an experiment, questionnaire survey, direct observations, etc.). It should also discusses the expected/available sample size as well as the make-up (composition/description) of the research sample/subjectpool being used.
  • References: This section should include a list of all sources (e.g., articles, books) cited in the body of the proposal. Please note that at least 10-12 sources must be cited in the final version of your paper.

For additional explanation of the contents of the above proposal components, see:

M. Hemmasi, "Contents of a Research Report"

For an EXAMPLE of a research proposal, see:

Hemmasi, M., & Graf, L.A., "Sexual and sexist humor in the workplace: Just 'good fun' or sexual harassment?" (This proposal received funding support from SHRM Foundation, March 1993).