Developing effective research proposals / Keith F. Punch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Punch, Keith.

Contributor:

Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

Series:

Essential resource books for social research.

Essential resources for social research

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Proposal writing in the social sciences.

Social sciences--Methodology.

Social sciences.

Physical Description:

vii, 125 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; Thousand Oaks, Calif. : SAGE, 2000.

Summary:

A well-constructed research plan is vital to the successful execution of any research project. This book shows how to design and prepare research proposal and present it effectively to a university review committee, funding body, or commercial client.

The book is organized around three central themes: What are research proposals; who reads them and why?; what general guidelines and strategies can help students develop a proposal; and what might a finished proposal look like?

The book will be invaluable across all areas of social science, both basic and applied, and for students undertaking quantitative, qualitative and mixed-method studies.

Developing Effective Research Proposals can be used as a workbook to Keith Punch's bestselling text An Introduction to Social Research (Sage, 1998) or as an independent guide.

Contents:

1.2.1 Empirical research - data 3

1.2.2 Quantitative and qualitative data 3

1.2.3 Relaxing the quantitative-qualitative distinction 4

1.2.4 Social science and social science areas 5

1.2.5 Relationship of this book to Introduction to Social Research 6

1.3 A view of research 7

2 The Proposal - Readers, Expectations and Functions 10

2.1 What is a research proposal? 10

2.2 Readers and expectations 11

2.3 Functions and purpose of the proposal 13

2.4 Pre-structured versus unfolding research 14

2.5 The research proposal as a plan 15

2.6 Research questions or research problems? 16

2.7 A simplified model of research 17

3 A General Framework for Developing Proposals 21

3.1 An overall framework 22

3.2 A hierarchy of concepts 23

3.3 Research areas and topics 24

3.4 General and specific research questions 25

3.5 Data collection questions 27

3.6 Research questions and data

the empirical criterion 27

3.7 Three tactical issues 29

3.7.1 The importance of the pre-empirical stage 29

3.7.2 Questions before methods 30

3.7.3 Do I need hypotheses in my proposal? 30

4.1 The perspective behind the research 35

4.2 The role of theory 37

4.2.1 Description versus explanation 38

4.2.2 Theory verification versus theory generation 40

4.3 Pre-structured versus unfolding 41

4.4 The relevant literature 42

4.5 Quantitative, qualitative or both? 45

5 Methods 50

5.2 Quantitative data, qualitative data, or both? 51

5.3 Design 52

5.3.1 Strategy 53

5.3.2 Framework 54

5.3.3 Sample 54

5.3.4 Data collection (instruments, procedures, ethical issues) 57

5.3.5 Data analysis 60

5.4 The question of methodological expertise 60

6 Writing the Proposal 65

6.2 Proposal headings 66

6.3 Qualitative proposals 75

7 Tactics 79

7.2 General tactical issues 80

7.3 Departmental (or University) guidelines 80

7.4.1 The 'two pager' 83

7.4.2 The ideas paper 83

7.4.3 Working deductively 84

7.5 The value of discussion 84

7.6 The value of writing it down 85

7.7 Three common dilemmas 85

7.7.2 Getting to closure versus getting to closure too quickly 87

7.7.3 Focus on context, background and literature versus focus on research questions 88

7.8 The importance of clarity 89

7.9 Examples of proposals 90

Appendix 1 Disentangling the terms 'perspective', 'strategy' and 'design' 111

Appendix 2 Questions to guide proposal development 114.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 119-121) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Alumni and Friends Memorial Book Fund.

ISBN:

0761963553

0761963561

OCLC:

42834281