JSQ167 - Public Sector Research Skills and Methods Assignment

Assignment Task

Overview

In this assignment, you will submit a research proposal to address your identified research question (or questions) from Assignment 1: Literature review. This proposal will replicate the first stage of a new research study requiring funding. The proposal will articulate the appropriate research design, ethical considerations, and research methods. It will describe how the research could be used in a policy or program evaluation.

Details

For Assignment 1: Literature review you have already conducted a literature review and drafted a research question. As a starting point for this research proposal, consider this draft question and any feedback received for Assignment 1 to finalise your research question. In doing so, consider how answering this question will contribute to expanding the knowledge base relating to your chosen topic.

This task requires you to outline a feasible and relevant research project. You will write the proposal on the topic you have chosen for your literature review. Ideally, this topic is related to your current job, or, if you are considering a return to a higher degree, a topic that you might be interested in studying in an academic context. You will need to identify appropriate and feasible research methods that could be used to complete this study.

Note: due to the nature of this assignment, you will be drawing heavily on your work from Assignment 1 to complete this assignment. While it is assumed that you will repeat some information and ideas from Assignment 1 as necessary, you need to be careful to avoid plagiarising yourself. Make sure you are rephrasing, refining and editing any of your work that is carried over from Assignment 1.

Open and read the following accordions on writing your project proposal

Aims and background

• a current event, case, or incident that demonstrates the importance of the problem
• an explanation of why the existing research needs to be added to or expanded
• a proposed contribution to filling the gap in the literature
• operationalisation of key term(s)
• a brief mention of the type of study that can fill the identified gap in the literature.

Research question(s)-guiding the proposed project

A research question(s) that can logically be answered using this research method (type of study described).

Literature review abstract (200 words)

• summary/thematic review of existing research
• main findings of existing research.

Research methods

The aim of this section is to discuss your research methods (the type of study that can fill the identified gap in literature). Make it clear to the reader why this is the best approach to answering your research question. Also, keep in mind that your approach needs to be feasible for a small-scale study. You can use sub-headings in this section. This section of your proposal should:

• Explain your approach to sampling. If you are conducting research with human participants you will need to explain how you will find, approach and select participants. Review any access considerations. Outline the strengths and weaknesses of your approach. Make sure you justify your approach with reference to the academic literature.
• Explain and justify your research method/s.
• Explain and justify your approach to data analysis.
• You should detail any ethical considerations associated with the proposed study. These considerations may be minimal, beyond those associated with everyday life, or they may be considerable depending on the study. Discuss possible mitigation methods to address ethical concerns.

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