ASSIGNMENT:
Practicing the Writing of a Research Proposal
Phase 1 : 04 Pages
Please
read the following instructions VERY CAREFULLY:
For
your first SLP you are asked to present a 3-4 pages paper that addresses the
following 3 things:
-
A research question and
hypothesis
or hypotheses (that of course, stem from your research question). Please note
that formulating hypotheses is often hard and not intuitive. Therefore, we
expect you to do some reading in academic journals in your field to get a
better idea on how to formulate your hypotheses. Your variables should be as
SPECIFIC, NARROW, and MEASURABLE as possible. For example- this hypothesis
includes two variables that are too broad and not measurable: “HR practices
will be positively correlated with employee’s behavior”. In contrast, the
following is an example for a hypothesis that includes two very specific and
measurable variables: “higher stress will predict lower job satisfaction”
-
A diagram that presents all
the variables that are part of the hypotheses, and arrows that describe the
relationships between them. Again here, look at how these types of diagrams are
represented in academic articles.
-
A literature review that helps the reader
understand:
- Why it is important to study
the topic? That means that your research topic has to be both novel and
important for something (usually either for practice, for research, or for
both)
- What gaps in the literature
your proposed research bridges (for example- there is a theory on the
topic but no empirical evidence, nothing is known about the phenomenon you
are describing and any knowledge on that is important for some aspects of
the organizational life, etc..)
- What evidence DOES exist on the
topic?
The
literature review should be based on at least 3 academic articles from
peer-reviewed journals. Select only articles that generate strong arguments
regarding the importance and significance of your research topic.
The
first SLP in this course requires A LOT of preparation. It might be that you
would need to read tens of articles before you will be able to understand what
topic is worth focusing on (in terms of how important it is to study it…).
Twenty five hours is a gross estimation of the minimal amount of time that you
would need to invest just in finding a valid research topic. If you already
have a research topic that meets the above requirements, spend more time on
reading more academic work to improve your SLP and ultimately, your
understanding of the process.
Topic: Strategic Management in Emerging/Developing Countries: Effects of
Demographic Divide and Hyper Urbanization on Business Strategy.
Practicing
the Writing of a Research Proposal
Phase
Two: 02 Pages
The focus of Module 2 is
on theory development. Theory is a formal explanation for why
and how events, relationships, or other phenomena are related, offering a
possibility for predicting future events and/or relationships – this is only
one among many definitions that exist but one that pretty much sums up what
we're looking at. Theory is a particular focus in all academic work, and, in
the form of something called a "model", makes up the structure in
terms of which findings from empirical research are interpreted and understood.
The formulation of models and their translation into research hypotheses and
procedures lie at the heart of this course.
Assignment Expectations (Content)
As an introduction to
your hypothesis or hypotheses, you are asked to add a few paragraphs on the
theory or theories (sometimes called model/s) upon which your
study is based. In other words, you are asked to provide a rationale
for your hypotheses that is based on a theory. For example, your theoretical
development could look something like that (but of course should be much
broader than that): “According to Goal Setting Theory, setting goals that are
measurable, specific, and challenging should increase job performance”,…..
therefore, it is hypothesized that (meaning -I hypothesize that in my study)
setting measurable, specific, and challenging goals will be related with
increased performance among engineers in unionized organizations”. This example
applies only for theoretical arguments that have not been studied yet. This
specific prediction was studies extensively, and therefore, cannot be used in
your SLP.
If you have hard time
understanding what is required here, it is highly recommended to read a
research article that was published in a top tier journal and see how the
authors connect between theory and hypotheses. This part appears in the
introduction section of the article and it is usually presented as the
rationale for the hypotheses.
Current
total of Pages: 06
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