Faculty of Accountancy, Management and Economics

Department of Business Studies

Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Business Administration
Bachelor of Business in Marketing (Honours)

May Semester, 2023

Research Proposal
TITLE: XXX

BBBMG 2214 Business Research Methods

Prepared for:
Associate Professor Dr Shamuni.K

Prepared by:
Student Name ID No
 BBBMG2214 Business Research Methods
September 2022
Research Proposal
70%

You are to prepare a research proposal on a topic of your interest. The purpose of this
assignment is to provide you experience with designing a research study, and writing research
proposal.

Deadline & Length: 22 August 2023 & not exceeding 20 pages. A penalty of 1 mark per
day will be imposed for all late submissions.

Your proposal should Include:

Title (3 marks)
a) Indicate accurately the subject and scope of the study,
b) Use words that create a positive impression and stimulate reader interest,
c) Use current nomenclature from the field of study,
d) Identify key variables, both dependent and independent,
e) Suggest a relationship between variables which supports the major hypothesis,
f) Is limited to 5 to 15 substantive words,
g) Does not include redundant phrasing, such as, "A Study of," "An Analysis of" or
similar constructions,
h) Takes the form of a question or declarative statement,

Abstract (5 marks)
An abstract is a condensed version of a longer piece of writing that highlights the major
points covered, concisely describes the content and scope of the writing, and reviews the
writing's contents in abbreviated form. Abstracts are typically 100 to 250 words.

a) Background: A simple opening sentence or two placing the work in context.

b) Aims: One or two sentences giving the purpose of the work.
c) Method(s): One or two sentences explaining what was (or will) be done.
d) Results: One or two sentences indicating the main findings (or what you hope to
accomplish with the project).
e) Conclusions: One sentence giving the most important consequence of the work – what
do the results mean? How will they be used?

1.0 Introduction (30 marks)

1.1 Background of the study
a. Describe the topic you are studying
b. Explain why this topic is important
c. What are the current issues related to the problem
d. 1–3 paragraphs (3–8 sentences per paragraph).
1.2 Statement of the problem
a. Ideal Situation
b. Issues/problems
c. Implication
d. Intention/aims
e. 1–2 paragraphs.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

a. Action verbs: to compare/ develop /determine/design/
measure/examine/explain/explore/identify / integrate/investigate etc..
b. Research objectives indicate in more detail the specific research topics or
issues the project plans to investigate, building on the main theme stated in
the research aims.
c. Normally at least two or three research objectives will be stated. It is good
practice to put these in a numbered list so they can be clearly identified later
in a proposal or report.
Here is an example of a set of research objectives:
Objective 1: To investigate whether alcohol consumption is associated
with increased partner violence.
Objective 2: To examine whether labour force status (employment,
unemployment, not in the labour force) is associated with variations in
the incidence of partner violence.
Objective 3: To explore differences between couples with an extended
history of partner violence and couples with only a brief, recent
history of partner violence.

1.4 Research Questions

a. Quantitative.

RQ1: What is the relationship amongst career prospects, salary and

benefits on job satisfaction between A and B groups employees of xyz
sector?

RQ2: What are the most important factors that influence the career
choices of Malaysian university students?

RQ3: What are the differences in perceptions towards social media

between school and university students?

b. Qualitative:
What happened and the meaning of what happened. Avoid ‘Why’ that implies
cause, impact, effect.

RQ1: What are the experts’ opinions on the hands-on activities that
should be incorporated into the development of ABC instruction?
 RQ2: How does flipped classroom enhance the understanding of
managing information of Form 4 science students?

RQ3: Which elements of the flipped classroom contribute to the

positive outcome?

1.5 Research Hypothesis

a. Research hypotheses are predictions of a relationship between two or more
variables, usually predicting the effect of an independent variable on a dependent
variable.
b. Directional or Non-directional hypothesis
H1: Female students perform better than male students in examination oriented
assessments. (directional)
H2: There is a difference in the performance of female and male students in
examination-oriented assessments. (non-directional)

1.6 Theoretical or Conceptual Framework

a. Theoretical framework: Theories that support the research.
b. Conceptual framework: Researcher’s own model that is used to illustrate the
variables that will be studied and the relationships expected between them
c. Description of the association of variables in a graphical manner (independent,
dependent, mediating, etc.).
Figure 1

Title

Note. Source or explanation

1.7 Significance of Study

a. Relevance and importance of the study.
b. Practical application of the study output.
c. How the new knowledge gained through the study will contribute to the
d. solution of practical problems?
e. How the study findings will be useful in policy formulation?
 1.8 Scope of the study
a. Under this section the researcher needs to identify the indicators, variables
and key questions based on research objectives

1.9 Operational Definition.

a. Definition of key terms used in the study

2.0 Literature Review (25 marks)

A Review of the Literature is a section in a research study or a paper in its own right that
shows the writings related to a topic. When it is drafted as a stand-alone paper, it is often
written as a meta-analysis (an analysis of others’ research and findings).
A Lit review may serve any or all of these functions: Shares the results of studies related to
the topic, points out the research gaps in the ongoing dialogue in the literature, provides a
context for understanding a topic (historical, theoretical)

a) Thematic Organization This structure groups information based on the themes

that emerge from the body of literature. It might be grouped as follows:
i. Problem to solution: Definitions of the problem, themes in causes,
themes in effects & themes in proposed solutions
ii. Variable Perspectives: Overview of the issue, Literature about the
dependent variable, Literature about the independent variable
Causal or correlation findings
iii. Results: Positive results Negative results Neutral results Analysis
iv. Methods: Quantitative studies (analysis/critique) Qualitative studies
(analysis/critique) Mixed methods (analysis/critique) Recommendation
b) Conceptual Organization General to Specific General picture of the topic
Literature explaining each key concepts/ issue individually (usually one per
paragraph)
c) Chronological Organization This structure moves through the literature
chronologically in one of two patterns: Past to Present: Inception of theory to most
recent findings Present, past, present: Most recent questions being raised, then
flash-back to early underpinnings, then follow forward to current literature.
3.0 Methodology (25 marks)
3.1 a) Approach (i.e. qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods) and why this is suitable.
b) Method/Design (i.e. experimental, cross-sectional, case study, longitudinal etc)
c) Procedure (technique)

3.2 Population and Sampling

a) Population
b) Sampling strategy & size
c) Description of any necessary permissions to access and recruit the population or
data sources under study.

3.3 Instrumentalism
a) Data collection tools (questionnaire, artifacts, interviews, etc.).
b) Validity & Reliability

3.4 Describe any ethical considerations.

3.5 Data analysis plan

a. Statistical test for each research question

Table 1

Title

Research Question Analytical method

RQ1: Is there a significant relationship Pearson’s Correlation
between smoking and weight loss?

Note. Source or explanation

3.6 Expected Outcome

a) Predicted answers for each of the research question/ hypothesis.

3.7 Provide a detailed timeline and budget for your study.

a. Provide a graphic organizer so your committee can see a visual of your study
outline and timeline.
b. Provide a budget on the estimated research expenses

3.8 Summarize paragraph restating the main ideas, topic, and issues you addressed in this
section.
Reference & Citation (5 marks)
o (APA 7th Edition)

Language & Grammar (5 marks)

Formatting (2 marks)
d) Presentation
e) Font type & size
f) Wordcount
g) Meeting of deadline

Reference
Intro
https://www.justice.gov/ovw/domestic-violence
https://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/international-womens-day-2023-three-important-
facts-and-charts-world-banks-gender-data
**https://www.google.com/search?
q=google+translate&oq=&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j69i59j46i131i199i433i465i512j0i131i433i
512l2j69i60l3.1529j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
https://womensenews.org/2023/02/new-report-violence-against-women-and-girls-needs-
new-global-policy/

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-
response
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/symptoms-causes/syc-
20374968#:~:text=Mental%20illness%2C%20also%20called%20mental,eating
%20disorders%20and%20addictive%20behaviors.
Theory:
1 https://promising.futureswithoutviolence.org/the-cycle-of-violence-why-it-is-no-longer-
widely-used-to-understand-dv/
2 https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780195396607/obo-
9780195396607-0103.xml#:~:text=Control%20balance%20theory%20is
%20predicated,exercise%20such%20controls%20over%20others.
3 https://www.structural-learning.com/post/cognitive-behavior-theory#:~:text=What%20is
%20Cognitive%20Behaviour%20Theory,think%2C%20affects%20how%20they%20feel.

Ethical
https://research-methodology.net/research-methodology/ethical-considerations/
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0263827

3.0
https://www.questionpro.com/blog/quantitative-research/

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/descriptive_statistics.asp
https://www.tibco.com/reference-center/what-is-regression-analysis#:~:text=Regression
%20analysis%20is%20a%20statistical,dependent%20variable%20against%20independent
%20variables.