Developing a Qualitative Research Proposal
Original Editor - Mariam Hashem
Top Contributors - Mariam Hashem, Kim Jackson, Ewa Jaraczewska and Tarina van der Stockt
Introduction[edit | edit source]
A research proposal is a document that describes the idea of the research, why it's important, and the research method. The format can vary widely among different higher education settings, different funders, and different organizations.
background and context[edit | edit source]
The title of your research proposal can be different from the publishing title. You can consider it to be more like a working title that you can revisit later after finishing the research proposal and amend it if needed.
The title should have some keywords of what your research encompasses such as:
- The patient population e.g. women who had breast cancer
- Methods e.g. quantitative research, feasibility study or a pilot randomized control trial, a systematic review
- An intervention
Example: experiences of pregnant women using in-depth focus groups
Word count is similar to writing an abstract and can vary from a proposal to another.
Tips:
- Pin down your key points
- Use the filter approach by starting off broadly then refine it down to our research question.
For example, a qualitative study in Ireland by Algeo looking at the facilitators and barriers for women with Breast Cancer in returning to work. The author started by looking at Breast Cancer in terms of the statistics nationally and worldwide. Then moved to issues that women with breast cancer experience, highlighting policies and guidelines. To narrow it down, she made it more specific to work and its importance and returning to work after Breast Cancer. The proposal looked at national and cultural differences in return to work in Breast Cancer and highlighted a gap in an Irish context.
When thinking of the research proposal, it's your tool to sell the research to probably an ethics committee or a research funder so you want to show them why your research is important to be done. Here are some prompting questions to help with writing the background:
- how much do we know about the problem?
- What are the gaps in our knowledge?
- How would new insights contribute to society? Or to clinical practice?
- Why is this research worth doing?
- And who might have an interest in this topic?
Defining your research question: SPIDER tool
Data collection technique
Participant recruitment and sample
Setting a research timeline: Gantt chart
Other considerations such as costings and budgeting
