Essay Methodology and Methods – Research Paradigm and Approach – Project Management Assignment

Assignment Task:

OVERVIEW & DESCRIPTION
This assessment task builds on the previous assessments by further developing your research project idea into a full proposal. While you have drafts of a short literature review (assessment 1) and an outline for your methodology (assessment 2) you are now going to add other key sections that are part of a research proposal (possibly a Background/Context; or Theoretical Framework), an expanded and refined methodology section (including ethical considerations, reflexivity and strategies for doing quality research), a brief overview of data analysis and the development of a data collection tool. These sections are clearly identified in the proposal structure below. Some sections are optional because they may or may not be appropriate for your research project.This assessment represents the culmination of your studies in this unit and should allow you to demonstrate the depth of your understanding of the ideas explored. You should be aiming for an ethical, well-thought out, practical, polished research proposal with research methods that are well-matched to your purpose, to your research questions and aims and to your clearly identified research context.

 Introduction (Suggested length 500 words)
An introduction section of a research proposal aims to highlight key information about the issue or ‘problem’ linked to your research. In this section a rationale for focusing on the topic it built by bringing together important statistics, key literature and relevant policy/program information. Key definitions will also be briefly included. This was partly developed in your first assessment, thus you can build on that – ie, include it in your 500 words)
 
Background / Context (Suggested length 300 words) 
This section aims to provide important contextual information in relation to the research problem. This often takes a historical perspective (i.e., focuses on how things became this way). If the research is in a particular country or context, relates to a history of policy/law or events, this section explores that. It is likely that some of your other sections are shorter, this section might be a good area to develop.
 
Research Aims/Research Questions (Assessment 2 redraft)
Leading on from the literature review this section includes a statement that highlights overall purpose of the study and specific focus of the research you are proposing and your key questions

Literature review 
Methodology and Methods 
This section should map out the research approach you will take in your research project and why. It will need to link to the research aim you have set out above.  This section will also include a discussion of the paradigm, research approach (i.e., qualitative/quantitative; action research/narrative), data collection/gathering (i.e., questionnaires/ interviews or focus groups / narrative data gathering activities such as diaries, stories, arts artifacts) and participants. Academic sources are used throughout to justify approach and provide evidence for data gathering. 
Have you covered these:  

• Research Paradigm and Approach ;  
• Research Design;
• Data Collection and Participants (includes methods of data collection; participant information/criteria and sampling -type and number);  
• Ethical Considerations
• Ensuring Quality Research (i.e., for qualitative projects “Trustworthiness and Credibility” in quantitative projects “Reliability, validity and generalisability”)
• Reflexivity and Researcher Positioning in Community/Research Context