RECENT ASSIGNMENT

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Case Study
You are an independent researcher. Write up a research proposal to tender for this research
project. Proposals which demonstrate sound theoretical, conceptual frameworks, academic rigor,
as well as feasibility and an ethical mindfulness will be selected. Word Limit: 2000-2500.
“Call for Research Proposal – Chester City Council, US”
Chester City Council provides and manages public services for a population of 1.22 million on
behalf of the US government. These services include: refuse waste management, public safety
and fire services, libraries and education, social care, leisure centres and parks, cemeteries,
transport, planning and social care. Members of the population pay a fixed sum annually for the
services provided and, in addition, the national government provides an annual budget in order to
manage and maintain the given services.
Providing these key services is not without challenges and with greater accountability and scrutiny
by the public, focus on quality of service and value for money (even in times of austerity) is critical.
We do attempt to provide high-quality services to the many schools (400, with 165,000 pupils),
provide effective maintenance of over 2,000 kilometers of road and manage 300,000 tonnes of
waste as part of our role. To achieve this, we rely heavily on our employees (approximately
60,000) and subcontractors (40,000) to maintain these standards.
Within our existing workforce we have a high diversity (cultural, gender and age) and it has come
to our attention that anonymous concerns were raised in the public sphere. It has been reported
that persistent tensions concerning new measures of productivity levels of employees as well as a
negative workplace environment have been plaguing the city council. Further external evidence
supports this possibility as in the last six months we have witnessed an exodus of competent and
accomplished personnel at Chester City Council.
We are aware that the undermining of the morale and confidence of the staff’s council can have
severe implications for the bottom line and the reputation of Chester City Council. This can lead
to scrutiny from the national government, who provides us with partial funding to provide our
services. As such, developing a greater understanding of our diverse workforce becomes crucial
to our strategy for 2021/2022. A research grant of $150,000 will be awarded to the successful
proposal in order to fulfill the requirements of the proposed research project.
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Guidelines
The Research Proposal
A clearly articulated plan of action, to demonstrate that the student has identified a topic of
research, has read about it, formulated a research question and selected an appropriate
methodology.
Conventional elements of a research proposal:
1. Introduction to the proposed inquiry
2. Overview of existing literature
3. Research Question
4. Methodology section
5. Analysis
6. Schedule
7. Bibliography
Section 2.8 in your manual (pg. 20) outlines the content of a research proposal.
Constructing a research proposal
Introduction to the proposed inquiry
Research proposals generally begin with an introduction section that describes the research
problem and establishes its significance. This section answers the following kinds of questions:
What exactly do you want to study? Why is it worth studying? Does the proposed study have
theoretical and/ or practical significance? Does it contribute to a new understanding of a
phenomenon?
Review of Literature
For the research proposal, the review of literature is not as lengthy as in a dissertation. But be
careful, it takes time! Here, we are more concerned with the research problem or objective to be
situated within the context of other scholarship in the area. The literature review presents a
discussion of the most important research and theoretical work relating to the research
problem/objective. The literature review helps the researcher to refine/develop his problem
statement. It ensures that no important variable is overlooked in the process of defining the
problem. In sum, with the literature review, one does not run the risk of “reinventing the wheel”;
that is wasting effort on trying to rediscover something that is already known. It addresses the
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following kinds of questions: What have others said about this area(s)? What theories address it
and what do these say? What research has been done or not done previously? Are there consistent
findings or do past studies disagree? Are there flaws or gaps in the previous research that your
study will seek to remedy?
Research Question
Your specific research question(s) or hypotheses should be stated clearly either at the end of the
description of the problem/objective or at the end of the review of the literature.
Methodology Section
Here, it describes how you will conduct your study. Regardless of the type of research you plan
to do, you need to indicate how you will carry out your study, so that others may judge its viability.
You may consider the subjects of your study considering the type and number you need. Explain
your method of selecting your subjects (if a sample, describe the population and how the sample
will be drawn). Discuss the subjects in relation to your research question or hypothesis, to
availability and to your research design. That is, you need to identify the subjects and make clear
whether they will be available and how you will reach them. Who or what will you study in order
to collect data? Is it appropriate to select a sample from a larger pool? If so, how will you do that?
How do these subjects relate to your research questions?
Describe the measurement you intend to use and explain why you have selected theses. Questions
you should consider are: What are the key variables in your study? How will you define and
measure them? Do your definitions and measurements draw on or differ from those of previous
research in this area? Your research question should guide you in your selection.
Describe what you plan to actually do and the kind of research you will conduct. Your data
collection methods obviously need to be consistent with your research problem, your subjects and
your measurements. Consider: How will you actually collect the data for your study? What kind
of study will you conduct (ethnography, case study, experiment, survey etc)?
Analysis
Describe the kind of analysis you plan to conduct, and explain the logic and purpose of your
analysis. The kind of analysis you plan will depend on the subjects, measures and data collection
as well as on your research question. Whether you are conducting a quantitative or qualitative
study, or a combination of some other kind, you need to explain how you will analyze the data you
collect. Consider: How precise a description or explanation of the given phenomenon do you plan
to provide? Do you intend to simply describe the and how of a given phenomenon? Do you intend
to examine relationships among variables? Do you intend to explain why things are the way they
are? What possible explanatory variables will your analysis consider and how will you know if
you’ve explained the variables adequately? If you plan to use specific statistical procedures
(whether descriptive, inferential, or both) state these.
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Schedule
A schedule will outline the various stages of the project along a time line. You may consider a
Gantt chart or a chronological list of procedures you will follow in carrying out your study (data
collection, analysis, writing and revising). Work backwards from the date you want to complete
the project and be realistic about the amount of time that different tasks will take.
Bibliography
Include a bibliography of all sources cited in the research proposal. Double check your
bibliography against the proposal to make sure that all sources appear in both places.
Formatting Guidelines
Your paper must conform to the following specifications:
• Typed using a word processing software (eg Microsoft word).
• A word limit of 2,500
• Times New Roman or Arial, Font 12 pt.
• Double Spacing, with justify text.
• Reference style should follow the Harvard Style of referencing
• Stapled in top-left hand corner. No binding, No folder. A simple staple will suffice.
• A separate title page including the title of your paper, Name, Student ID, Program of study,
cohort and date you are submitting the assignment.