Research Proposals

Step 1: The Research Question and the Literature Review

The first step in writing any research proposal is the definition of the research question. This is often a difficult process. In case study research this task involves demonstrating how the question is either a “how” or “why” question and why a case study method is the appropriate design. It is critical to see the literature review as an integral part of defining the research question. Refining and defining the research question needs to be seen as an iterative process. Curiosity about a phenomenon leads to the examination of the literature, which in turn leads to the refining of the phenomenon until a clear statement of the research question is possible. The two are intertwined and cannot be separated.

Step 2: A General Description of the Proposed Research

The second step is the general description of how the researcher plans to answer the research question. This description should include why the question is important enough to answer, who the intended audience of the completed research is, and how the findings will be presented. Here the researcher can show the assumptions that are being made. He or she may want to clearly define the epistemological and conceptual underpinnings of the specific research paradigm being suggested. In a broad way, the researcher may also want to discuss what he or she is intending to accomplish with this research, who will be involved, and how issues such as confidentiality and informed consent will be dealt with. This next section provides a more detailed discussion of the actual research method.

Step 3: The Research Method

The third step is a thorough, detailed description of the research methods to be employed. Here the researcher presents all aspects of the research design. What sources of evidence will be used? What are the units of analysis? Both quantitative as well as qualitative evidence are employed in case study research. What combinations are being suggested here? How will the data be analyzed? How will the data be used to shed light on the case? How is the researcher guarding against a lack of rigor in the approach? Case study research has historically been criticized for lack of rigor caused primarily by investigator bias creeping into the study. How will the researcher guard against that? [Page 820]Will the researcher be able to generalize the study results to other contexts/populations? One must be clear that the goal of case study research is analytical generalization, to expand and generalize theories, not statistical generalization, which is to enumerate frequencies. One of the most common criticisms of case study research is that it often results in masses of unusable data and that it goes on for far too long. How will the researcher guard against this possibility? How will the researcher ensure that the findings are presented as parsimoniously as possible?

...