The research process and proposal - Research process

Question

What distinguishes a good question from a mediocre one? Mention some criteria...

Answer 1

- it should be related to a theory (otherwise it is not scientific enough)

- it should not be too trival (easy): what are the mechanisms behind it?

- looking at mechanisms rather than relationships

- relevant; who is interested in reading this?

Answer 2

- politically motivated research; managers want only a specific kind of inofmriaotn

- ill-defined management problems (methods might not exists)

Also a research question might be unresearchable.

Answer 3

Blueprint for fulfilling objectives and answering questions.
Selecting a design may be complicated due to the availability of large variety of methods, techniques, procedures, protocols & sampling plans.

Answer 4

with pilot testing: this is conducted to detect weaknesses in design and instrumentation, and provide a proxy data for selectoin of a probability sample.

Answer 5

Data analysis involves reducing accumulated data to a manageble amount, developing summaries, looking for patterns and applying statistical techniques.

The larger the data gests, the more relying on statistics.

Answer 6

target audience; it should be devleoped from the information user's perspective.

-> adaptation to clients needs

- careful choiceo f words in crafting interpretatinos, conclusions and recommendations

Answer 7

- executive sumary (synopsis of the problem, findings and recommendations)

- overview of research (problem's background, literature summary, methods & procedures, conclusions)

- section on implementation strategies & recommendations

- technical appendix (materials necessary to replicate the project)

Answer 8

project planning, data-gathering and analysis, interprestation & reporting share equally in the budget.

Answer 9

Monetary value of the research can be added in terms ofthe difference betwen teh result the decisions made with the information an the result that would be made without it.

Answer 10

Research can be evaluated by ex-post-facto evaluation: done after the event. This might sharpen the manager's ability to make judgements about future research proposals.
Another evaluation option: prior or interim evaluations. Tthis can review costs and benefits at the end of each stage. But it is difficult to estimate though....