Table Of ContentProposal Writing for Business
Research Projects
This book helps students with the initial phases of their business research
project, offering a clear step-by-step approach from defining aims and
research questions through to conducting literature reviews and writing a
methodology.
Features to aid learning include chapter objectives, plentiful real-life
examples to demonstrate good practice, exercises to apply the concepts and
further reading for proactive investigation.
A self-contained guide to every stage of writing an effective business
research proposal, this text should be recommended reading for all advanced
undergraduate and postgraduate students studying Business Research
Methods and embarking on a research project of their own.
Dr Peter Samuels graduated with a first class honours in mathematics from
Cambridge University and a PhD in mathematics and cognitive psychology
from the University of Reading. He currently works as Senior Lecturer in
Research Practice in the Business School of Birmingham City University.
He leads undergraduate and master’s level dissertation modules with about
1,000 students per year. He is passionate about developing both staff and
students into competent academics and researchers. He is a self-taught
academic writing tutor and previously set up and led a statistics advisory
service at his university. He is involved in project and voluntary work in
East Africa where he trains doctoral students in research proposal writing
and research methods. He has published widely in mathematics education,
research methods and learning development.
Routledge Focus on Business and Management
T he fields of business and management have grown exponentially as areas
of research and education. This growth presents challenges for readers try-
ing to keep up with the latest important insights. Routledge Focus on Busi-
ness and Management presents small books on big topics and how they
intersect with the world of business research.
I ndividually, each title in the series provides coverage of a key academic
topic, whilst collectively, the series forms a comprehensive collection across
the business disciplines.
N euroscience and Entrepreneurship Research
R esearching Brain-Driven Entrepreneurship
V íctor Pérez Centeno
Proposal Writing for Business Research Projects
Peter Samuels
S ystems Thinking and Sustainable Healthcare Delivery
Ben Fong
G ender Diversity and Inclusion at Work
D ivergent Views from Turkey
Z eynep Özsoy, Mustafa Şenyücel and Beyza Oba
Management and Visualisation
S eeing Beyond the Strategic
Gordon Fletcher
F or more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/
Routledge-Focus-on-Business-and-Management/book-series/FBM
Proposal Writing for Business
Research Projects
Peter Samuels
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Peter Samuels
The right of Peter Samuels to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
B ritish Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-032-22721-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-25812-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-28513-7 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003285137
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
Preface x
Why this book? x
A bear eating fish x
Who is this book written for? x
What is unique about this book? xi
Who is the author? xi
Acknowledgements xii
Reference xii
Introduction 1
Context 1
What is a proposal? 1
Why write a proposal? 1
What makes a good proposal? 2
Added benefits 2
Types of dissertation 2
Outline of the rest of this book 4
References 5
PART ONE
Selecting and presenting your topic 7
1 Selecting your topic 9
Introduction 9
The creative process 9
The importance of data 12
vi Contents
O ther topic selection strategies 13
Q ualities of a good topic 13
A final word 14
References 14
2 Writing your front matter 15
Introduction 15
Writing your title 15
Writing your aim 15
Writing your objectives 18
Writing your research questions 19
Exercises 19
PART TWO
Academic writing 21
3 Structuring your proposal 23
Introduction 23
Essential and optional elements of a proposal 23
Using section numbering 24
4 Academic writing style 27
Introduction: busting a common myth 27
Use the third person, passive voice 27
Some dos and don’ts 28
Avoiding subjective writing 31
Use hedging 32
Reference 33
5 Using evidence 34
Introduction 34
Backing up specific claims 34
Avoiding plagiarism 35
Quoting 35
Summarising 37
Reference 38
Contents vii
6 Paragraph writing 39
Introduction 39
Definition 39
Length 39
Structure 40
Using transitional words 41
Examples 41
7 Argumentation 44
Introduction 44
Two styles 44
Examples 45
Argument planning 46
Example 47
Exercise 49
Reference 50
PART THREE
Writing the rest of your proposal 51
8 Writing the rest of your introduction 53
Introduction 53
W riting your background 53
Example 54
W riting your problem statement 54
Example 54
Additional parts 56
Example 56
9 Literature reviews 58
Introduction 58
General principles 58
Obtaining evidence 59
D eciding on your themes 62
Including theory 63
Including critical analysis 64
viii Contents
C oncluding your review 67
Exercise 68
References 69
10 Conceptual frameworks 70
Introduction 70
General advice 70
Examples 71
Exercise 72
References 72
1 1 Writing your methodology/method section 73
I ntroduction: why the name confusion? 73
P urpose and argumentation style 73
Structure 74
Philosophy 75
Approach 75
Strategy 76
Data collection 80
V alidity, reliability and hypotheses 81
Data analysis 81
Ethics 83
Limitations 84
Common mistakes 84
E valuating methodology/method sections: DECJAD 85
Exercise 86
References 86
1 2 Producing a schedule 88
Gantt charts 88
Research phases 90
Accompanying narrative 90
Exercise 92
13 Referencing 93
Introduction 93
Citing 93
Contents ix
Tables and figures 95
Reference lists 95
References 98
PART FOUR
Beyond your proposal 99
Introduction 99
14 Time and stress management 101
Time management 101
Stress management 105
References 107
15 Your supervisory relationship 108
Introduction 108
Have correct expectations 109
Preparing for supervisions 110
Learn to be assertive 111
Tips for a successful relationship 112
References 114
16 Next steps in your research 116
Introduction 116
Responding to your proposal feedback 116
Drafting your introduction chapter 117
Doing and drafting your full literature review 117
Drafting your methodology/method chapter 118
Requesting ethics approval 118
Designing your data collection instrument 118
Bibliography 119
Index 120
