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RSCH 600 Research Proposal writing
RESEARCH PROPOSAL - PART 1: INTRODUCTION,
REVIEW OF LITERATURE, PROBLEM STATEMENT,
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Due at the end of week 7 (Sunday February 28, 2021 at
midnight)
You need to conduct some research related to your own interests
or to serve the interests of some organization
(employer/client/sponsor). Before you start writing a formal
proposal, you (or your employer/client/sponsor) would like to
gather some information about the problem as well as
understand its importance.
Choose your research topic thoughtfully and submit the topic of
your research proposal for approval the latest by the end of
Week 3 (Sunday January 31, 2021 at midnight). You can find
the submission box in Week 3.
This part of your research proposal should be roughly 7-9 pages
(excluding cover page, references and annex) and written
in paragraphs, report format. All citations and references for
this course are to be done in the APA style.

HERE ARE THE KEY PARTS OF THIS PART OF THE
PROPOSAL (PART 1):
Title of your research
Make it intriguing – (BUT LESS THAN 120 CHARACTERS)
Introduction/Background
Provide a brief description of what the proposed research topic
is about, why is it important and how you came to be
interested in it.
Literature Review
The purpose of this assignment is to develop skills in finding
and analyzing valid literary resources for your research.
The review should be written in an integral / synthetic style,
and NOT as an annotated bibliography.
Please note: Use in-text citations to reference all ideas,
concepts, text, and data that are not your own. If you make a
statement, back it up with a reference!
• Research a minimum of 15 relevant business-related literature
sources (focus on material available in digital
format only for this course). Carefully choose your 15 "keepers"
that are clearly related to your study. (Note: you
might need to find 30 to “keep” only 15).
• Identify major common themes encountered in the selected
literature sources. For each theme, create its own
subsection within the literature review.
• For each theme / subsection of the literature review, explain
the opinions of the authors and show their
similarities, differences, methods of acquisition of data,
methods of data analysis and other pertinent information.
State how the reviewed research results relate to your proposed

study.
• Identify the gaps in the literature and explain what needs to be
done to move forward in your research.
Statement of the Problem
Detail the problem that you are considering. Explain:
• How are you defining and delimiting the specific area of the
research?
• What is the gap that will be addressed by this research?
• What it is that you hope to learn by conducting this research?
• Discuss the anticipated outcomes and benefits to the
researcher, the organization, or society.
Research Questions
Provide focused research questions for your planned research.
Also provide a back-up question in case the first one does
not pan out. Make sure you address the following questions:
• What is the scope of your research?
• Is the scope of your research question reasonable?
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RESEARCH PROPOSAL - PART 2: Research Methods
Due in week 11 (Wednesday, March 24, 2021 midnight)

The purpose of the assignment is to develop skills associated
with selecting and applying methods for data collection,
qualitative data analysis, stationary and time series data
analysis and hypothesis testing.
Note: Part A and E are common to all Research Approaches.
Use only the relevant parts to your research method from Part
B to Part D.
A. Data collection
Identify the sources that will offer the information that you
need to answer the research question (journals, books,
internet resources, government documents, people, etc).
1. What data do you plan to acquire to answer your research
question? Why? What kinds of instruments,
variables, materials, or sources will you use (i.e. will you use
observations, surveys, interviews, case studies,
focus groups, experiments, documents, media, data base
searches, etc.)? If you plan to use mixed methods,
will they be sequential, concurrent or transformative? Why?
2. List the kinds of data/information that you plan to collect
(e.g. testimonials, statistics, business/government
reports, other research data, audio/video recordings, etc.). Also,
consider two or three alternative ways you
could gather data/information for this research.
3. If you plan to use research participants, where will they come
from? How will they be sampled? How many
participants will you require? If you are not using research
participants, who will you use as the target audience
of your data? Who would most benefit from your research, and
why?

4. Business research topics relate to events that develop in time.
• Explain how would you acquire a snapshot of data relevant to
your research question. Within the
snapshot, the data become effectively stationary.
• Consider the evolution of data with time. How would you
acquire the time series data relevant to
your research question?
5. What ethical issues will your research project present? What
biases might you bring to the research and how
will you address that bias?
B. Analysis of stationary data
1. What method will you choose to analyze the stationary data
that you plan to collect?
2. Has this method of data analysis been applied in similar
situations by other authors? Include references and
illustrations from the literature to show the advantages and
disadvantages of the method.
3. Annex a worked out example of application of the method
using simulated or previously published data.
4. How will you validate your findings/c onclusions?
C. Testing hypotheses
1. State you hypotheses.
2. Explain whether your hypotheses will be tested using
frequentist or Bayesian approach, and justify the choice.
3. Have similar hypotheses been tested by other authors?
Include references and illustrations from the literature.
4. Annex a worked out example of hypothesis testing using

simulated or previously published data.
D. Analysis and forecasting of time series
1. What method will you choose to analyze and forecast the
time series data that you plan to collect?
2. Have these methods of data analysis and forecasting been
applied in similar situations by other authors?
Include references and illustrations from the literature to show
their advantages and disadvantages.
3. Annex a worked out examples of analysis and forecasting
using simulated or previously published data.
4. How will you validate your findings/conclusions?
E. Timetable and Budget
1. Provide a plan (timetable) of the major research activities (o n
weekly or monthly basis)
2. Provide a budget estimate for all eligible expenses of the
proposed research
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Grading Rubric for Papers
The followings are 3 criteria that are used in marking your
written papers:
❖ Content/Development that includes:
Subject Matter --
• Key elements of assignments covered
• Content is comprehensive/accurate/persuasive
• Displays an understanding of the relevant theory
• Major points supported by specific details/samples
Higher-Order Thinking --
• Writer compares/contrasts/integrates theory/subject matter
with work environment/experience
• At an appropriate level, the writer analyzes and synthesizes
theory/practice to develop new ideas and
ways of conceptualizing and performing
❖ Organizing includes:
• Central theme/purpose is immediately clear
• The structure is clear, logical and easy to follow

❖ Style/Mechanics that includes:
Format
• Properly cites ideas/info from other sources
• Paper is neat/shows attention to detail
Grammar/Punctuation/Spelling
• Rules of grammar, usage, punctuation are followed
• Spelling is correct
Readability/Style
• Sentences are complete, clear, and concise
• Sentences are well-constructed with consistently strong,
varied structure
• Transitions between sentences/paragraphs/sections help
maintain the flow of thought
• Words used are precise and unambiguous
• The tone is appropriate to the audience, content, and
assignment

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Checklist for Term paper 1
Note that this checklist is not to replace the Assignment
Guideline mentioned in page 1. This
checklist is designed to elaborate on the key points of the term
paper.
Please make sure that you addressed the following questions
before submitting your term paper:
• General:
☐Did I strictly follow the APA style (font size, spacing,
citation, paragraph structures, list of
references, etc.)?
☐ Did I meet the minimum page requirement (7—9 pages,
excluding title page, table of contents,
references, and annexes)?
• Topic:
☐ Is the topic less than 120 characters but not too short?
☐ Is the topic clear enough to explain the proposed study?
• Introduction:

☐ Does the introduction part address the five components of the
introduction of a proposal (one
paragraph for each)?
• Literature review:
☐ Did I write 5 - 7 pages?
☐ Did I use only peer-reviewed journal articles and books as the
main source of information?
☐ Did I review and summarized at least 15 relevant article
journals/books related to the study
topic?
☐ Is there a logical flow of ideas/concepts in the literature
review?
☐ Did I write a clear literature gap/s or literature deficiency?
• Statement of the problem
☐ Does the statement justify the problem properly?
• Research question
☐ Are the research questions (in qualitative or quantitative
methods) and research questions or
hypotheses (in quantitative and mixed methods) clear enough to

be answered at the later stage
of the research?
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Checklist for Term paper 2
This checklist is designed to elaborate on the key points of the
term paper mentioned in page 2.
• General:
o You research method should be either quantitative or mixed
method.
o No page limit but strictly follow the APA style
o Submit Term Paper 2 in Turnitin. No need to include your
Part one here.
o On the same day, submit the upgrade version of Term Paper 1
through Dropbox (email).
• Data Collection:
o What type of data and Why you choose that type of data?
▪ What kinds of instruments
▪ Identify the sources information
▪ If you plan to use mixed methods, which type and Why?

o List the kinds of data. Consider 2 or 3 alternative ways you
could gather data
o If you plan to use research participants, where wi ll they come
from? Sampling Techniques?
How many participants?
o If no research participants, who will be the target audience?
Who would most benefit from
your research, and why?
o If your research topic is related to events that develop in time
(time-series data only).
• Explain how you would acquire a snapshot of data
• How would you acquire the time series data relevant to your
research question?
o What are ethical issues and biases will your research project
present? (You don’t need to
explain how will you address it)
• Analysis of (stationary) data:
o What method will you choose to analyze ?
o If the method of data analysis you choose been applied in
similar situations by other authors include
references and illustrations
o Annex a worked-out example of the application of the method
using published data (Optional).
o How will you validate your findings/conclusions?

• Testing Hypothesis
o State your null hypothesis ONLY.
o What is your approach (frequentist or Bayesian)? and justify
the choice.
o Have similar hypotheses been tested by other authors? If yes,
include references.
o Annex a worked-out example of hypothesis testing using
previously published data (Optional).
• Analysis and forecasting of time series
o What method will you choose to analyze?
o If these methods of data analysis and forecasting been applied
in similar situations by other
authors include references
o Annex worked-out examples of analysis & forecasting using
previously published data (Optional).
o How will you validate your findings/conclusions?
• Timetable and Budget Plan
o Show the timetable for major activities on weekly or monthly
basis.
o Show your budget plan for research related expenses.
Bhargav Reddy Mandadi
Week 5 Discussion
COLLAPSE
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Cluster analysis or simply referred to as clustering groups items

so that similar objects are placed in the same cluster and
different objects in different groups (Deshmukh & Gulhane,
2016). Cluster analysis is a data mining tool used by
organizations and businesses to identify groups of customers
that exist, identify types of transactions that help identify fraud,
and identify groups of behaviors that exist. Insurance companies
deploy cluster analysis in identifying fraud. Cluster analysis
works by associating objects by their closeness. Clustering is an
unsupervised learning algorithm since the number of groups is
not known before conducting the analysis. The similarity
between objects is used in classifying and placing objects into
groups.
Cluster analysis has been applied extensively in marketing.
Clustering is deployed in marketing to better personalize and
target customers based on their shopping preferences and trends
(Punj, 1983). Marketing using cluster analysis is performed by
identifying characteristics of customers that are similar to
others and creating campaigns that are similar and have been
successful. Mathematical models are used in identifying similar
customers according to characteristics of purchasing patterns,
behaviors, and many more. Cluster analysis segments customers
to achieve better targeting of customers based on their behavior
and preferences.
Clustering enables segmenting customers on many dimensions
and starting campaigns based on the customers’ characteristics.
The clusters change when clustering runs, ensuring the accuracy
of data since the actual status is reflected. Also, customers who
are very different from each other are identified. Clustering
plays an essential role in grouping items into groups based on
their similarities and is useful in grouping customers based on
their behavior hence targeting them during marketing
campaigns. Clustering is also used in detecting fraud in a group
of transactions by picking anomalies.
References
Deshmukh, M. A., & Gulhane, R. (2016). Importance of
Clustering in Data Mining. International Journal of Scientific &

Engineering Research.
Punj, G. (1983). Cluster Analysis in Marketing Research:
Review and Suggestions for Application. Journal of Marketing
Research, https://doi.org/10.2307/3151680.
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