You need to deliver a research plan for a research project of your choice.
A template for research projects can be found here and is based on the six Ps from the course textbook. The plan should be maximum 3 pages (4 pages including administrative front-page) and maximum 1200 words excluding the front page but including all figures, tables and references to literature. Note: the template has a front page and some explanatory text in each section. These are not part of the three pages! Remove all the explanatory text in each section before delivering. (but leave the front page).
The research plan will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Purpose: You should convince the reader about the purpose of your project by motivating and referring to existing literature that support your thesis/hypothesis. You should also clarify your research questions justified by the purpose. (35%)
- Contributions: You should demonstrate that you have a clear understanding of what new knowledge or other new products, processes, models, theories etc. you add to the existing knowledge. Important to show that your contribution is new (20%)
- Research method: You need to show and convince your reader about the decisions you have made regarding research strategy and data generation methods. Strategy and data generation methods are related to your research questions as shown in Figure 3.1 in the book. You can of course have other strategies and data generation methods (the books gives only a number of examples) as long as you justify your decisions. It is also important that you justify why you are not using other strategies and collection methods (e.g. why are you using case study and not ethnography as strategy). (20%)
- Participants: If you plan to evaluate your thesis with users you need to describe this. Any other dependency on people or resources (e.g. experts you need to interview, data sets you need access to) needs to be written here. You also need to discuss the ethical aspects related to your participants and how you plan to handle these. (10%)
- Research paradigm: You should read the related chapters in the book and try to describe what paradigm you are in, positivist, interpretivism or critical research. Discuss this with your supervisor. (10%)
- Final deliverable and dissemination: Will this be a report, a video, a demonstration, presentation etc.? How do you justify the presentation form you have chosen? (5%)
Delivery date and method: See Administrative information page.
I have started to collect some examples of research plans that have received (almost) full score in earlier years. You can find them here:
- Yara Bayoumy's research plan. (2017)
- Martin Mølnå and Odd Cappelen's research plan. (2017)
- Marte Løge's research plan. (2015)
- Simon Stastny's research plan. (2015)