Research Project Proposal Requirement (Word Limit 1500 words (Plus or Minus 10%, Harvard Style)
Deadline: 20/11/2016
Conduct and write a research project proposal on: Consumer behaviour / perceptions on Private Label Brand vs National Brands in Australia (Industry Perspective)

Note: Research should be wider / broader industry perspective not organisation based which requires organisation consent. My intention is to do mass communication / survey as the method to interact with the customer so the minimum survey requires is 100 so prepare questionnaire in-depth to fulfil the requirement. How is the survey going to be done? Is it through survey monkey or let me know details.

Project proposal must cover all the items explained below.. Please note that you must follow all the usual rules detailed in the Style Guide attached including guidelines regarding citing and referencing. An example of a project proposal is attached. You may wish to refer to the example as you work through the materials. It is highly recommended that you do so.

Research Project Proposal Format / Section
The project proposal should be written in report format. All main project proposal sections and sub-sections are numbered. Specific sections customised to the context of the project proposal are:
Title page – Please include:
• Word count
• Student name
• Student number
• Subject title
• AQF level

Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Focus for the study
3. Project related literature summary
4. Planned research methodology
5. Ethical considerations
6. Schedule for completion
References minimum 15 references Harvard style
Appendices
Survey Questions minimum 25 questions covering different parts and should be specific and connected to research question.

Content within each Project Proposal Format /Section
Title/Topic page
State your proposed project topic title. It should be descriptive of the focus and concise. Please include: word count, student name, student number, subject title and AQF level.
1. Introduction
This section of the project proposal has two parts:
1.1    Background
Provide brief background information about the organisation that is the site of your research.
1.2    Project research problem
Establish the need for your study by describing the problem addressed by your project and any
related issues in the area that you intend to research.
2. Focus for the study
This section has three parts:
2.1    Purpose of research project
Provide a clear and succinct statement of the purpose of your research.
2.2    Research questions
List your research questions. Your research questions (usually ‘what’, ‘how’, ‘why’ or ‘what if’) should number about 6 so that the focus of your study is manageable. These research questions should not be so broad that they will demand too many resources, nor should they be so narrow as to be of insufficient substance. Also, they should not be too controversial because of sensitivities that may be aroused as a result of doing the research. Refer to the ‘Goldilocks test’ referred to in the above section entitled ‘How to choose a project’. The purpose of your study is to discover the answers to these research questions. Consider carefully what research questions you will ask, as these research questions will drive your data collection and analysis.

2.3    Significance of the project
Indicate the outcomes you hope to achieve for policy and/or practice in your organisation from this
research.
3. Project related literature summary
This section has two parts:
3.1    MBA discipline area of this project :Marketing
Because the project should cover a subject area as Marketing, in this section the connection of the research with the subject studied should be made.
3.2    Review of some literature related to this project
Next, indicate your initial understanding of the project topic based on a review of the literature. Your review does not have to be extensive for the proposal; however, you should have done an initial survey of the literature to establish your directions.
4. Planned research methodology
This section has two parts:
4.1    Method
Describe the research methodology you plan to use, and why it is the most suitable for answering your particular research questions. This could, for example, be the case research method or the action research method.
4.2    Data collection
In order to answer the research questions you will need to collect data. Describe here the secondary data sources you will use. Are there specific published materials that can be used to provide some background and form the foundations of your research? There may be government, trade, industry or workplace resources you can access.
Also, explain the primary data you plan to obtain and the data collection methods you will employ such as observation, surveys, interviews and focus groups. What questions will you be asking and which people or organisations will you involve?
5. Ethical considerations
Risk profile for this research project should be of ‘no risk’ or ‘negligible risk’ or ‘low risk’.
The section has three or four parts (depending on the risk category of the project):
5.1    Demonstrate awareness
Demonstrate your understanding that you are required to comply with Australia’s national guidelines about ethical conduct of research. You could do this by referring to these learning materials and/or to the National statement on ethical conduct in human research. See: https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/book/national-statement-ethical-conduct-human-research.
5.2    Address standard ethics issues
Mention the standard ethics issues relating to research projects (confidentiality, privacy, basic rights of participants) and what you are doing to manage these issues. You need to explain that, in order to ensure ethical research conduct, you will:
• obtain consent from all participants
• respect any additional requests for privacy and confidentiality identified by individual participants
• store information securely
• De-identify the source of specific pieces of information in the final report.
5.3    Address additional ethics issues (where relevant)
Identify the additional ethics issues specifically relating to your particular project. Especially if your project falls in the ‘low risk’ (rather than the ‘no’ or ‘negligible risk’) category, you must highlight the fact that you are aware of the potential for discomfort among your participants. You will have to also explain what you are doing to minimise discomfort. For instance, you may want to enable participants to opt out of the research, to not answer questions, to leave the room or to stop their participation at any time. Also, you may plan to draft your interview questions carefully so that you show sensitivity to the participants in order to minimise discomfort.
5.4    Use of consent forms
Mention that you have obtained consent from the organisation to undertake the project and append the signed consent form with the project proposal. Explain that you will be arranging for each interviewee or respondent to sign the research consent forms (as provided in Appendix C) and that you will include those forms as an appendix to your project report.
6. Schedule for completion
Identify the tasks involved in the project and the stages/times for their completion. It is useful to include a schedule or Gantt chart which shows the planned research activities and timelines. Label your chart and provide a title for the diagram (e.g. ‘Figure 1 – Timeline for project completion’).
My timeline should be made in the way that I can complete by Jan 22 2017.
7. References
Minimum 15 harvard style references: List references that you have consulted thus far, and that you have cited in the text of the project proposal. Refer to your Style Guide attached to ensure you have referenced correctly.
8. Appendices
Use appendices to display documents that are relevant to your project proposal such as survey / interview questions, but would interrupt the flow of your project proposal if they were included in the main text. You may include, for example, explanatory information about the background of your study, pilot study material, or questions for interviews.

Checklist for project proposal
It is very important for you to remember that your project proposal is evaluated against the items mentioned below so ask your writer to crosscheck that everything is included.

Introduction
? Background information provided
? Research problem clearly articulated / defined
Focus for the study
? Research purpose stated
? Significance of project identified
? Project is feasible
Project related literature summary
? Connection to an aspect of MBA studies
? Literature cited
? Literature aligned with project title and with problem statement
Research methodology
? Research method explained and justified
? Data collection methods explained and justified
? Collection of primary data included
? Questions to be asked from participants stated
Ethical considerations
? Ethics issues identified
? Use of consent forms explained
? Research Ethics Sheet completed
Schedule for completion
? Research schedule or Gantt chart included
? Schedule is feasible
Style Guide
? Margins, line spacing and fonts
? Dates and numbers
? Author-date referencing
? Sourcing and quotations
? Labelling of figures, diagrams, tables
? List of references
English
? Spelling
? Grammar
Structure and flow
? Title is on the first page
? Table of Contents
? Logical structure
? Connections between sections
? Easy to read

In addition, the checklist highlights above the importance of three additional things that you must take into account, namely:
Style Guide – ensure that you carefully review the Style Guide attached and follow all the conventions (e.g. margin, fonts, line spacing). In particular, ensure that you use the correct quoting and referencing method otherwise you may be found guilty of plagiarism which carries strict penalties.
Spelling and grammar – ensure that you have used correct spelling and grammar in your Project Proposal by proof reading the document yourself, using the spell checker in Word and/or asking a friend to proofread the document for you.
Structure – lastly, you should ensure that your project proposal has a sound structure with connections and a logical flow. There should be a logical sequence and connections between the sections so that the project proposal develops almost like a story.

Please pay particular attention to the checklist to ensure that your project proposal will meet the requirements for approval. If not, you will be required to correct and re-write.

Information:
Upon Proposal accepted / approved by the University, the below 2 items comes in action:
Draft Project Report (Word Limit 5000 words (Plus or Minus 10%)
Final Project Report (Word Limit 5000 words (Plus or Minus 10%)
Full requirement for Project Report will be provided after the proposal is accepted. If proposal is rejected, the proposal needs to be rewritten until University accepts and approves.