A research question and hypothesis or hypotheses (that of course, stem from your research question). Please note that formulating hypotheses is often hard and not intuitive. Therefore, we expect you to do some reading in academic journals in your field to get a better idea on how to formulate your hypotheses. Your variables should be as SPECIFIC, NARROW, and MEASURABLE as possible. For example- this hypothesis includes two variables that are too broad and not measurable: "HR practices will be positively correlated with employee's behavior". In contrast, the following is an example for a hypothesis that includes two very specific and measurable variables: "higher stress will predict lower job satisfaction"
- A diagram that presents all the variables that are part of the hypotheses, and arrows that describe the relationships between them. Again here, look at how these types of diagrams are represented in academic articles.
- A literature review that helps the reader understand:
- Why it is important to study the topic? That means that your research topic has to be both novel and important for something (usually either for practice, for research, or for both)
- What gaps in the literature your proposed research bridges (for example- there is a theory on the topic but no empirical evidence, nothing is known about the phenomenon you are describing and any knowledge on that is important for some aspects of the organizational life, etc..)
- What evidence DOES exist on the topic?
The literature review should be based on at least 3 academic articles from peer-reviewed journals. Select only articles that generate strong arguments regarding the importance and significance of your research topic.
The first SLP in this course requires A LOT of preparation. It might be that you would need to read tens of articles before you will be able to understand what topic is worth focusing on (in terms of how important it is to study it...). Twenty five hours is a gross estimation of the minimal amount of time that you would need to invest just in finding a valid research topic. If you already have a research topic that meets the above requirements, spend more time on reading more academic work to improve your SLP and ultimately, your understanding of the process.
Topic: Strategic Management in Emerging/Developing Countries: Effects of Demographic Divide and Hyper Urbanization on Business Strategy.
Practicing the Writing of a Research Proposal
The focus of Module 2 is on theory development. Theory is a formal explanation for why and how events, relationships, or other phenomena are related, offering a possibility for predicting future events and/or relationships - this is only one among many definitions that exist but one that pretty much sums up what we're looking at. Theory is a particular focus in all academic work, and, in the form of something called a "model", makes up the structure in terms of which findings from empirical research are interpreted and understood. The formulation of models and their translation into research hypotheses and procedures lie at the heart of this course.
Assignment Expectations (Content)
As an introduction to your hypothesis or hypotheses, you are asked to add a few paragraphs on the theory or theories (sometimes called model/s) upon which your study is based. In other words, you are asked to provide a rationale for your hypotheses that is based on a theory. For example, your theoretical development could look something like that (but of course should be much broader than that): "According to Goal Setting Theory, setting goals that are measurable, specific, and challenging should increase job performance", therefore, it is hypothesized that (meaning -I hypothesize that in my study) setting measurable, specific, and challenging goals will be related with increased performance among engineers in unionized organizations". This example applies only for theoretical arguments that have not been studied yet. This specific prediction was studies extensively, and therefore, cannot be used in your SLP.
If you have hard time understanding what is required here, it is highly recommended to read a research article that was published in a top tier journal and see how the authors connect between theory and hypotheses. This part appears in the introduction section of the article and it is usually presented as the rationale for the hypotheses.