Real World Research A Resource for Social Scientists and Practitioner—Researchers SECOND EDITION COLIN ROBSON | ¢ Blackwell Publishing '‘© 1993, 2002 by Colin Robson BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 108 Cowley Road, Oxford OX4 1JF, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Colin Robson to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, ‘mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. First published 1993 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd ‘Second edition published 2002 Reprinted 2002, 2008 (twice), 2004 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Robson, Colin. Real world research : a resource for social scientists and practitioner ~ researchers / Colin Robson. - 2nd ed. Pp. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-631-21304-X (hardcover : alk. paper) ~ ISBN 0-631-21305-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Social sciences —Research— Methodology. 2. Psychology —Research— Methodology. I. Title. H62.R627 2002 300°.7'2—de21 2001001503, A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. Set in 10.5 on 13 pt Galliard by Best-set Typesetter Ltd, Hong Kong Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by T] International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall For further information on Blackwell Publishing, visit our website: http://www blackwellpublishing.comAppendix A Writing a Project Proposal These suggestions are targeted at relatively small-scale research or enquiry, such as that carried out as a project on a taught post-graduate course or for a research degree. They may also be of value in connection with small grant appli- cations to funding organizations. Research is an activity which is essentially in the public domain. Carrying it out is rarely a totally solo exercise. All research seeks to make links to what other researchers have done previously. It usually involves access to and the use of public resources. Much research, particularly in the arts and’ social sciences, is in some sense based on other people and their responses and productions. On completion, there is an onus on the researcher to. make her findings available through some form of publication (= ‘making! public’). It is, therefore, appropriate that any proposed research should be laid for inspection and comment by others, and, in many cases, that it should approved by others. Any student certainly requires his proposal to be for approved. Those seeking funding require the approval of the funding to which they apply, or they will not receive support. In these cases, there almost always be some required format to the proposal. It is an obvious of the professional approach advocated here that any specific rubric should: strictly adhered to. If a maximum of 2,000 words is required for the first May, you do not send in 3,000 on the eighth. The concern here is for general issues appropriate to all small-scale proposals. A useful analogy has been made by several writers between chers and architects (c.g. Hakim, 1987; Leedy, 1989). Planning is the link. The architect plans buildings; the researcher draws up plans to i gate issues and solve problems. In each case these plans must say sor about structure, about how the task is conceptualized and about the m to be used in implementing the plans.