COMM3003 Communication Research
Fall 2023
Group Project: Research Proposal (30%)

Based on the individual assignment accomplished by every team member, for this assignment, you will work in groups of maximum four people to develop a fully structured research proposal. You may develop a research proposal in communication discipline based on the prompts provided by your seminar instructor. You are encouraged to discuss with the instructor about your research topic before starting the project.

Your research proposal presents your plan for the research you intend to conduct. Regardless of the topic and purpose of the research, your research proposal should follow the same structure.

1. Introduction (10%). In this section, you need to first introduce the identified problem or a research question and then state your thesis. Following that, indicate why the research is relevant to and significant for the studied field and/ how the result of the research will address the identified problem. For example, does the current study fill a gap in the existing body of research on same or similar subject? Does the current study add original knowledge to academic community’s existing understanding of the subject? Will the results of the current study contribute previously unknown information to and thus improve the future advertising/PR activities?

2. Literature review (20%). In this section, you need to introduce ALL the sources you plan to use in your research. You need to identify milestone studies related to your research, such as journal articles, book chapters, news   articles, books, etc. You need to present not only the collection of the relevant literature but also an effective synthesis of information based on your understanding of the literature. You also need to explain whether and how the literature supports the research question of the current study.

3. Research question and/or Hypotheses (10%).

4. Research method (30%). In this section, present your research plans by covering aspects including: the type of research you plan to do (e.g., is it qualitative or quantitative research?); the type of the method (survey, experiment, interview, etc.); the type of the data you will analyze (e.g., what are the target population and sampled population of the research? Will you   collect qualitative data or quantitative data? How will the survey questions/interview questions/experiment procedure look like? Can you provide some of the sample questions? What are the measuring tools you plan to use to develop your questionnaire/interviews/observation?)

In the same section, briefly discuss how the data will be analyzed. For example, are you using statistical technique(s) or qualitative content analysis? Which specific analytic technique do you plan to apply?

5. Sampling process (20%). In this section, indicate your plan for sampling process of the study. You need to specify the sampling technique(s) applied to identify and recruit sampling population (e.g., will you conduct random sampling or non-probability sampling? What is your rationale for the sampling process of choice? Where and how do you plan to find the samples?).  You also need to introduce and provide rationale for the sample size.

6. Expected results and implications (10%). In this section, discuss the most possible/expected results of the study. Explain how the expected results might  contribute to communication discipline and/or future advertising/PR activities.

Your paper should include a cover page with each group member’s name, student ID, course number, and the submission date on it. The paper should be less than twelve pages (double-spaced) excluding cover page, bibliography, footnotes, and appendix. Points will betaken for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. In-text citations and references should follow APA style. Submission must be typed in Times New Roman 12 points and double-spaced. LATE SUBMISSION WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

Due date: 5:00 p.m., December 22nd, 2023