Optimizing Research Proposals and Project Assessment
Navigating Research Proposals and Project Evaluation
Presenting multiple proposals within a research project can introduce several assumptions and carries inherent risks. Applicants may feel overwhelmed by having to choose between various projects, and more specifically, among several options within each project. This multiplicity of options can also be interpreted as a lack of a clear research direction. In public tenders, it is crucial to demonstrate a clear plan of action, as budget holders prioritize well-defined studies. A complex array of options risks obscuring the core research process amidst bureaucratic requirements.
Strategic Presentation of Alternatives
A more effective strategy is to present several interesting alternatives when there is fluid communication between the applicant and the requesting investigative agency.
Ensuring Sample Representativeness
The degree of representativeness of a sample should be addressed separately, as it varies significantly between quantitative and qualitative studies.
Quantitative Studies: Margin of Error and Confidence
For quantitative studies, this section focuses on the margin of error for the overall sample and the established confidence level. Typically, this involves:
- A 95% confidence level (equivalent to 2 standard deviations), indicating a 95% chance that the sample mean falls within the range of the true population mean.
- Considering the least favorable case where p = q = 50%.
For infinite populations (more than 100,000 individuals), researchers often rely on pre-calculated tables that provide sample sizes, margins of error, confidence levels, and p/q values. For finite populations, a simple formula can be applied.
While standardized tables and mechanisms help determine the margin of error, practical research often employs other procedures to construct samples. Consequently, the resulting error probability can be different and potentially higher. The conceptual framework for determining error, however, remains relevant.
Qualitative Studies: Social Representativeness
In the qualitative perspective, both open interviews and focus groups are designed with their representativeness in mind. This representation is determined by the objective conditions of the participants and the discourse they are hypothesized to produce.
Qualitative representation is shaped not only by basic sociodemographic characteristics of individuals but also by the characteristics of their speech material, which the analysis should address. Therefore, qualitative samples are not statistically representative in the same way as quantitative ones. Instead, they aim for social representativeness, ensuring that both individuals and discourses are present in the sample as they exist proportionately under given conditions in society.
For example, a project might ensure that different sectors of the population are represented by an equal number of open interviews with groups or individuals exhibiting specific behaviors (e.g., behavior X, behavior Y, or neither). Hence, when striving for appropriate qualitative representation, it is important to acknowledge which sectors might be intentionally or unintentionally excluded.
Criteria for Research Evaluation
This crucial aspect tends to be overlooked in many research projects.
Reliability and Validity in Quantitative Research
In statistical surveys or experiments, various criteria exist to establish the reliability of the instrument and the context for interpreting perceived differences when analyzing relationships between different variables, even in the simplest analyses.
Reliability in Qualitative Research: Saturation
In qualitative practices, reliability is primarily defined by saturation, where similar references are repeated by participants from the same social sectors. However, it can be challenging to confidently assign such formulations to specific social sectors. The challenge lies in defining these references:
- Do they belong to the same semantic field?
- Do they share the same structure of meaning?
In both quantitative and qualitative cases, the reliability and validity of the results are evaluated after obtaining them. Reference to earlier studies can serve to create a framework for evaluating the results obtained with the proposed research.
In research projects of any size, a common form of assessment for all research, prior to drafting the final report, involves consulting experts in the field studied.