HLSS500 AMU Data Synthesis Interpretation & Presentation Response Discussion Responses should be a minimum of 250 words and include direct questions. You m

HLSS500 AMU Data Synthesis Interpretation & Presentation Response Discussion Responses should be a minimum of 250 words and include direct questions. You may challenge, support or supplement another student’s answer using the terms, concepts and theories from the required readings. Also, do not be afraid to respectfully disagree where you feel appropriate; as this should be part of your analysis process at this academic level.

Respond to Amy:

ABSTRACT

Since the attacks on September 11, 2001, Homeland Security has been on a progressive rise to protect the United States, its borders, its air space, and its overall well-being and stature. Law enforcement personnel have increased around the United States’ marine and land borders. Infrastructure security has been established, re-built, and more advanced than what it was prior to the attacks. This study utilizes quantitative and qualitative data/methods from previous researcher’s works to evaluate how essential or detrimental the increase of security has been on the United States’ well-being. Through gathering an abundance of data from the years 2001 to present day, this study will be able to determine that as aggressive as these notions have been from each president’s reign, each executive order has benefited the United States’ security from disease, illegal trade, drug smuggling, and human trafficking. However, this study will also show the downslide of the aggressive border protection; financial strain, perceptions of social biases, and the rebellion against the overall cause.

The focus groups in this study will be examining the marine protection on our coastlines and the surface protection at the Canada and Mexico border. Within these areas of focus, the study will break down further the impact of drug smuggling, immigration, and the areas highly susceptible to hardship in trade around the borders. Furthermore, the study will examine the variables of the increase of law enforcement and infrastructure security in correlation to these focal groups. Quantitative data is analyzed to define the benefits of the border security efforts throughout the years after the terrorist attacks of 2001. Overall, mixed methods approach will be utilizing several peer reviewed articles and journals to justify the importance of Border Security and its beneficial impact on the country’s well-being as a whole.

RESPONSE TO FORUM QUESTIONS

The hardest section to write on this project was the literature review. It was troublesome to not take direct quotes to justify my reasoning and direction for the project. Using quantitative data is simple however, to display qualitative data, it was difficult to use my own words to support my thesis of the paper. I always felt the need to reference direct quotes from other literary works so that my words held more value to the reader. I still have to work on this portion of the project thoroughly to get this right.

The easiest section for me to write was how I planned on gathering my data with the mixed methods approach. It is easier to tell the reader the direction you plan on going with for your research project than to write the outcome of the said research gathered. It was not complicated to pick a part a previous study and cater it to how it applied to my thesis for my research project.

I feel that I have learned a lot through this class to help me as I carry out my master’s program in Homeland Security. It taught me how to pull the right data from other literary works and how to apply it to your own particular research endeavor. Also, this class helped me to understand a different approach to a research project by breaking it apart week by week. It really allowed us to fully understand the entire process. Now, I will be able to apply all these methods I have learned throughout my other classes so that I can only get better with writing and understanding research concepts. Chapter 4
DEVELOPING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH
PROPOSAL
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“The first principle of grantsmanship [or review at an academic institution]
is to recognize that a good proposal is an argument . . . for the researcher’s
project. The proposal must make a case to the granting agency [or a reviewer at an academic institution] that the research question is interesting
[and] that the study is important . . . Thus the proposal must be written
persuasively.”
—Morse in Silverman, Doing Qualitative Research, 190
Introduction
A
FTER YOU HAVE SELECTED A SUBSTENTIAL design for your research, you will have to write a scientific research proposal to propose
what you want to do, why you want to do it, how you want to do it, what
are the cost implications involved, and who has done a similar thing as the
one you propose to do in your research proper. In preparing the research
proposal, you expand the how part of your research design discussed in
the previous chapter towards a more scientific document that outlines the
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introduction to research methods and report writing
proposed activities of the research from its beginning to its end. This chapter devotes on the discussion of what a research proposal really is as an
academic document. The chapter also discusses its components and the
importance of revising it after finishing the first draft in order to make it
more appealing and easy to read and understand what you propose. In this
case, the chapter indicates a move from your conceptualization of the research process towards documenting it in a more academic way.
What is Research Proposal?
A research proposal is not a research report, though it needs a survey of
a substantial amount of literature and presenting it in the form that is
academically acceptable. Moreover, a research proposal is not a research
design. Research proposal is more than a mere research design; it is a document you prepare for the purpose of outlining the details about a particular
research project, including the aspects of the selected research design. In
most cases, the research proposal provides explanations about the following aspects:
a) The proposed research itself. It tells clearly what will be done in the
proposed research process.
b) Methods and techniques to be used during the execution of research.
It tells how the proposed research will be conducted.
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c) The importance of the proposed research to you, to the community
as a whole and to other researchers. It tells why that research should
be done.
d) How much time will be used for conducting the research proposed?
e) It tells the costs to be incurred in order to accomplish it.
This means that the well–written research proposal will show the reviewers
that you know what you seek to accomplish, how to accomplish it, and how
much will it cost you in terms of finance and time. It shows that you know
quite well the main idea surrounding your research being proposed. This
means that “the proposal describes what the proposed research is about,
what it is trying to achieve and how it will go about, and what we will learn
from that and why it is worth learning.”1
1. Punch & Qancea, Introduction to Research, 357.
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Mligo, E. S. (2016). Introduction to research methods and report writing : A practical guide for students and researchers in
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developing scientific research proposal
In a general sense, the research proposal document does the following
four notable aspects:
a) It provides a logical presentation of your main research idea,
b) It illustrates the significance and worthiness of that idea for scientific
inquiry,
c) It shows the idea’s relationship to past researches, and
d) It articulates the activities for the proposed research project in relation
to that idea
Therefore, research proposal is an important academic or scientific document because it summarizes academically/scientifically the whole content
of research process that you will follow in order to achieve your research
goal.
Research Proposal as an Academic Document
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Any research proposal is an academic or scientific document. What do we
mean by the concepts “academics” or “scientific”? Hofstee explains these
concepts more clearly when he writes that the concept “academics”
is all about coming to new discoveries about ourselves and the
world around us. All good academic [or scientific] work attempts
to find possible answers to unanswered questions. That means researchers are in the business of explaining the unexplained. They
come up with theories to make sense of the world around us and
with solutions to practical problems.2
In fact, what drives researchers to engage in academic work is the
search for new knowledge about existing situations. Therefore, a research
proposal is an academic or scientific document because it proposes a search
for new knowledge about an existing phenomenon; it proposes for the
search of answers about unanswered or incompletely answered questions
about human life; or it proposes to explain the unexplained. And in proposing that, the proposal follows all rules of the academic game outlined by
every academic institution. It is an argument in itself guided by reasoning
while showing the interrelatedness of the various parts within it following
all rules of academic writing. You should always bear in mind that “Good
2. Hofstee, Constructing a Good Dissertation, 3.
Mligo, E. S. (2016). Introduction to research methods and report writing : A practical guide for students and researchers in
social sciences and the humanities. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com
Created from apus on 2019-05-20 20:30:28.
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introduction to research methods and report writing
academic writing is clear and concise, formal and precise.”3 These are aspects which a scientific research proposal is supposed to have.
Why write research proposal?
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There are several reasons for people engaging in writing research proposals.
Three of them are the following: first, they are written in order for people or
institutions to apply for grants in order to implement a certain project, e.g.,
an HIV/AIDS Education Project in villages. Grantsmanship is currently an
industry whereby some people or organizations earn income through writing proposals and asking for funding from funding agencies. Nevertheless,
grant providers cannot be willing to offer their financial assistance on the
project which they do not know about. A well–written project proposal will
convince grant providers that there is a valuable intervention planned out
there which needs support. Therefore, a project proposal for a grant has to
be as substantial as possible to convince grant providers on the importance
and value of what is planned.4
Second, research proposal is written as an academic task in tertiary
education institutions. Before students can go to collect data in order to
write their dissertations, theses, or research papers, they have to write an
acceptable research proposal. After acceptance, it becomes the basis for
the data collection, analysis and report writing as a whole.5 Moreover, it
convinces evaluators about the competence of the student to execute a particular project, and becomes the basis for the relationship between students
and their supervisors in the following research processes.
Third, it is written as a prerequisite for ones employment in certain research institutions. The sponsor needs to certify the proposed works which
the applicant has proposed to do in that institution. In this case, the applicant will have to write a convincing research proposal in order to convince
the employers of the outcomes of the proposed researches.
3. Hosftee, Constructing a Good Dissertation, 187.
4. Cf. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Promoting Research (2014); Neuman, Social Research, 477–479.
5. Neuman, Social Research, 477.
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Mligo, E. S. (2016). Introduction to research methods and report writing : A practical guide for students and researchers in
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developing scientific research proposal
Major Components of good Research Proposal
In the beginning of this chapter we showed that the proposal is an academic
or scientific document. As an academic document, a research proposal follows a specific pattern and has major components which comprise it that
are academically acceptable. The components are the same in whatever
proposal, whether it is just for a research paper that a student prepares in
order to fulfill a certain course requirement, a thesis or dissertation for a
particular degree to be evaluated by a committee in virtue of research for
that degree, or a proposal to apply for funding of a particular project.6
The contents for a Research Proposal should have the following obligatory
key issues as broad topics in it: the Introduction, the Literature Review,
the Methodology, the Data Presentation, analysis and Discussion, and the
Conclusion. Though detailed components of research proposals may differ in arrangements and content depending on the discipline of study, and
the type and purpose of research, some of the major components often
included in a research proposal are the following, all reflecting the abovementioned key issues:7
i.
The Research title,
ii. Abstract,
iii. Introduction and background of research,
Copyright © 2016. Wipf and Stock Publishers. All rights reserved.
iv. Statement and significance of the research problem,
v.
Research objectives,
vi. Theoretical background and literature review,
vii. Methodology and hypotheses,
viii. Implications and feedback
ix. Timetable of research implementation
x.
References
xi. Budget
Therefore, in the following sub–sections we will discuss each of the components above in a more detail.
6. Ary, Jacobs, Sorensen & Walker, Introduction to Research, 607.
7. Silverman, Doing Qualitative Research, 188.
Mligo, E. S. (2016). Introduction to research methods and report writing : A practical guide for students and researchers in
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introduction to research methods and report writing
Research Title
As we discussed in the previous chapters of this book, the research title
emanates from your research idea and should provide the whole of what
readers expect to see in the research report. It tells the “what” of the research. Always the title should be shorter and clearer (my rule, not more
that 20 words). It can be formulated as a one line title, e.g., “The analysis of
the Effects of the use of Computers in Njombe Region” or it can be formulated
in a Main and Half–Title form (colon title), e.g., “The Use of Computers: An
Analysis of Their effects within Njombe Region.”
Remember that the title is the first thing that readers of your proposal
will see. So, it must be attractive, descriptive, and promising. It must be
focused to one specific issue and concise. This means that the title must assure the reader that the research planned is researchable and worthy doing.
Hence, in formulating your title avoid all unnecessary punctuations that
will make your title obscure, e.g., commas, full stops, hyphens, etc.
Abstract
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An abstract is primarily a short summary or a concise overview of what
the proposal is all about which is always written at the end of the proposal
writing. This part of the proposal is normally 100 to 150 words summary or
overview of what is inside the proposal. In the abstract, you summarize the
significance of research as a whole and the major contributions which your
research will provide to the community. Hence, the abstract must be well–
written and should reflect in an honest manner what is presented inside the
proposal because the reader of the proposal can judge the worthiness of it
through just reading the abstract. However, the abstract is written mostly in
larger research projects that need larger proposals not in small ones.
Introduction and Background
This part of a research proposal sets a stage of the work presented in the
whole proposal. It does three major things:
1. It states the background of the problem; where does it originate, how,
and why. This assertion means that it states the magnitude of the problem as it is during the time you write your research proposal.
64
Mligo, E. S. (2016). Introduction to research methods and report writing : A practical guide for students and researchers in
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developing scientific research proposal
2. It explains the context of the study process.
3. It tells why the research will be important to you, to the community
researched, to policy–makers, and to other researchers in the field.
This means that you state the rationale for your study.
Therefore, the introduction and background part should state briefly what
is lacking in current researches which you want to deal with. It means that
it should state the knowledge gap and how you intend to fill in that gap. Or,
it should state your experiences or observations regarding the problem that
prompted you towards investigating it.8
Statement of the Problem and Its Significance
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Statement of the problem is the most important part of the proposal. It
comprises of at least five aspects:9 first, it describes the topic basing on the
magnitude of the problem. Second, it states what problem will be studied in
the research process. Remember, the problem can be stated as a question
or as a statement. The research problem must be clearly stated and easy to
understand and identify it within the whole statement of the problem. The
important things in your research problem are the following:
1. What problem do you want to study? This question must be answered
clearly and with as simple language as possible. Here, you have to
state the content of the problem you want to focus on in your research
process.
2. Why is this problem important? Here you provide the reasons for
choosing that kind of problem and not others.
3. Which variables do you want to examine (for quantitative researches).
Variables show relationships. They should be clearly identified from
the statement of the problem and presented in the form of thesis or
hypothesis. Variables to be examined should relate to the content of
the problem you stated.
Third, the statement of the problem states the evidence that justifies the research problem. Fourth, it states the deficiency in evidence that focuses to
your intended research problem and the need for expanding past research.
Fifth, it states the audience that will use the outcomes of your research.
8. Dawson, Introduction to Research, 58.
9. Cresswell, Educational Research, 73.
Mligo, E. S. (2016). Introduction to research methods and report writing : A practical guide for students and researchers in
social sciences and the humanities. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com
Created from apus on 2019-05-20 20:30:28.
65
introduction to research methods and report writing
Therefore, a clearly stated statement of the problem tells readers about the
significance of your whole research process, and lack of clear statement tells
them about the unreliability and uselessness of the planned research.
Research Objectives
Research objectives tell about the goal which you want to achieve in the
research process. Research objectives are of two types:
Main Objective—The main objective tells about the goal which the researcher wants to achieve in the whole research and is always only one. The
main objective of the research should relate clearly to the problem which
you want to deal with in your research and the main research question
which you purport to answer.
Specific Objectives—These are small objectives that contribute to the main
objective. They may be between two, three or more. They focus on specific
issues within the main objective. These objectives should relate directly to
specific or data collection questions you formulated.
Therefore, both Main and Specific Objectives must be clearly stated and
should have a direct link with the problem of the whole research.
Literature Review and Theoretical Background
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Literature review means that you have to read the works of other researchers who have dealt with the problem you intend to deal with, or similar
to yours. The literature review done should handle at least the following
important aspects:
1. What is already known about the problem stated? That is, what have
other researchers already done? It explores the current state of knowledge about the issue being researched.
2. Is there anyone in the literature reviewed who has done exactly the
same as the one which you intend to do or something that relates to it?
3. What critical evaluation do you provide to what has been done by
other researchers about the problem?
4. What is the gap of research that needs to be filled? That is, what is not
done by previous researchers, which you want to do in your research?
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developing scientific research proposal
Copyright © 2016. Wipf and Stock Publishers. All rights reserved.
5. Where does your work fit in with regard to what other researchers’
works done before, and why is it important that you do your work in
light of where it fits in?10
In handling the aspects listed above, you just do two things in your literature
review process: first, you present the researches done by other researchers
and what they found out according to every theme you have selected to
deal with in the literature review section, if you have arranged it thematically. Second, you discuss these findings while evaluating them in light of
your own proposed research. Therefore, the two processes above allow you
to immerse into the understanding and dialoging with other researchers
and their findings instead of just using them to support your views.
However, our experience indicates that most students and researchers
confuse between “presenting one’s own views on a particular theme while
supporting them with citations from other authors” and “presenting, discussing, and evaluating the findings of other researchers in light of one’s
proposed research.” The first aspect, which most students opt to do in their
literature reviews, is simple to accomplish; however, it is not literature review in its real sense. The second aspect, which most students hardly opt
to do it is hard and time consuming; however, it is what entails literature
review in its real sense. Therefore, literature review enables you to learn
from what others have done, dialogue with their findings, evaluate them,
and build your research on what is already known from …
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