Instructions
This assignment has three (3) parts, please clearly indicate these parts as distinct sections of
your Qualitative Research Proposal. You can prepare for these assignments using the guidelines
for each part as set out by the related tutorial worksheets, but the completed worksheets cannot
be handed in instead of a well-written and well-presented proposal assignment. Do not forget to
include your name at the top.
Research Proposal (10 Marks)
Interview Guide (5 Marks)
Shooting Guide (5 Marks)
Part 1. Research Proposal (10 points):
Please review the ‘Research Questions Worksheet’ and lecture notes from Week 3 to
understand the distinct questions that must be clearly answered within your research proposal.
You will be marked on the following components of your research proposal:
5 points: Introduction, Research Problem, and Questions (400 words MAX)
Introduce the Goal of the Research; define and justify the Basic Research Model being employed
Discuss the Problem, Issue, or Critical Focus identified as your core Research Problem, include
specific Delimitations of this Topic
List your Research Questions + Define the Types of Research Questions that you have chosen
to use
Indicate the Units of Analysis that will be engaged by your research questions and discuss why
they are important for your research proposal.
5 points: Literature Review and Reflections on the Research Problem (500 words MAX)
Use academic sources to discuss what previous research reveals about your topic.
Discuss the significance of this research issue for you, the community in question, or society in
general.
Discuss the ethical considerations and limitations of a study using these methods?
Be sure to write with clarity, correct grammar and correct formatting for in-text citations with a reference list.
Part 2. Interview Guide (5 points):
Please review the ‘Interview Guide Worksheet’ and lecture notes from Week 4 to understand the
distinct components, interview guide sections, and types of questions that must clearly be
incorporated within this section. Revise and polish your interview guide as a separate section,
linked to your Qualitative Research Proposal. The interview guide must include the following
components:
Develop in interview guide with:
3 clear sections (ie Generative Questions, Directive Questions, and Closing Questions)
15 primary questions (total across all of these sections), plus an additional 5 follow-up or probing
questions.
Indicate each question type in parenthesis beside the question.
Write a brief rationale (300 words MAX) explaining what you hope to accomplish across each
section of the interview guide, relating your interview questions to both the Research Questions
and Units of Analysis for your study. It may be useful to explain how your questions accomplish
the goal of each question type by ensuring that you answer the following questions:
Indicate and discuss your interview type and interview sample.
How do your questions and their ordering help build rapport and lead the interviewee towards
your research questions?
How do the different types of interview questions that you have used engage with your research questions?
How do your follow-up or probing questions engage with particular units of analysis?
Part 3. Shooting Guide (5 points):
Please review the ‘Photo-Documentation Shooting Guide Worksheet’ and lecture notes from
Week 5 to understand the guide format with shooting goals and shooting instructions, as well as
the questions that must be clearly incorporated in the rationale. Revise and polish your shooting
guide to as a separate section, linked to your Qualitative Research Proposal. The shooting guide
must include the following components:
Develop a shooting guide table (like used on the worksheet) consisting of 4 columns:
The sites/locations or actors expected to be captured in the photos.
Categorize each shooting instruction by labelling it with a shooting goal ‘type’.
List of the wider research questions (just put the #) and expected units of analysis to be captured
by the shooting instructions
At least 2 shooting instructions for each shooting goal for each site, representing the translation
of your research questions into instructions for photo documentation.
Discuss (300 words MAX) how photo-documentation of the chosen sites and samples relate to
your Research Question Answer the following questions:
Are the photos a way of evoking the lived world/experience of the participants? How?
Are the photos used to exemplify an analytical understanding of cultural practice? How?
What particular “Units of Analysis” are captured through the process of taking photos of particular sites or samples of people?
Discuss how your ‘shooting ‘goals’ answer your Research Questions. Be specific.
How will these ‘shooting goals’ compliment the data to be gathered from proposed interviews?
