Research Plan Development Workshop

Prof. Mario Tabucanon, UNU-IASDr. Philip Vaughter, UNU-IAS

ProsPER.Net Young Researchers’ School9th March 2017

Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City

Rationale for Proposal Development and Presentation

• Why develop/write a research proposal?

– Helps you focus your thinking and ideas!!! What are the questions to be answered? Have they been answered before?

If so, were they answered in the context you are thinking about researching?

Is it applicable and feasible?

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Rationale for Proposal Development and Presentation

• Why develop/write a research proposal?

– Gives you the opportunity to envisage the whole research project (beginning to end)

– It can be used for sourcing funding for research projects from external agencies

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Rationale for Proposal Development and Presentation

• Why present?

– To get feedback for the development of the project

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“Good Proposal”

• Focused– Addressing a current need

• Well Structured• Methodologically rigorous• Achievable• Clearly defined, relevant outcomes for

identified stakeholders

“Good Proposal”

• Focused– Addressing a current need

• Well Structured• Methodologically rigorous• Achievable• Clearly defined, relevant outcomes for

identified stakeholders• Fundable!

Objective

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• Develop four research proposals on topics we covered in this year’s YRS: Water Security for Sustainable Development in a Changing Climate• There are four research groups that have been assigned to

develop a research proposal on the following topic related to the this year’s theme:

• Water resource quality assessment• Water and waste water treatment/recycling• Infrastructure development under increased flooding conditions/storm

intensity• Development planning policy under changing climate conditions

• Aim to be interdisciplinary, focusing on cross-cutting issues that can tie together many of the themes that have been so far covered individually

Well-structured

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Research Proposal Structure

• Area of Research: For this school, your area of research has been pre-determined

• Statement of Problem: Must be of significance to the field of study Therefore, should be about:

An area of concern (e.g., Deforestation) A condition to be improved upon (e.g., Forest biodiversity

levels) A troubling question that exists in scholarly literature, in

theory, or in practice (e.g., What management systems reduce deforestation?)

Some things to consider: Are you testing a theory/model or do you want develop a

theory/model? Are you looking at policy gaps? Are you testing practices? At this stage, the idea can still be wide and rather vague

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Research Proposal Structure

• Research Questions and Outcomes: Develop main questions of research

Describe the problem ‘in a question’ to be answered Find a theoretical/policy basis to support your problem Read all that you can (reasonably) on the topic from

available databases! Factors to consider when developing research

questions Potential for original contribution – establish context and

demonstrate need for it Practicability – are the outcomes practical and adaptable? Feasibility – can you achieve the objectives with given

time and resources? Acceptability – ethical and legal aspects to consider Competency – individual as a researcher; available within

your reach

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Research Proposal Structure

• Objectives and Focused Questions: These are the specific questions that you as a

researchers are going to investigate There should be an emphasis on showing how the

objectives of the research will be achieved Though individually numbered, they should be linked to

portray one underlying concept Tip: These could form specific chapters in your final

write up or the research of sub-sections in the results section

Example: Research Question: Do community forest management

programmes improve livelihoods for rural communities? Specific Objective: Identify the current livelihood benefits

the community is accruing from participating in a community forest management programme.

Specific Objective: Determine the factors that affect communities’ access to the livelihood benefits

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Achievable

• Scoping/brainstorming (This session)– What themes are emerging in the

group

• Scoping (Work on this after school day)– Develop your research question(s) and

how you will investigate it

Achievable

• Focus on research questions (Evening of Friday, March 10th)

• Research objectives and focus questions for each objective (Morning of Monday, march 13th)

• What methods and data will you use (Morning of Monday, March 13th)

• Assemble a timeline (Morning of Tuesday, March 14th)

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Key Deliverables:Proposal Presentation

(Preparation: Morning of Monday, March 13th – Morning of Wednesday, March 15th)

• Background and statement of the research area/field

• Insight from field visits/lectures• Research questions• Methods• Impacts and Outcomes• Timeline

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Key DeliverablesResearch Proposal

• Send the final proposals and completed templates to Philip by Friday, April 15th

• Should also achieve the following:– Increase communication skills and

problem solving– Develop management skills, including

delegation– Work to deadline

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Research Plan Development

Exemplar – Delhi Metro Project

Christopher Doll, Osman Balaban

ProsPER.Net Young Researchers’ School3rd August 2011 Hosei University – Tama Campus

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RESEARCH PLAN TEMPLATE 1 Research Questions and Outcomes

AREA/FIELD OF RESEARCH: identify broad topic area and brainstorm a list of possible questions, issues and problems that you will need to investigate. Then try to narrow this down to a more specific Research Focus.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM: While it is known that …………………………….. Research has yet been conducted to .........

PURPOSE: Therefore the overall goal/purpose of this research is to ………

RESEARCH QUESTION: Therefore the research question to be answered by this research is ………

OUTCOMES/DELIVERABLES : The expected outcomes of this research will include:

Global and local environmental problems are pressing for sufficient attention and prompt actions. The growth of cities and continual increase in urban population in developing countries are expected to intensify these problems under business-as-usual scenarios. However it’s not easy to convince developing countries to leave BAU scenarios and undertake actions to tackle both global and local environmental problems. Even if they are willing to do so, their economic and human resources may not suffice to create a significant change. Considering this challenge, several new concepts are being developed specifically to address the multiple urban challenges in coordinated and less costly manner. In this respect, ‘co-benefits approach’, which promotes the implementation of policies that bring multiple benefits at a time, has started to gain attention of researchers and policy-makers. The approach is argued to overcome the current challenges in cities of developing countries at relatively lower costs when compared to the costs that were borne by today’s developed countries.

Hypothetically we know that policy initiatives in certain sectors can generate global and local environmental benefits simultaneously. The two main sectors in which policies and initiatives could result in co-benefits are solid waste management and transportation. However in present we know very little about the current level of co-benefits generated by certain initiatives and also we have limited knowledge and instruments to calculate or quantify co-benefits. Sufficient research has yet been conducted to find out the extent to which current projects have generated co-benefits and to develop methodologies to quantify co-benefits. Therefore this research set out to address and fulfill this gap in our knowledge and to improve our understanding of the links between co-benefits approach and policies in certain urban sectors

To develop a methodology to quantify the environmental co-benefits of urban transportation initiatives and to apply this methodology to calculate the co-benefits of Delhi Metro Project.

What have been the environmental co-benefits of Delhi Metro Project and how can these benefits be calculated?

1. Calculations on different environmental benefits generated by Delhi Metro Project.2. A methodology or an evaluation tool that can be used to assess the effectiveness of transportation projects in generating co-benefits in different contexts.3. A sound understanding of the role of urban transportation sector in tacking global and local environmental problems.

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RESEARCH PLAN TEMPLATE 2 Goals and Objectives

RESEARCH QUESTION (from T1): OUTCOMES/DELIVERABLES (from T1):

OBJECTIVES: To achieve the research goal or answer the research question, the study will address the following objectives:

1. To

2. To

3. To

What have been the environmental co-benefits of Delhi Metro Project and how can these benefits be calculated?

1. Calculations on different environmental benefits generated by Delhi Metro Project.

2. A methodology or an evaluation tool that can be used to assess the effectiveness of transportation projects in generating co-benefits in different contexts.

3. A sound understanding of the role of urban transportation sector in tacking global and local environmental problems.

find out/calculate how many tones of GHG emissions have been reduced after Delhi Metro started to operate.

find out/calculate how much of air pollutants (SOx, NOx, PM10 etc.) have been reduced after Delhi Metro started to operate.

develop a methodology or a tool for quantification of global and local environmental co-benefits of a metro system.

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RESEARCH PLAN TEMPLATE 3 Specific research questions

Identify the specific research questions that you will need to ask to find and analyse the information that will help you achieve each objective. They may include a range of What, Why, Impact and Action focused questions and should reflect a sequence that can guide the sequence of data collection and analysis steps. In the third column, reflect on any issues you are aware of either in initial scope or implications if for whatever reason a certain question cannot be fully answered

Research objectives (from T2) Specific research questions What are the assumptions or known issues involved and therefore the limitations with this approach; is that satisfactory to set the boundary of the thesis?

1.

2.

3.

To find out/calculate how many tones of GHG emissions have been reduced after Delhi Metro started to operate.

1.1 What is the linkage between a metro system and GHG emissions?

1.2 What specific aspects of a metro system could help to reduce GHG emissions?

1.3 How and which GHGs could be reduced through the operation of a metro system?

To find out/calculate how much of air pollutants (SOx, NOx, PM10, etc.) have been reduced after Delhi Metro started to operate.

2.1 What is the linkage between a metro system and air pollution?

2.2 What kind of air pollutants could be reduced by a metro system and how?

2.3 What are the annual amounts of reduction in different air pollutants due to the Delhi Metro?

To develop a methodology or a tool for quantification of global and local environmental co-benefits of a metro system.

3.1 What are the current tools and methodologies available to make such quantification?

3.2 What are the strengths and weaknesses of current tools and methodologies?

3.3 What kind of data is required to develop such methodology and what are the possible ways of collecting that data?

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RESEARCH PLAN TEMPLATE 4 Sources, Collection, and Analysis of Data

Plan for data collection and analysis to provide evidence for answering the research questions defined for each objective

Specific research questions (from T3) Techniques of data collection Source of data Techniques of data analysis/ model development

1.1 What is the linkage between a metro system and GHG emissions?

Interviews to collect data Delhi Metro Rail Corporation System boundary identification

1.2 What specific aspects of a metro system could help to reduce GHG emissions

Literature review, expert interview Literature, experts System analysis

1.3 How and which GHGs could be reduce through the operation of a metro system?

Literature review, expert interview Literature

2.1 What is the linkage between a metro system and air pollution?

Literature and interview on the metro DMRC, City officials, published literature

2.2 What kind of air pollutants could be reduced by a metro system and how?

Mode share and shift data Literature, Central Road Research Board, primary data

2.3 What are the annual amounts of reduction in different air pollutants due to the Delhi metro?

Air pollution data Delhi Committee on Pollution Control, primary data collection

Trend analysis, source apportionment study

3.1 What are the current tools and methodologies available to make such quantification?

Literature review Literature Collect and classify

3.2 What are the strengths and weaknesses of current tools and methodologies?

Literature review, expert interview Literature, experts, researchers’ own evaluations and observations

Comparative analysis, sensitivity analysis, SWOT analysis

3.3 What kind of data is required to develop such methodology and what are the possible ways to collecting that data?

Literature review, expert interview, panels

Previously collected primary and secondary data

Survey of data availability and access

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RESEARCH PLAN TEMPLATE 3 Specific research questions

Use the final template to allocate time to achieve each objective and detailed research question, paying attention to those that can be done in parallel, and those which need to be done in a certain sequence. Allow sufficient time for literature review and in particular, the write-up of the thesis. Adjust the timescale to your intended schedule.

Planned submission: Expected time to complete the project

Time (e.g. Month)

Literature Review

Data Collection

Data Analysis/Model Development

Policy Recommendation

Write Up

SDGs as focus for integration?

• http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/focussdgs.html

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From MDGs to SDGs

• Successor to the Millennium Development Goals– 2000-2015– 7 goals around poverty eradication, hunger,

education, gender equity– Applied to the least developed countries

• Sustainable Development Goals– Outcome of Rio+20 process– Agreed by UN member states– 17 goals, 169 targets– “They are integrated and indivisible and balance the

three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental”

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2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

• Action-oriented• Concise• Clearly explained

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2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

• Action-oriented• Concise• Clearly explained

• Fragmented• Risks cherry-picking • Risks taking a siloed approach

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Thank you!

Special thanks to: Dr. Linda Chinangwa – UNU-IAS & Dr. Christopher Doll – UNU-IAS

ProsPER.Net Young Researchers’ School9th March 2017

Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City