RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES AND INQUIRY

Title of your research

Online Consumer Shopping Habits and Behavior 

Introduction/Background 

Provide a brief description of what the proposed research topic is about, why is it important and how you came to be interested in it. 

Literature Review

The purpose of this assignment is to develop skills in finding and analyzing valid literary resources for your research.

The review should be written in an integral / synthetic style, and NOT as an annotated bibliography. 

This part of your research proposal should be roughly 7-9 pages (excluding cover page and references) and written in paragraphs, report format. All citations and references for this course are to be done in the APA style. 

Please note: Use in-text citations to reference all ideas, concepts, text, and data that are not your own. If you make a statement, back it up with a reference! 

· Research a minimum of 15 relevant business-related literature sources (focus on material available in digital format only for this course). Carefully choose your 15 "keepers" that are clearly related to your study. (Note: you might need to find 30 to “keep” only 15). 

· Identify major common themes encountered in the selected literature sources. For each theme, create its own subsection within the literature review. 

· For each theme / subsection of the literature review, explain the opinions of the authors and show their similarities, differences, methods of acquisition of data, methods of data analysis and other pertinent information. State how the reviewed research results relate to your proposed study. 

· Identify the gaps in the literature and explain what needs to be done to move forward in your research. 

Statement of the Problem

Detail the problem that you are considering. Explain: 

· How are you defining and delimiting the specific area of the research? 

· What is the gap that will be addressed by this research?

· What it is that you hope to learn by conducting this research? 

· Discuss the anticipated outcomes and benefits to the researcher, the organization, or society. 

Research Questions

Provide focused research questions for your planned research. Also provide a back-up question in case the first one does not pan out. Make sure you address the following questions: 

· What is the scope of your research? 

Is the scope of your research question reasonable?