MESOAMERICAN UNIVERSITY

Research Area Consultations

FORMAT FOR DEVELOPING PROJECTS

RESEARCH

Author
Mtro. José Samuel Martínez López
samjusto@[Link]

Web
[Link]

Mexico City

AUGUST of 2003
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1) THE RESEARCH PROJECT

Being the backbone of the first phase of any research.

planning), the research project is the "scaffold", the design of the "work"
"black", the "first radiography" on which the researcher bases himself.
carry out your search for answers. It is the document in which through
arguments and explanations (logically and coherently related to each other) are recorded one by one
one of the steps that the inquirer must take to build knowledge and
information about your object of study.

2) BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RESEARCH PROJECT

A research project to effectively fulfill its mission must be:

clear, simple, precise, concise, coherent, logical, well-argued and
reasoned, without ambiguities or gaps: well written.
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3) BASIC POINTS OF THE RESEARCH PROJECT

0) General Presentation of the Research Project (summary)

1) Título y subtítulo de la investigación

2) Specific object of study

3) State of the art (what has been done/said about this research object?)

4) The thematic areas from which general information will be obtained about the
specific object of study

5) General topic or theme to which the research belongs

6) Problema práctico: a) condición del problema, b) costo del problema

7) Problema de investigación: a) condición y problema, b) costo

8) Justificación: a) ¿Por qué es importante hacer la investigación?, b) ¿Qué le

What happens to society if I don't carry it out?

9) Preguntas de investigación: a) Nucleares o centrales y b) Periféricas o

secondary

10) Research objectives: a) Central or nuclear and b) Peripheral or

secondary

11) Marco teórico interpretativo: a) Nombre de la teoría(s), b) Datos biográficos

by the author of the theory, c) Historical context of emergence and development of the
theory, d) Explanation of the theory, e) Application of the theory to the object of study.

12) Main theoretical concepts

13) Hypotheses or conjectures

14) Type of research: a) by the nature of the object of study, b) by its

objectives, c) by temporality, d) by methodological strategy, e) by the
depth of the sought knowledge.

15) Estrategia metodológica: a) ¿Cuál?, b) ¿Por qué?, c) ¿Cómo se va a llevar a

Did the investigation end?

16) Information gathering techniques: a), b), c),

17) Técnicas de análisis de la información: a), b), c)

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18) Resultados deseados: (lo ideal):
19) Impacto esperado: (lo posible):

20) Human and material resources needed to carry out the

investigación: a) Recursos Humanos, b) Recursos materiales

21) Activity schedule:

22) Tentative/orientative index of the written research report:

Formats and strategies for communication and presentation of results:

["a)","b)","c)"]

24) List of references of the documents collected during the preparation

of project (MINIMUM 50 REFERENCES):
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4) BRIEF EXPLANATION OF EACH OF THE POINTS OF
RESEARCH PROJECT:

0) General description of the project: after the index, this is the first part of the
project. Here it is about making an 'executive summary' and introductory of
the entire project in a maximum of a couple of pages. Therefore, it must be pointed out
clearly the specific object of study, the thematic areas, the problem
practico, la justificación, las preguntas, los objetivos, la metodología, las técnicas, los
desired outcomes and the expected impact.

1) Título y subtítulo de la investigación:ambos tienen que ser claros y sin

ambiguities, it is recommended that the title/subtitle clearly indicate what
What the research consists of and what the object of study is. A good title indicates precision.
and clarity, as well as formalization of ideas (formal, theoretical language); it reveals...
What is the perspective and content of the work in a few words/concepts.

2) Specific object of study: here it is not written what is going to be done during the
investigation, it only indicates what is going to be studied and researched, that is, after
to have delimited the "object of study" temporally and spatially to the maximum, in this
The point indicates the 'fragment of reality' that one is going to investigate.

3) State of the art: here it is described in a very general way what has been said or
investigated about the object of study.

4) Thematic areas (or areas of interest in which the project is framed) of the
which information can be obtained about the object of study: here it is indicated
what are the 'fields or areas of human knowledge', or rather, the
scientific or humanities disciplines from which it is expected to obtain information
about the specific "object of study."

5) Topic or theme to which the research belongs: Here the general topic is indicated.
to which our small specific investigation belongs.

6) Practical problem: this is perhaps the element that gives rise to the development of everything
research project. The problem is the formalization of a need in which
unresolved difficulties arise. Defining a problem is clearly stating
specify the various elements of it, so that they are well organized
specified as well as their mutual relationships. Therefore, to locate it, one must
describe it contextually, that is, in relation to the environment in which it appears
in order to gain a broader perspective for its possible solution. This requires
to locate it precisely in spatial-temporal terms and to point out the various aspects
that have affected its emergence. Defining the problem makes it possible for others
understand what is intended to be resolved with the research.

The location of the practical problem involves two things:

a) condition of practical problem: here, explaining always about the very

from the general to the very specific, the elements of the
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"reality" that, when combined, allows the problem -that pushes us to act
the research - exists.

b) cost of the practical problem: here the costs are argued and described
social consequences generated by the problem.

7) Research Problem: while the practical problem is the description "of the
specific situation" that motivates the entire inquiry, the "research problem" is the
reading or interpretation of the same practical problem but in terms of information.
This is, the research problem is the description of that which we do not know, it is
the location of the information we lack and that if we had it could
help to solve the problem.

The location of the research problem involves two things:

a) Condition of the research problem: here it is described and pointed out in

terms of information what needs to be known that is still unknown,
That is to say, it indicates what type of information is lacking and why.

b) Cost of research problem: here the costs are described

consequences generated by the lack of information expressed above.

8) Justification: here it is indicated and explained with arguments (coherent, logical and
convincing), why it is important that this research is carried out and not another.
Hello, the following two questions must be answered:

a) Why is it important to conduct research?

b) What happens to society if I do not carry out this research?

9) Research questions: here are the questions that one will seek.
respond with all the research. In all research, there are two types of
questions:

a) Central or Key Questions: here are noted the two or three major ones
questions that arise from the research problem, it is about
of the central questions that drive us to carry out all the inquiry.

b) Peripheral or Secondary Questions: here the largest number are drafted.

small questions -obvious- that we need to answer to respond
the central or core questions.

10) Research objectives: consist of writing what is intended

carried out with the research, are a clear and precise statement of the goals that are
they are pursued in the investigation. They must be coherent with each other and must be
feasible. The objectives of all research are of two types:

a) Central or General Objectives: here the general questions are drafted

in the form of an objective, attaching only a verb in infinitive. These objectives
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they are always the ones who point out the central goal that is wanted to be achieved with the
research.

b) Peripheral or secondary objectives: here the questions are written.

specific in the form of objectives, adding only one verb in infinitive. The
specific objectives, indicate what is intended to be done in each of the
stages of the project, these objectives must be evaluated at each step
to understand the different levels of results. In principle, the sum of
specific objectives and their 'appropriate relationship' allows achieving the objectives
generals.

11) Interpretive theoretical framework: it is the theory from which the researching subject
it will interpret its object of study. The functions of any theoretical framework are: to delimit the
research area, suggest research guidelines, gather existing knowledge
in the area to be researched, express general theoretical propositions....For
to build the theoretical framework, it is necessary to review the existing literature, ensure that
"intellectual authority" of the selected author or authors, review the validity of the
information consulted, review the period of production of the theory, review the clarity
and coherence of the postulated principles and assumptions on which the
theory, review the solidity of the theories.

There are five points of the interpretive theoretical framework:

a) Name of the theory(ies): here the name of the theory that is going to be described
use to interpret/explain/understand the object of study.

b) Biographical data of the author of the theory: here it is indicated very

general biographical data of the author of the theory.

c) Historical context of the emergence and development of the theory: here it

describe the historical-cultural, political, and scientific context within which
the theory in question arose, here it is noted why this theory arose.

d) Explanation of the theory: here it is described from the general to the specific
chosen theory. To do this, it is necessary to explain (and support with textual quotes) the
main statements and the main concepts that make up this
theory.

e) Application of the theory to the subject of study: here a ...

effort to explain the 'specific object of study' based on theory
described in point 'd'. Here the main ideas, claims and
concepts of the chosen theory and are "applied" to the "object of investigation".

12) Main theoretical concepts: here a list of concepts is made or

categories that will be most used during the research are defined with 'quotes'
"textual" each of them and the source from which it was constructed is indicated.
definition:
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DOCUMENTARY REFERENCE
CONCEPT DEFINITION FROM THE
(TEXTUAL QUOTE) SOURCE FROM WHERE IT IS
HE/SHE OBTAINED THE DEFINITION

13) Basic hypotheses or conjectures: hypotheses are the link between theory and
investigation. A hypothesis proposes a "possible answer" to the problem of
investigation, while suggesting an explanation for certain facts and guiding the
investigation of others. The hypotheses or conjectures are in this sense the
tentative answers to the central or core questions that guide the whole
research. It is important not to forget that the hypotheses must establish the
"variables" to be studied, set limits, establish relationships between variables, serve as
based on inferences that help us explain the object of study, they propose a
tentative solution to the researched problem, helps to maintain consistency with the
facts. There are different types of hypothesis. By their 'formulation' they can be: a) general
the empirical, working or operational, null and b) of research, operational,
statistics. By their "object", they can be descriptive or causal. By their "extent",
they can be singular, restricted general statistics, universal not
restricted. They can also be generic, particular, empirical, plausible, before-
facto, post-facto, validated. The qualities of a good hypothesis are:
generality (must transcend the conjectural explanation of the singular) and specificity
(they must allow the breakdown of operations and predictions). It must be
well-defined its variables, its terms must be precise. For your reference
empirical findings must be able to be verified and refuted, that is, they must be able to be subjected to
test. To evaluate them, it is necessary to know if there is conceptual precision in their variables, if
there is operational precision, knowing if they respond to the problem, if they allow predictions, if
they guide the research, if they propose logical relationships between variables). The
The construction of hypotheses is optional depending on the type of research.
It is not recommended to prepare for exploratory research regularly.
hypothesis.

14) Type of research: here the type of research that one is going to conduct is indicated.
carry out according to 'the nature of the object of study' (documentary or field)
depending on the objectives of the research (basic/pure/academic or applied),
depending on the temporality of the object of study (sectional or transectional), depending on what it is
the methodological strategy (quantitative, qualitative, and triangulation), and depending on
level of depth of the knowledge sought with the research (exploratory,
descriptive, correlational, and explanatory) :
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a) Due to the nature of my subject of study, this research is....
b) For its objectives, my research is.....
c) Due to the temporality of my object of study, this research is...
d) The methodological strategy to be used in this research is....
e) Due to the depth and type of knowledge that is sought to be obtained, this
research is....

15) Methodological Strategy: here it is about answering the following questions:

a) ¿Cuál es la estrategia metodológica que se eligió para realizar esta

research?: here only the name of the methodological strategy is indicated
chosen

b) Why was that strategy chosen and not another?: here through arguments and
explanations are justified (especially epistemologically) why it
he/she decided to use this strategy and not another.

c) How will the entire research be carried out? And in what order?
here are listed (from start to finish) the phases and steps to be taken throughout the
research.

16) Information gathering techniques: here it is pointed out which techniques are
collection that is intended to be used, it explains why those techniques were chosen and
says how they are going to be applied.

17) Information analysis techniques: here the techniques are pointed out which
analysis is planned to be applied, it explains why those were chosen and it states how it is that they
they are going to apply.

18) Desired results: here it describes what is considered 'ideally' or

"utopian" one wishes for it to happen as a consequence or result of the research

19) Expected impact: here it is humbly pointed out what is the way
"concrete" (and feasible) will surely happen as a result of the research

20) Human and material resources necessary to carry out the

research: here are exhaustively listed the Human Resources and
Materials that will be necessary to carry out the entire investigation:

a) Recursos Humanos:indicar qué personas son y qué harán

b)Recursos Materiales:enlistar cuáles serán, cual es su costo y para qué se van
to occupy

21) Schedule: here, using a word table, you need to describe the sequence
of the activities of the entire research periodized one by one by date:
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SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES
Activity September October Nov Dic January Feb
Preparation of X
Investment Project.
Search for X
References
Documentaries
Reading of X
documents
Application of X
surveys
Organization and X
analysis of the
results
Drafting of X
First Draft
from the Report
Draft of the X
second draft
of the Report
Presentation of the
report
X

22) Tentative/Indicative Index of the written research report: here, in addition

to indicate introduction, conclusions and list of cited and consulted documents, it is
try to imagine what the possible index of the research report would be, that is,
trata de plantear los capítulos (mínimo 3) y subíndices que tendría el reporte escrito, y
They are given an order that will always have to go from the most general to the most specific.

23) Formats and strategies for presenting and communicating results:

here three types of documents are indicated and explained from which the search will be conducted
to disclose the results of the research:

a) Written research report

b) Video, website, conference?
c) Multimedia CD, exhibition, radio program?

24) List of references of the documents compiled during the preparation

of the project:

References are the data and linguistic representations that allow

locate the documents collected during the development of the project of
research.

There are several ways to compile reference lists depending on the system.
or the "style" used to do it. The systems and styles worldwide
The most recognized for drafting reference lists are: The system of the
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American Psychological Association (APA), the system proposed by Kate L.
Turabian (TURABIAN system), the system of the Modern Language
Association (MLA), the style proposed by The Chicago Manual of Style
(Chicago system), and the Harvard system.

For the research project format proposed in these Notes

of Communication I, the reference lists will be made under the
Harvard System. The reason? Because it is considered to be the most
ergonomic and practical.

The minimum number of documentary references that each must include

The research project is 50.

The order of the data that must include all the references made under this
system, is the following:

LAST NAME, First Name (Year of publication). Title of

documento en negritas. Editorial, País, Ciudad,
Pages.