Topic 2: Research planning – scope and concept
The first topic attempted to give you a sense of the overarching research environment in which you work, and the need to think about that context from a strategic perspective. With that in mind, you now need to start developing your research concept, that is, working out what it is exactly that you want to research and how feasible it will be.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of this topic you should be able to:
- identify the factors that need to be considered in scoping your research idea into a proposal;
- assess whether the project is likely to be feasible given the resources available.
Topic content
Read the following notes.
2.1 The idea
2.2 Building blocks
2.3 People support
2.4 Clarifying the project scope
2.5 Funding considerations
2.6 Timelines
Activity
Complete this activity after you have worked through the subtopics.
Activity 3: Prepare a SWOT analysis
Taking into account all of the information presented in this topic, one of the final things to do to complete the scoping stage of your project is to conduct a SWOT analysis. At this stage think about a project you wish to develop or have been recently involved with. Prepare a SWOT analysis of the project and determine whether or not you should proceed with the proposal before venturing on to the grant-seeking phase. (Guidelines to conducting a SWOT analysis are included in subtopic 2.6.)
Modules