First assignment is to begin a research proposal. This proposal included:
To start this proposal I needed to read, read more and then read some more. The key to starting any research is to have a broad topic (for me it was volunteer motivations of young adults), and then start to narrow it down.
My supervisor gave me a list of resources to start with and a table to summaries the information from these resources. All were academic journal articles from peer reviewed journals. I summarised these articles in a word doc table. The layout is shown below.
This table is a useful tool for summarising and synthesising information available from academic journals, news reports, working papers, industry reports etc.
Developing a topic:
So starting from the broad topic for my initial application:
"What motivates young adults, 18-24, to become actively involved in volunteer programs?"
I narrowed the research questions to:
1. What are the functional motives of young adults, 18-24, to volunteer for organsiations?
2. How to functional motivations relate to organisational factors for young adults, 18-24?
3. How do personal motivations and organisational factors change over time for young adults, 18-24?
Proposed Methodology:
From the research questions the method initially chosen was Quantitative surveys. There were two established methods to use for analysing volunteer motivations and organisational factors: the Volunteer Function Inventory (VFI) and the Volunteer Management Inventory (VMI)
The VFI was developed by Snyder and his colleagues in 1998. This is a six factors analysis of motivations for volunteers, including Values, Understanding, Social, Career, Protective and Enhancement.
The VMI was developed by Cuskelly and his colleagues in 2006. The VMI has seven factors that influence retention of volunteering: Planning, Recruitment, Screening, Orientation, Training and Support, Recognition and Performance management.
- Background to the current research/literature
- Major research questions
- Proposed Methodology and Sampling
- Research timeline
To start this proposal I needed to read, read more and then read some more. The key to starting any research is to have a broad topic (for me it was volunteer motivations of young adults), and then start to narrow it down.
My supervisor gave me a list of resources to start with and a table to summaries the information from these resources. All were academic journal articles from peer reviewed journals. I summarised these articles in a word doc table. The layout is shown below.
| Reference | Definitions | Methodology - Type, strengths/weaknesses | Findings | Conclusions and Implications | Creating your own voice (Academic Voice) |
This table is a useful tool for summarising and synthesising information available from academic journals, news reports, working papers, industry reports etc.
Developing a topic:
So starting from the broad topic for my initial application:
"What motivates young adults, 18-24, to become actively involved in volunteer programs?"
I narrowed the research questions to:
1. What are the functional motives of young adults, 18-24, to volunteer for organsiations?
2. How to functional motivations relate to organisational factors for young adults, 18-24?
3. How do personal motivations and organisational factors change over time for young adults, 18-24?
Proposed Methodology:
From the research questions the method initially chosen was Quantitative surveys. There were two established methods to use for analysing volunteer motivations and organisational factors: the Volunteer Function Inventory (VFI) and the Volunteer Management Inventory (VMI)
The VFI was developed by Snyder and his colleagues in 1998. This is a six factors analysis of motivations for volunteers, including Values, Understanding, Social, Career, Protective and Enhancement.
The VMI was developed by Cuskelly and his colleagues in 2006. The VMI has seven factors that influence retention of volunteering: Planning, Recruitment, Screening, Orientation, Training and Support, Recognition and Performance management.
