Imagine you are working in a level of government (local, state or federal), a health service

Imagine you are working in a level of government (local, state or federal), a health service, or a local or international NGO and are in a position to design a substantial piece of qualitative research to answer a policy or practice problem in your field of work.Write a 3000-word research proposal outlining the

1. You work in an Indigenous youth service in an urban area, you are interested in the strategies that Indigenous young people use to support resilience and wellness in a large city as you would like to provide services to support them. Design a qualitative study to gather relevant evidence on this issue in your client population in order to inform the development of services.

2. You work in a local NGO supporting immigrant and refugee women. You have realised that some of your clients have experienced (or are experiencing) domestic violence, and your service is not currently providing services to address this. Design a qualitative study to gather relevant evidence on this issue in your client population in order to inform the development of culturally appropriate services.

3. You work in an urban hospital with an Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department. In the last few years, there has been a much higher than usual staff turnover and you would like to determine the causes of this. Design a qualitative research study to determine the reasons for poor staff morale in the A&E department, and to inform possible strategies to address this problem.

4. You work for the Pharmacy Guild of Australia. From 1 February 2018, all over the counter medicines containing codeine will become Schedule 4 (Prescription Only Medicine). You want to provide advice and support to pharmacists on how best to manage this transition. Design a qualitative study to gather relevant evidence on this issue in order to inform the development of resources to support pharmacists and their clients.

5. In post-conflict countries, there is often significant investment by donors in rebuilding health services and providing accessible health care. You work for a donor organisation who has invested in a post-conflict health system, but after 5 years in this country, progress has stalled, with attendance at free clinics for children under five beginning to decrease. Design a qualitative study in one post-conflict country to describe the reasons for the stalled progress in health service utilisation and to inform adjustments to the current program.

Frequently asked questions:

• How many references do we need to cite for background? There is no set number, but it would be reasonable to use between 9 and 12 references. You may need to read many more papers than this to identify the best papers to cite in your proposal. Read widely, then narrow your focus as your proposal develops.
• Can we use a real setting? Or do we make one up? You must choose a real geographic setting so that you can find some figures to support your research question, and you can either use a real organisation, or make one up.
• What are the components of a research proposal? If you look back over lectures, each of the steps you need to address to develop a research proposal have been covered. From arguing for the need for the research, developing a research question, deciding on the population to study, how to sample from that population and recruit participants, choosing a data collection method, thinking about how you will analyse the data and in the final lecture we will be considering reporting, dissemination and significance of research.
• Important considerations – use your critical thinking skills! Think about all the actors playing a role in your health problem. It may include policymakers, doctors, nurses, counsellors, industry, pharmacists, the media, educators, international organisations – think broadly about explanations for your problem. Check that there is a clear logical link between the problem, your research question, and the research methods you will use.