Formal Research Paper

Preliminary Research Design – IP1

Adam Jones

American InterContinental University

Business Research for Decision Making MGT600

April 6, 2014

Dr. Russell Faulk

Formal Research vs. Business Proposal

Part 1

At first glance, formal research and business proposals seem to be the same type of information gathering process. This paper will answer the questions, “What are formal researches and business proposals?”; “What are the similarities and differences between them?”; “What are the capabilities of each?”; and “How do they help managers make better-informed decisions?”

A formal research report provides basic information and statistics in a given field or industry (Jane, 2014). Formal research is also known as scientific research. According to Sekaran & Bougie (2013), scientific research focuses on solving problems and pursues a step-by-step logical, organized and rigorous method to identify the problems, gather data, analyze them, and draw valid conclusions from them. Often, a company will conduct research on the products and markets that sell them. The formal research report is used to answer questions like “Is there a market for this new product or service?”, “What is the general sale rate for this market?”, and “Are there any other companies that produce similar products and what is their selling price?” The overall function of a formal research report is to reveal to business leaders how saturated a market is for a particular product or service.

A business proposal is a document that suggests a method for completing a task, whether it is launching a new product or implementing a new marketing campaign (Jane, 2014). Usually a business proposal will contain a brief description of the problem, a description of the suggested approach to the problem, an implementation schedule for the proposed solution to the problem, and a budget that outlines any expenses incurred do to the problem and its solution. Plainly put, business proposals suggest a...