I have read through the proposal once again and paid close attention to the sections highlighted, that is, conceptual framework, research methodology, and the general organization of the research proposal. Based on my assessments, I have identified three key areas to adjust and outlined various steps I would take to fine-tune the paper.
First, after conducting thorough research on the topic of study, I identified more than four different research studies (Tabatabaei & Ghorbi, 2014; Akhtar & Arif, 2011; Hussein et al., 2014; Alsabbagh & Khalil, 2017) that have been done globally on a similar research topic. I have also analyzed more than three research studies (Al Hammadi & Al Hammadi, 2018; Alsalami, Behery & Abdullah, 2014; Rahman & Al Joker, 2018; Al Ahbabi et al., 2019) that were conducted in the United Arab Emirates on topics that are closely related to mine. Based on my findings from the pieces of literature, I have established that my research topic is not in tandem with my conceptual framework. While my research topic is focused on digital transformation as a dependent variable, my conceptual framework highlights learning outcomes as the dependent variable. Therefore, I have resolved to rephrase my research topic and revise my dependent variable to suit my subject of study.
Second, I have established that although I discussed my research methodology explicitly, I did not break it down further to explain how each of the variables will be measured as advised by Barker, Rattihalli & Field (2016). While it was clear that the study would employ qualitative research methods to collect the data, how these data were going to be extracted was not well explained. After an in-depth analysis of similar research studies (Rahmah et al., 2020; Pollanen et al., 2017; Whee & Bontis, 2016), I have confirmed that qualitative research methods would be the most suitable technique to collect and analyze data. I have also resolved that I would revise the chapter three of the proposal to include specific persons that would be interviewed guided by the empirical data previously recorded. Furthermore, the sampling method and data collection procedure highlighted in the study were quite broad and did not target the area of study. I will also develop research questions with a Likert Scale of 1-5 that would be presented to each respondent.
Third, on the general structure, the proposal was well-organized and professionally structured. However, some areas on the research proposal need to be adjusted to make the paper more appealing. First, the purpose of the study, as currently structured, does not address a specific research gap that this research study is seeking to bridge. According to Wong & Psych (2016), the purpose of the study in a research study should focus on a specific research gap that has not yet been bridged or not sufficiently covered. The researcher must also try to address the limitations of the previous studies conducted on the same topic. These areas were not adequately discussed in this proposal, and therefore, I will revise these sections based on the recommendations of various scholars. Secondly, the research hypotheses were not specific to each variable. According to Sudheesh, Duggappa & Nethra, (2016), researchers should hypothesize the impact of each independent variable on the dependent. I will revise my hypotheses and restructure them based on the new variables.
In conclusion, this research proposal provides a good foundation for the impending research study and a final dissertation. The research proposal, which consists of chapters one, two, and three, provides the basic framework for the final theses. However, there are a few areas such as conceptual framework, research methodology, and the general structure of the paper, that need to be ironed out to have a compressive proposal.