What are the components of a successful qualitative research proposal?

This is arguably the most critical component of a qualitative study proposal. It drives the entire effort and directly ties to the business goals motivating the research. An unclear, vague research question leads to inefficient research that is unable to inform decisions. I recommend a technique called 'Issue Trees' to derive tighter RQs. It involves mapping out contributing factors in a visual tree, identifying knowledge gaps, and drafting questions to fill those gaps. You can also use a 'Research Pyramid' wherein you structure inquiry through exploratory (what), descriptive (what is), and causal (why) lines of questioning. These processes result in high-impact RQs strongly aligned to the decisions the research aims to impact.

Research question (RQ) is the soul of your research study and needs to be identified systematically by undertaking a preliminary review of the literature. The review of literature helps in identifying & examining suitable seminal works done by the researchers in the field of your interest. This process familiarises you with the work already done and also helps identify the resources like research papers, journals, book chapters, books, and conference proceedings. A preliminary study of some of the important resources leads you to the research gap based on which you decide your research question(s). The RQs so decided can be further refined by enlarging the scope of the review of literature, thus becoming the focus of your research study.

Well would this be a business question or a research question? Since we are talking about market research and it's basically done for firms, we need to state this as a business question. Now it's up to the firm's the market researchers are working for to get the question. If researchers feel the question is neither adequate or relevant, further probing needs to be done to get question right.

The question must be direct enough to get the most answer possible but also be in the scope expected to have enough data to analyze.

The research question is the foundation of the study. If there is no "question" identifying a problem, issue or need or assessment - the study will fail because it is not a necessary project. Identification of these potential issues is key to developing the correct study approach.

One thing I have always found helpful is brainstorming different designs for studies. Should the survey be conducted online? Phone? Should it be an online focus group? In-depth-interviews? Think thought the design based upon client budget and timeline. A typical design should include the method, # of respondents, timeline, budget and anticipated deliverables. If you need to schedule update calls, etc. - include that in the proposal as well.

Qualitative research answers the why question. Therefore firms wants to know the reason behind a particular outcome or trend. Based on the business question they have we need to align the research methodology which gives the best answer. For e.g. a restaurant wants to know if the people in the vicinity prefer coffee or tea and why they prefer it. Best possible way is to proceed with a preferential segmentation study by conducting a simple survey.

I have found the best way to identify and secure sample is via legitimate sample provider companies. I believe there are fewer legit sample providers than ever. I do see an increase in online survey companies promising answers with a few hours. This is likely not a legit sample (of actual humans) but bots answering the questions. There are significant privacy issues that need to be followed and it is best to ask very detailed questions to any potential sample provider about who their respondents are, how they were secured, do thy share their personal info (which is very bad!) and more.

Data collection might seem like a foreign concept to clients, but it is critical to clearly explain the process to them. Reaching easy to find populations for surveys is not the same as finding 500 Chief Information Security Officers @ companies with 2,000+ employees. The differences need to be explained to your client - easy vs challenging to find respondents. They also should gain an understanding from the research team as to why online is preferred over phone and vice versa.

Timeline is critical in research like this. Often the companies that are extremely fast, deliver a very poor final deliverable. At that point it’s too late. For a detailed survey of a targeted audience (not consumers), 3 1/2 weeks is considered fast. This includes designing questions, recruiting respondents, field time and developing an analysis. Sharing budget by phases is an “OK” approach but clients often don’t want to see every little line item. A “total” budget item usually is good enough. Expenses are easily detailed (travel, etc) billed to client.

The research proposal should include 1-2 extra days per phase of the study in order to take into account any issues. For an online survey, I often put 1 week for questionnaire design but state it could be longer if clients don't provide timely feedback.