Expanding the Scope of the Research

Requirements

Mention the expansion in the Introduction and tell the client that more information on the logic is located in the Research Strategy section.
In the Research Strategy, explain the three strategies you attempted to identify the client’s originally requested information prior to utilizing the scope expansion.

Scope refers to the specific rules we are given to follow when we conduct research. It can include things like:

The total number of things asked for, like 7-10 restaurants, the top 5 leaders, or 4 companies.
- Possible expansions: finding a lesser number and justifying why we could only provide the lesser number and why we provided additional/different information to reach the required number.
- Proof: Share sources showing only “x” amounts available.
- Findings Examples
  - The client wants the top 7-10 restaurants that feature a certain dish, like steak tartare, and we can only find 3. We could then provide 4-6 additional restaurants with a similar appetizer like beef carpaccio. We could also expand the area. Let’s say the client wants these restaurants to be located in downtown Cincinnati, OH. We could expand to the suburbs to provide all the required information.
  - The client wants the top 5 companies with over 500 employees, but we can only find two. We can then expand the scope to include companies with more than 100 employees to finish out the list.
A regional focus like the US, France, or Florida.
- Possible Expansions: Expanding from US to North America, France to Europe, or Florida to the US.
- Proof: Cite the source that shows the information is not available. For example, showing that the US market is behind a paywall, so we expanded to North America.