Research proposal

PART 2.7
WRITING
A
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
1

THE RESEARCH PROCESS cont...
INTRODUCTION
 A document that offers a solution to a problem or a
course of action in response to a need is known as
Proposal.
 That is to say:
Proposal
— Is an offer to produce or render a service to the
potential buyer or sponsor.
— It is also referred to an offer or bid to do a
certain project for someone.
2

 Accordingly,
Research Proposal
Is the plan or a road map to be followed in carrying
out a proposed research.
— The goal of a research proposal is to present and
justify a research problem you have and to
present the practical ways in which you think
proposed research should be conducted.
— Writing a proposal is a crucial part of the research
process because it acts as a road map in the
process of conducting research, so care must be
taken when developing it. 3

Why there is a Need for you to Write a Research
Proposal?
1. Organizing your ideas:
It will clarify your thoughts and helps you to organize
your ideas into a logical statement of your research
intent.
2. Convincing your audience:
It serves to convince your readers that your proposed
research is feasible.
3. Guiding and Evaluation:
It will guide the conduct of the study at each stage.
It is also used as a point of reference to determine
4

4. Contracting with your client:
Acceptance of your proposal by the client would be
part of the contract that existed between you.
5. Also, it helps to learn from others.
5

THE COMPONENTS OF A RESEARCH PROPOSAL
 The format or content varies from academic to non-
academic or from one institution to the next.
 The salient points, contents or components to note
for writing research proposal are guided by the
following main three parts:
1. The Preliminary Pages
2. The Main Body of the Research Proposal
3. The Back or Supplementary Pages 6

The Contents of the Preliminary Pages
1. Title Page:
 It is the front page which contains the title of the
study that describes the research contents in few
words, researcher’s name, degree requirement (if
it is research degree), client or awarding institution,
and year of the study.
 Example of good title:
“Effect of Employee Satisfaction on Organizational
Performance”
2. Table of Contents:
It indicates the headings of chapters and sections
with their corresponding page numbers. 7

3. List of Tables:
It indicates the titles of tables with their
corresponding page numbers.
4. List of Figures:
It indicates the titles of figures with their
corresponding page numbers.
5. List of Abbreviations or Acronyms:
Words, phrases or texts written in short form or
ellipsis with the their long form are listed here.
8

6. Executive Summary:
The executive summary allows quick
understanding for a detailed proposal.
 It is essentially an informative abstract, giving
executives the chance to grasp the essentials
of the proposal without having to read the
details.
— The goal is to secure a positive evaluation
that will pass the proposal for full evaluation.
 Consequently, it should include brief
statements of the management dilemma and
management question, the research objectives,
research questions, and the benefits of your9

The Contents of the Main Body of the Research
Proposal
1. Introduction
1.1 Background to the Study:
 The main purpose of the introduction is to provide
the necessary background information for your
research problem.
 Background information may include a brief review
of the literature already available on the topic so
that you are able to place your proposed research
in the field.
10

1.2 Statement of the Problem:
 It attempts to focus on the study by providing
direction to the research and indicating clearly that
there is a problem that needs to be solved.
 It may include historical developments and efforts
done so far to solve the problem by showing a
clear link between previous studies and proposed
study through relevant literature surrounding the
issue at hand.
◦ In stating the problem, the researcher will be
expected to clearly and briefly stress the
knowledge gap addressed by the study.
◦ It is highlighted in one or two paragraphs;11

1.3 Objectives of the Study:
 This part addresses the purpose of the
investigation where researcher shows exactly what
is being planned by the proposed research.
 The objectives module flows from the problem
statement, giving the specific, concrete, and
achievable goals.
 The research objectives section is the basis for
judging the remainder of the proposal and,
ultimately, the final report.
 It is best to list the objectives precisely either in
order of importance or in general terms first,
moving to specific terms. 12

Example: The topic on “Stressful Jobs: The cost to
Employees”
Main Research Objective could be:
Investigate the Effect of Stress on the Performance of
Employee.
Specific Research Objectives could be:
1. To understand the symptoms of stress.
2. To establish the relationship between stress and
performance.
3. To suggest ways of combating stressful situations.13

Remainder:
Verify the consistency of the research
proposal by checking if research
objectives are discussed in the
research process.
14

1.4 Research Questions and/or Research Hypotheses:
 Deciding whether to use questions and/or
hypotheses depends on factors such as:
— the purpose of the study,
— the nature of the design and methodology, and
— the audience of the research.
Remainder:
Identify research variables from both research
objectives and research questions and/or
hypothesis by making a clear and careful distinction
between the dependent and independent variables.
15

1.5 Scope and Limitation of the Study:
 This section indicates the boundaries in terms of
what is going to be covered and not to be covered
by the proposed study with respect to the available
resources.
 It helps a researcher to concentrate on matters of
great importance and not considering unnecessary
details.
16

1.6 Significance/Benefits of the study:
 The importance of “doing the study now” should
be emphasized in this section.
 This section allows you to describe:
— Benefits that you and others will accrue from
your study.
— The contribution to the existing knowledge.
— The contribution to new methods &
methodologies
— Managerial implications if the problem at hand
is not solved.
— Fulfilling academic requirements.
— Ironing out policy implications or areas requiring17

2. Literature Review
 The literature review part is mainly intended to
show how the study supplements the work
already done by others.
 Here, the study demonstrates knowledge of
existing literature surrounding the subject area.
—Intends to bridge the academic gap between
what has been done by others and what has not
thereby contributing to the new knowledge.
 It demonstrates knowledge of existing theories in
the area of study and how those theories are
relevant for the proposed study.
18

Points to Note Under this Section:
 Avoid the extraneous (off the point) details of the
literature; do a brief review of the information, not a
comprehensive report.
 Latest references are encouraged to be adopted,
however, if the problem has a historical background,
begin with the earliest references.
 Always refer to the original source. If you find
something of interest in a quotation, find the original
publication and ensure you understand it. In this way,
you will avoid any errors of interpretation. 19

3. Methodology or Research Methodology
In this part;
The researcher is expected to state how he/she will
go about achieving the stated research objectives by
indicating the research methodologies to be used in
undertaking the proposed research project.
20

3.1 Research Design
 Research design should be justified in the light of
stated research objectives.
 The following details are supposed to be stated
under this section:
—target population,
—sample size and justification of using such
sample,
—sampling procedure,
—types of data,
—data collection methods – instrumentation &
procedures, and
21

3.2 Management and Analysis of Data
 The objective of this section is to assure that
correct assumptions and theoretically sound data
analysis procedures are met.
 It explains the expected data analysis techniques
to be employed given the nature of the study and
the data to be collected.
—It describe justification for using such
techniques.
22

 It is the task of this section to properly define the
study variables, and also to explain how they will
be operationalized.
 Expected results (nature and form of results)
should be indicated in this section based on the
objectives and research questions of the proposed
study.
23

Other Sections Are:
Qualifications of Researchers
 This section should begin with the principal
investigator followed by other investigator(s) by
stating:
◦ The academic level attained
◦ The experience in carrying out previous research
◦ The relevant business and technical societies to
which the researcher belongs
Note: The entire curriculum vitae of each researcher
should not be included unless it is requested.
24

Facilities and Special Resources
 Often, projects will require special facilities or
resources that should be described in detail in this
section.
For example, exploratory study may need specialized
facilities:
◦ for focus group sessions facilities such as tape
recorders and video cameras.
◦ interview sessions may require computer assisted
telephone or other interviewing facilities.
25

Project Management
 The purpose of the project management section is to
show that the research team is organized in a way to
do the project efficiently.
 A master plan is required for complex projects to
show how the phases will all be brought together.
The plan includes:
◦ The research team’s organization,
◦ Management procedures and
◦ Controls for executing the research plan.
Tables and charts are most helpful in presenting the
master plan.
26

Schedule/Time Scale
 Researcher’s time frame for carrying out various
activities of the study should include the major
phases of the project.
◦ This can be in a form of a chart by indicating a
logical breakdown of activities and a realistic
estimation of the time that will be required to
conduct them.
Example:
27
Research Activity Ap
r
Ma
y
Ju
n
Jul Au
g
Pilot study
Data collection
Data analysis

THE RESEARCH PROCESS
cont...Research Budget
 Researcher should provide a detailed research
budget to the sponsor based on agreed basic
requirements.
 Budget should indicate the following items:
◦ Research honorarium
◦ Labor costs: Research assistants, data analysis,
data coding, data entry, and other personnel costs
◦ Transports costs
◦ Materials and supplies: Photocopying, report
production and binding, acquisition of relevant
literature.
28

cont...The Content of Back Pages of a Research Proposal
1. References
For all projects that require literature review, a
reference list is necessary.
This is the section where all recorded literature in
the research proposal are listed.
Researcher may opt for a format that is requested
by sponsor or institution.
If none was specified: researcher may opt for
any known standard form.
29

cont...2. Appendixes/Appendices
Questionnaires and other devices to be used in the
study should appear in this section.
Charts, diagrams, maps, etc. that the researcher
might wish to include are included in the
appendices.
30

cont...CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH PROPOSAL
1. The proposal must be neatly presented because a
poorly presented, unclear, or disorganized proposal
will not get serious attention from the readers.
2. The proposal’s major topics should be easily found
and logically organized so that the readers can be
able to page through the proposal to any section of
interest.
3. Proposal also must meet specific guidelines including
budgetary restrictions and schedule deadlines set by
the sponsoring company or agency. 31

cont...4. The technical writing style of the proposal should be
observed:
◦ The problem statement must be easily
understood.
◦ The benefits of the study must allow the sponsor
to see why the research should be funded.
◦ The research design should be clearly outlined
and the methodology explained.
◦ Modules to include in the proposals by
comparing the type and nature of proposed
research.
32

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