Unit 3: Process in Research Proposal Development

Contents
Selection of Research Topic
What is the Research Proposal?
Components of Research Proposal

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 Objectives
After completing this unit, you should be able to:
 Describe how to identify a research topic
 How to write the research proposal
 Discuss components/elements of research
proposal
 Prepare a review of the literature related to
the topic
 Produce a complete research proposal

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 3.1 Introduction
A good research proposal is the key to successful research
and must begin with a clearly focused research proposal.
A good research proposal has become a necessity not
only for ensuring a high quality of research but also for
the practical reason of landing a research grant. In order
to attract a research grant, a research proposal must be
precise and convincing. The readers have to be convinced
that you have something there, and that you can do it. A
good research proposal must be systematic, coherent
and, above all, ‘doable’.
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 3.2 Selection of a Research Topic
There are different factors which you need to consider in choosing a
research topic:
1. Interest: a research endeavour is usually time consuming, and
involves hard work and possibly unforeseen problems. One
should select topic of great interest to sustain the required
motivation.
2. Magnitude: It is extremely important to select a topic that you
can manage within the time and resources at your disposal.
Narrow the topic down to something manageable, specific and
clear.
3. Measurement of concepts: Make sure that you are clear about
the indicators and measurement of concepts (if used) in your
study. 4
4. Level of expertise/competence: Make sure that you have
adequate level of expertise for the task you are
proposing since you need to do the work yourself.
5. Relevance/Usefulness: Ensure that your study adds to
the existing body of knowledge, bridges current gaps
and is useful in solving specific practical problems. This
will help you to sustain interest in the study.
6. Availability of data: Before finalizing the topic, make sure
that data are available.
7. Ethical issues: How ethical issues can affect the study
population and how ethical problems can be overcome
should be thoroughly examined at the problem
formulating stage.
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 3.3 What is a research proposal?
Proposal writing is important to your pursuit of a graduate
degree. The proposal is, in effect, an intellectual scholastic (not
legal) contract between you and your committee.
The objective in writing a proposal is to describe what you will
do, why it should be done, how you will do it and what you
expect will result. Being clear about these things from the
beginning will help you complete your thesis (research) in a
timely fashion and allocated resources. A vague, weak or fuzzy
proposal can lead to a long, painful, and often unsuccessful
thesis writing exercise. A clean, well thought-out, proposal
forms the backbone for the thesis itself.
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Research proposal is a document written by a researcher
that deals with ideas of researcher about what research
he/she wants to do, what objectives and methodology
he/she has set, how much time and resources are required to
complete it, how the research finding are to be reported, and
so on.
Various terminologies are used to mean a research proposal
depending on why the research is carried out?
 Research outline
 Synopsis of research
 Plan of research
 Research/project proposal
 Thesis plan, Etc
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To write a good research proposal first, you need to think
what it is you propose or intend to research. The next step is
to explain why you would do it. What do you hope to
achieve?
You must justify your proposal in light of the existing
literature, theory, or practice about the state of knowledge in
your field. This is commonly known as the ‘gap’ in our
knowledge. The next step is to describe how you will conduct
the research. Simply, your research proposal should reflect:
1) Explanation of proposed research (what will be done)
2) Methods and techniques to be employed (how it will be
done)
3) Novelty and/or importance of the study (why it should be
done)
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 3.4 Components of Research Proposal
The basic components of a research proposal are the
same in many fields. The following components can be
regarded as steps in the writing of the research
proposal.
9. Conceptual framework
1. Title page 10. Objective/Aim of the study
2. Summary/Abstract 11. Scope and limitations
3. Introduction/Background 12. Research methods,
4. Statement of the problem materials and procedures
5. Rationale of the research 13. Work plan
6. Research significance 14. Budget
7. Literature review 15. References
8. Hypotheses /Questions 16. Appendices/Annexes

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 1.Title page
The title page contains the following information: title of the
research; researcher’s name; name of institute/organization where
the researcher belongs; name of the sponsoring organization, name
of the supervisor, co-supervisor; submission date; etc The title page
has no page number and it is not counted in any page numbering.
In selecting the title, the following points should be taken care of:
 Clear & concise to reflect the theme of the research
 Be self-explanatory
 Language be simple and unambiguous
 Be specific to a particular domain
 should never contain abbreviations, brackets, arithmetic figures,
etc
 Avoid confusing meaning 10
 2. Abstract/Summary

The abstract outlines the proposed research, including

problem background, objectives, methodology, and
significance of the research.
It should be self contained, concise, readable, and one
page or less (limited to 150 ‐ 200 words).
Do not put information in the abstract that is not in
the main text of your research proposal. Do not put
references, figures, or tables in the abstract.

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 3. Introduction/Background
This section deals with the historic theory and current
state of research in your field. By addressing the
literature, you will place your research into its context
and reveal what problem it is attempting to address.
Its purpose is to establish a framework for the research,
so that readers can understand how it is related to
other research. You should begin with the basics of your
research topic and then narrow the focus of those
details that are especially pertinent to the proposed
work. Present what is currently known, and how these
discoveries were made.
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This is the place to show what is interesting and cutting-
edge in the field that led to your research idea.
The introduction should cite those who had the idea or
ideas first, and should also cite those who have done
the most recent and relevant work. You should then go
on to explain why more work is necessary (your work).
Use various sources of literature especially primary
sources such as journal articles. Textbooks, web sites
(with great caution) and personal communications with
professors can also be useful sources.

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 4. Statement of the problem
A problem might be defined as the issue that exists in the
literature, theory, or practice that leads to a need for the study.
The researcher must notice a problem in the existing literature,
theory, or practice that has not been previously addressed. For
this section, the following questions should be answered: Why
does this research study need to be conducted? What specific
issues does this study raise that have not been observed in
other research works pertaining to the topic? Answering these
questions will allow readers to understand why this particular
study is important and how the study will attempt to answer
new, never-before asked questions.

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 5.Rationale/Justification of the research
It is important to state clearly why there is a problem that
needs to be addressed.
You will need to show that the research fills a gap in the
current research by referring to the literature in the field.
It should then be evident where your research project fits
in the overall context.
This is where you will explicitly state how your proposed
research will advance knowledge. What are the far-
reaching effects? Will your study potentially change
practices or policies?
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 6. Significance of the research
State clearly why this research is important,
what the benefits will be and how your work
will contribute to knowledge in your field.
This may include commercial benefits, changes
in current practice, a new perspective on an old
issue or other benefits to the community.
You need to indicate why it is significant and
how it advances understanding of the issues
under discussion.
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 7. Literature review

The first phase of the literature review should be brief but

give the reader enough information to understand the
context of the proposed research. It may include references to
previous findings and specific studies similar to the current
study, and to relevant methodology.
A good literature review:
1. includes all literature that is relevant to justifying the
proposed research;
2. does not include literature that is irrelevant to justifying
the proposed research;
3. supports undertaking the proposed research;
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4. avoids speculation and unsubstantiated
statements;
5. is critical (a critical review does not merely
accept previous authors’ conclusions, but
weighs them carefully, examining them on the
basis of the weaknesses and strengths in the
methodologies of the studies being reviewed);
6. is organized under subheadings;
7. forms a connected argument; and
8. has a summary at the end.

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Relevant materials will probably comprise a range of media:
 books (monographs, text books, reference books);
 articles from journals, whether print or electronic (but make
sure electronic journals have been subject to the peer review
process);
 newspaper articles;
 historical records;
 commercial reports and statistical information;
 government reports and statistical information;
 theses and dissertations;
 other types of information which may be relevant to your
particular discipline.
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 8. Research hypotheses /questions

Research questions ask what relationships exist between the different

variables in the study, while the hypothesis predicts the relationship
between variables.
Research questions are unambiguous questions that the research is
designed to answer but hypotheses are clear statements that the
research is designed to test.
Deciding whether to use questions or hypotheses depends on factors
such as the purpose of the study, the nature of the design and
methodology of the research. Make a clear and careful distinction
between the dependent and independent variables and be certain
they are clear to the reader. Hypotheses are thus tentative statements
that should either be acknowledged or rejected by means of research.

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 9. Conceptual framework
The theoretical or conceptual framework identifies variables
impacting on the research questions and their inter-relationships
and/or identifies theoretical and philosophical assumptions
underpinning the study. The theoretical framework is often
summarized as a flow-chart diagram, which shows relationships
between theories, concepts and variable of the study.
A conceptual framework is described as a set of broad ideas and
principles taken from relevant fields of enquiry and used to
structure a subsequent presentation. The theoretical framework
usually forms the final part of the literature review section. It
describes the model that you are using in the research to
demonstrate your point.
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 10. Objective/Aim of the study

the objectives of a research project summarizes what is to be achieved

by the study. Objectives should be closely related to the statement of
the problem and research questions. An objective may be thought of as
either a solution to a problem or a step along the way toward achieving
a solution; an end state to be achieved in relation to the problem.
Objectives should be
 simple (not complex),
 specific (not vague),
 stated in advance (not after the research is done), and
 stated using “action verbs” that are specific enough to be measured
like to ‘determine’, ‘to find out’, ‘to ascertain’, ‘to measure’, ‘to
explore’, ‘to develop’, ‘to compare’, ‘to describe’, ‘to identify’, ‘to
calculate’, etc
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Commonly, research objectives are classified into
general objectives and specific objectives.
General objective: an overall statement of the thrust of
your study that states what exactly will be studied?
Specific objectives: specific statements summarizing the
proposed activities and including description of the
outcomes and their assessment in measurable terms.
It identifies in greater detail the specific aims of the
research project, often breaking down what is to be
accomplished into smaller logical components to
address issues which are considered in problem of
statement and research questions.
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 11. Scope and limitations

Generally this part would set out the parameters of

the research project. It specifies what is within and
outside the scope of your research.
Indicate the challenges encountered in the study
that may have limited the study. In general it
indicates:
Boundaries of the research
Aspects and issues addressed
 Shortcomings of the research – resource and time
constraints
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 12. Methods, material and procedures

The methods or procedures section is really the heart of

the research proposal. It indicates the methodological steps
you will take to answer every question, to test every
hypothesis illustrated in the questions/hypotheses section
or address the objectives you set.
State clearly how you plan to conduct your research. What
methodology are you using? Why? What information needs
to be gathered? Will this data be applicable to the research
questions? Who or what will you use as the data source?
How will you collect data or construct experiments? What
controls are in place? How will the data be analyzed?
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The methods in proposal should describe in detail the general research
plan (may not necessarily be true for all types of research).
Description of study area
 Description of study design
Description of study participants
Eligibility criteria ( if any)
Determination of sample size (if any)
Description of selection process (sampling method)
Methods of data collection
Description of the expected outcome and explanatory variables… (if any)
How data quality is ensured
Operational definition
 Presentation of the data analysis methods
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 13. Work plan
Work plan is a schedule, chart or graph that summarizes the different
components of a research proposal and how they will be implemented in a
coherent way within a specific time-span.
It may include:
The tasks to be performed;
When and where the tasks will be performed;
Who will perform the tasks and the time each person will spend on them;
It describes the plan of assessing the ongoing progress toward achieving the
research objectives;
The plan specifies how each project activity is to be measured in terms of
completion, the time line for its completion;
A GANTT chart is a planning tool that depicts graphically the order in which
various tasks must be completed and the duration of each activity.
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 14. Budget and funding
The budget includes a reasonable estimate of the financial
support required to conduct the project, including
justification of budget expenses.
Typically, a proposal budget reflects direct and indirect costs.
Direct costs: Personnel, consumable supplies,
equipment, travel, communications, publication, etc
Indirect costs: overhead costs for institutions or associations,
general administrative cost, operational and maintenance,
depreciation, use allowance , etc

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 15. References
The proposal should cite research material which
supports your research. Any text referred to or quoted
from in the proposal needs to be listed and attached.
Formatting should follow the standard method advised by
your discipline.
References may be made in the main text using index
numbers in brackets (Vancouver style) or authors name
(Harvard style). You will also need to place a list of
references, numbered as in the main text (or
alphabetically ordered), at the end of your research
proposal.
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 16. Appendices/Annexes
Include in the appendices of your proposal any
additional information you think might be helpful
to a proposal reviewer. For example, include:
 Questionnaire & other data collection forms
 Dummy tables
 Biographical data on the principal investigator
 The consent form (if any), etc

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Assignment-II: Prepare your own research
proposal
1. Select your research topic
2. Write the background of your research topic
3. Write the statement of the problem
4. Rationale and significance of the research
5. Review literature for your identified topic
6. Formulate your own research question or hypothesis
7. Define clearly your general and specific objectives
8. Write the scope and limitations
9. Write clearly the research design/methods
10. Develop your work plan and prepare estimated budget
11. Choose one method of citing references and write all the
reference you used
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