FORMAT FOR GRADUATE RESEARCH PROPOSAL

The Research Proposal consists of two sections namely the preliminary and the text.
A. THE PRELIMINARY
The section includes:
1. Title page
The title of the research should:
i) be precise and descriptive and not more than 20 words.
ii) specify variables and target population
iii) appear on the first page that is not paged.
Format of the title page

TITLE

BY
NAME
REGISTRATION NUMBER

A RESEARCH PROPOSAL SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT

OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF (name of the
degree) OF KYAMBOGO UNIVERSITY

MONTH AND YEAR OF SUBMISSION

NB. All information must be in upper case capitalized and aligned in the center. Title page is
number one but that page number is not indicated.

2. Declaration page
It should appear like:

DECLARATION ii
I (name) do hereby declare that this proposal is my original work and has not been submitted
for any other award in any institution.
Signed……………………
Date…………………
 3. Table of contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Content Page
DECLARATION ………………………………………………………………………….…………………..ii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION…………………………………….……………………………1
1.1 Background to the study………………………………………………………………………….1

Contents in the preliminaries are typed in upper case but not bolded but the chapter and title of
chapter are in upper case and bolded. They all appear on the same line (Table above).
Numbering is done in accordance with the chapter e.g. 1.1; 1.2; 1.3 for chapter 1, 2.1; 2.2 for
Chapter 2 and 3.1; 3.2 for Chapter 3.
Indicate only the page where the section begins.
Reference and Appendices are written in upper case.
4. List of Tables (if any)
Numbering of tables is in accordance with the chapter in which they appear.

LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
Table 1.1 Title of the table………………………………………………………………………………………………3

5. List of Figures (if any)

The format is similar to the one used in the list of tables.
NB. All pages in the preliminary section are numbered using roman numerals and the number
appears on the right hand corner.

B. THE TEXT
This section is divided into three chapters namely: Chapter One: Introduction; Chapter Two:
Literature Review; Chapter Three: Methodology;
The text also includes the References and Appendices
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
This chapter provides the basis of the study that puts the research problem into context. It
consists of the following subsections:
1.1 Background to the study

 This provides evidence and conditions of existing situation to make reader realise the
need and urgency of the problem and need to contribute to its solution.

 May have three dimensions i.e. conceptual, theoretical and contextual dimensions.
The Conceptual- provides a brief description of major terms in the topic.
The Theoretical- describes the theory (ies) on which the study will be based/rooted. It is a
description of the relationship between the variables in ideal situations.
The Contextual - describes the problem in the context of the study, pointing out the gaps that
need to be filled by the study. Hence, the problem should be exposed in the background to the
study.
The subsection should not exceed 1½ pages (for undergraduate research).
1.2 Statement of the problem
It describes the affairs that need to be changed, anything that may not be working well or
difficulties to be eliminated. It describes the “what” of the study.
It should involve:
i) fact (theory) that indicates the ideal situation
ii) an assumption of what the reality should and
iii) what the problem is (that is the reality. This may be written in declarative or question
form.
Half a page may be enough for this sub section.

1.3 General objective of the study

This is describes the aim or general objective or intention of the study. It answers the ‘why’ of
the study. The researcher should give a reason why the study should be conducted or the
outcome of the study.

1.4 Specific Objectives

This subsection includes the breakdown of the general objective (purpose) into small manageable
units i.e. specific objectives that include what the researcher is going to do. The objectives must
be SMART i.e. specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound.
Aim at having be at least three objectives for the study.
1.5 Research Questions or Research hypotheses
These are derived from objectives. The questions are posed such that if they are answered the
responses will help achieve the objectives.
The study requirse use of hypotheses in such a case the Null hypotheses are recommended.
1.6 Theoretical and/or Conceptual Framework
Explain the theory in which your study is anchored and present the relationships between the
variables under study.

1.7 Delimitations of the study

This may also be named as delimitations of the study
Here, the researcher describes the boundaries of the study in terms of content, population, time,
geographical and theoretical coverage.
1.8 Limitations of the study
The challenges that the researcher anticipates that may be beyond his/her control when
conducting the study for example language barrier.
1.9Significance of the study
The researcher describes the relevance of the study in terms of academic contribution and
practical use that might be made of the findings. Also in the subsection the researcher highlights
the contributions of research to other practitioners, policy makers and researchers.
It should explain why and how the study will help improve practice, policy and its contribution to
the scholarly research and literature.

1.10 Operational definition of terms

The important terms to be used in the study and how they are going to be used are defined not
using dictionary definitions. E.g. if the study is about pupils’ perception of PE in Soroti Primary
Schools. A pupil in this study will be defined as a child in Soroti primary school.
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
The researcher should systematically identify, locate and analyse documents containing
information that are related to the research problem. The chapter aims at helping the researcher
develop a thorough understanding and insight into previous works and trends that have been
documented pertaining to the research problem. Literature is used to put the problem under
study into perspective, identify what has been done in relation to the problem and highlighting
the gap in information that needs to be done.
The section and subsections within this chapter should be laid according to themes of the study
and should reflect the objectives of the study.
The chapter has an introduction that lists the sections as they are arranged in the chapter. The
subsequent sections use headings that relate to study objectives. It is important to include a
section on related studies that include other similar studies that have been conducted elsewhere.
Include at least three of such studies. For each study describe the purpose of the study, research
design, the population, sampling strategy, instruments used, major finding(s), conclusion &
recommendation. The similarity add the difference between the related study and your study
should be pointed out. In addition, a summary of the literature reviewed at the end of the chapter
should be included.
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
This chapter basically explains in detail how and where the data will be collected, analysed and
presented. It includes the following subsections.
3.0 Introduction
This contains the list of all the subsections as they appear in the chapter.
3.1 Research Design
Describe the nature of design that was followed. There are several designs e.g. Survey, pre-
experimental, ex post facto (casual comparative), historical, case study and correlational. The
design selected must yield the data required to satisfy the study objectives. Include a statement
that justifies the choice of the design.
3.2 Location of the study
Entails a description of where the study was carried out i.e. the geographical area. The area must
be described in terms of the sub county, district, region of Uganda.
3.3 Target population
The section includes description of the characteristics of the population in terms of size for which
the results can be generalised.
3.3 Sampling procedure and sample size
Explain the sampling strategy (ies) that will be used to select a representative sample from the
target population justifying the use of the sampling technique(s) that will be used. The sample
size should also be stated.
3.4 Research Instruments
The tools that will be used for data collection and how they will be developed. The most
commonly used instruments are questionnaire, observation check list, interview schedule or
document analysis check list. The researcher should justify choice of the instrument(s) and state
the type of data that will collected using the said instrument. Also explain how validity and
reliability of each instrument to be used will be established.

3.5 Data Collection Procedure

This subsection explains how data will be collected including obtaining introductory letter,
approval letter (if necessary) and steps that will be taken during data collection.
3.6 Data Analysis and Presentation
This subsection explains how data collected will be organised, analysis (interpreted) and
presented.
NB. The method of analysis should depend on study objectives and research design used.
i) Descriptive (summary) statistics using mean, mode, median, standard deviation, frequencies
or percentage; OR
ii) Inferential statistics using correlation coefficient, chi-square, t-test, regression, ANOVA.
Also describe how data was presented e.g. tables, charts and /or graphs.
In case of quantitative research, the analysis should highlight the themes and subthemes
3.8 Ethical considerations
The subsection indicates how the researcher is going to uphold the ethical requirements that
may include informed consent, privacy, confidentiality and anonymity of the participants.
References
Use the 6th APA referencing style should be used.
Appendices
These may include:
• Instruments
• Map (if necessary)
FORMATING
Note the following:
• Pages in the Text are numbered using Arabic numerals & page numbers appear on bottom
and in middle.
• The right, top and bottom margins should be 1” and the left margin 1½.
• The work should be in double spacing.
• Times New Roman and font size is 12 should be used.
• Each chapter begins on a fresh page.
• The chapter and its heading should be written in capital letters, bold and centred.
• A proposal is written using future tense.
• The report should be 15 pages including references and excluding appendices.
Prepared by: Constance A.N. Nsibambi, PhD
Associate Professor
Head of Sportscience Department
Kyambogo University