CHAPTER IV

Research Proposal and Guide To

Develop a Research Proposal
The ward “Research Proposal" is from two
words,
Research has been defined in first chapter.
Proposal - a course of action, activity etc.
proposed.
Therefore, it can be formally defined as a
written document requesting both
authorization and funds to undertake a
specific research project.
It systematically outlines the particular
research methodology
It also details the process that will be utilized
at each stage of the research process 1
 Research Proposal (Cont…)
In research proposal:
What information will be required?
What research procedures will be
implemented?
Will be clearly specified so that others may
understand their exact implications.
4.1. Function of the research proposal
Research proposal may function at least in
three ways,
 as a means of communication,
 as a plan and
 as a contract
2
 Research Proposal (Cont…)
[Link] as a means of communication:
serves to communicate the investigator’s
research plan to those who-give
consultations and / or disburse fund.
On the basis of this document the graduate
committee (DGC) undertake the function
of:
review,
consultation and
approval for implementation of the
research project
3
 Research Proposal (Cont…)

In general,
the quality of assistance and
the probability of financial support
will all directly depend on the clarity
and justification of the proposal.

4
 Research Proposal (Cont…)
ii. Research proposal as plan:
It helps the researcher to organize his idea in a
systematic manner and to look for strengths
and flaws.
A successful proposal sets out the plan in
step-by-step detail.
I.e., it provides an inventory of what must be
done and which materials have to be collected
as a preliminary step
Generally, the acceptability of results is
judged exclusively in terms of the adequacy of
the methods employed in recording, analyzing
and interpreting the data in the planned study.
5
 Research Proposal (Cont…)
iii. Proposal as a contract:
A completed proposal approved for execution and
signed by all members of the sponsoring
committee, constitute a bond of agreement
between the researcher and that committee.
An approved grant proposal results in a contract
between the investigator and funding sources.
 Proposal for thesis and dissertation should be
in final form prior to the collection of data.
Once document is approved, neither the
student nor the sponsoring faculty should be
free to alter the fundamental terms of the
contract by unilateral decision. 6
 Research Proposal (Cont…)
Importance of the research proposal
It serves as a basis for determining the
feasibility of the research project.
It provides a systematic plan of procedure for
the researcher to follow.
It gives the research supervisor a basis for
guiding the researcher while conducting the
study.
It reduces the probability of costly mistake.
Preparation of a full-fledged proposal is not a
one-time endeavor.
Rather it is the result of continuous modification
and amendment through discussion with experts
in the field.
7
 4.2. General Format and
Elements of Proposal
There is no a hard and a fast format in scientific
research proposal writing.
It varies from one organization to anther and from
one country to anther.
The major components (elements) are
 Title
 Abstract
 Introduction
 background
 Problem statement
 Objective of the study
 Significance of the study ( rationale),
 Scope of the study 8
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
 Literature review
 Material and Methodology

 Work plan (time budget)

 Cost budget

 References

 Appendix

9
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
1. Title:
The title should be as explicit as possible and
transparent
It should be clear and short
It should capture and reflect the content of
the proposal.
It should enable the readers to understand
the concepts of the study
Try to get the title down to one line or two
2. Abstract:
Is summary, which reflects the whole content
of the proposal (most of the time less than
300 words?) 10
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
Abstract should be,
 concise,
 informative and
 should provide brief information about the
whole problem to be investigated
The abstract of a proposal should contain the
following points
Title or topic of the research
Statement of the problem and objective
Methodology of investigation
Expected result (tentative only if a researcher
starts with a formulated hypothesis) 11
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
3. Introduction
This section in research proposal should give the
general background of the study and the need
for undertaking the study.
recent political and economic events,
It reviews the previous work to reveal what is
known of the subject.
previous efforts to solve the problem that did
not succeed can be mentioned.
Citations from past research may be relevant
here
12
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
The introductory part can be organized as,
1.1. Background of the study
1.2. Statement of the problem
1.3. Objectives
1.4. Rationale (significance of the study)
1.5. Scope of the study

13
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
Statement of the problem
It clearly presents the issue at hand
Some question to be addressed in this part may
include
What are current and previous studies that
have been made on the issues to be studied?
Why has the problem not been solved yet?
What is the present gap in knowledge and
current trend?
What do we intend to fill the gap or solve
the problem?
What makes worth studying? 14
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
Objectives
In this section, the proposal indicates what is
expected to occur and why,
Suggests the variables that determine a
relationship,
Generally this section should focus on points
What is to be achieved by the proposed
investigation?
It should be to the point and logically arranged
In short it should show what kind of results
are expected from the proposed study
15
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
The significance of the study (Rationale )
It provides some of the reasons for
doing the study and its importance.
The contribution of the research
output should be explicitly indicated
 Who will be benefited? in what form?
 Its contribution to the general knowledge
 Its contribution in addressing societal
problem
16
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
4. Literature review
Literature review means,
locating literatures in a variety of sources
reading it carefully and thoroughly
organizing it into themes along with the line
of investigation.
Objective of the literature review
To establish familiarity with a body of
knowledge and establishes credibility:
A review tells a reader that he knows the
research area and knows the major issue.
17
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
To integrate and summarize what is
known in the area.
A review pulls together and synthesizes
different results.
A good review points out areas,
 where prior studies agree,

 where they disagree,

 and major questions remain.

18
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
Forms of reviewed literature, (what do we
review)
Theoretical works and review of them
Methodological review
Original findings and reviews of them
It takes a researcher log-time to complete an
extensive review of all the relevant
literature
Reviewing literature could take place in three
stages of the research project
These include,
i. At the beginning of the research: 19
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
Why?
To check what other researches have
done
To focus your idea, and
To explore the context for your project
ii. During the course of research,
In order to keep our interest and up to-
date with development
For the better understanding of the
method we are using and the field we are
researching and,
It will serve as a source of data 20
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
iii. After the research, with the objectives of
seeing what impact our work has had, and
To develop ideas for further research project
It is not necessary to have a separate heading
for the review of literature in a proposal.
In many respects it is more useful to show that
such a review has been made by citing useful
literature in,
problem statement (introductory part),
objective,
methodology
and where ever this information is useful
21
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
5. Material and Methodology/ Data and
Methodology
The methodologies are the core of the
proposal
The methodologies are largely
descriptive.
This section is a prerequisite for
validating the results and hence
acceptability of the proposal
22
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
An accurate, clear and valid methodology
is required, so that peers can
replicate the experiments described in an
experimental research
modify them with the assurance that the
modification is different from the original
in particular way
apply them under different conditions
Methodology should give full details as to
how the research activity is going to be
carried out.
23
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
This is the largest and the most
important part of the research proposal,
The researcher is advised to split it into
sub-sections.
Such effort makes the proposal
transparent and clear to the readers as
well as to the reviewing committee
The suggested sub-sections can be:
 Data (materials)
 Methodology (methods) used 24
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
5.1. Data (some authors prefer Materials)
In this subsection, information required to attack
the problem is specified. That is,
Time that will be included (relevant time period)
The site (location) of the study and
Variables or indicators identified by a
researcher are explained and justified to show
their relevancy to the current study,
The source of the data,
Detailed techniques of,
 sampling,
 data collection and method of analysis would
be left to the next sub section.
25
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
[Link] (Methodology)
In this subsection the details of all technical
matters will be explained,
Method of data collection:
Method of sampling:
The sample size determination
Description of the model
Method of analysis:
Method of presenting the outcome: Some times
it is worth to mention how the out come of the
research will be presented to consumers
(general public). 26
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
6. Budget of Time:
It is a plan in terms of numbers of weeks or
months and expected completion dates.
It is a timetable explaining how the researcher
expects to carry out his project
The time required to complete each phase of
the research is helpful to both the researcher
and the reviewer.
The length of time required for postgraduate
study (Doctoral study) is determined by the
budget of the time presented by students.
Thus, researcher should be realistic in
budgeting his time. 27
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
Activity Time in week (months) or even days
Jan Feb Mar. April May

145 days
Activity 1
30 days
Activity 2
41 days
Activity 3
45 days
Activity 4
58 day
Activity 5 28
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
7. Cost budget
Most proposals put together with the
expectation that funding will be available
Thus, a list of items needed to carry out the
methodology is listed in some detail.
These are items like:
 Field expenses for data collection
 Payment for consultants
 Travel and related expenses
 A sum of money for contingencies
A carefully developed budget reflects the
seriousness of the proposal and the degree to
which it is a realistic assessment of what 29 is
needed.
S.N Items Quantities/ Unit cost Total cost
Unit duration in birr in birr
1 Stationary
 Disk Out
 compact disk (CD) »
 Flash disk »
 Paper »
 writing pad »
 Photo copy >>

2 Supportive services
 Secretarial page
service
 Internet
3 Transportation
4 Equipments Out
Data collection costs
• Training
• Service payment
• Travel expense
Contingency (10%)
Grand Total 30
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
8. Reference (Bibliography)
All works cited in the proposal are listed
either
alphabetically or
 numerically

at the end of the document usually under the

heading of “References or Bibliography “
References: are lists of literature, which
have been cited in the text of the document
Bibliography: includes also items, which were
not cited but are relevant to the document.
31
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
There are several ways of making citation and
recording references. The two main systems
are:
A) Harvard System: This system uses author’s
name, date, and page reference.
This system is used mainly by
 Anthropology,
 Social science and
 in life science research.
Harvard system is commonly used in Business
and Economics research.
B) Vancouver System: uses in-text number instead
of an author, date, and page reference. 32
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
In this system superscript or bracketed
text number is used in the text each time
the source is sited.
It is used in the natural sciences mainly,
chemistry,
physics and
mathematics.

33
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
Example:
“In an investigation conducted in large factories,
Gibbs1 reported that absenteeism was higher
on the night shift than the day”
Or
“In an investigation conducted in large
factories, it has been reported that
absenteeism on the night shift was measured
and found to be significantly higher……Gibbs1

1
Gibbs, Jennifer M. (1993) ‘Absenteeism in SME’s , International
Small Business Journal, 13 (1), pp. 13-26.
34
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
Harvard System
The reference list must include all
published works referred to in the text.
Each reference to a periodical publication
must include, in order,
 the name (s) of the author (s),
 the year of publication,
 the full title of the article,
 the publication in which it appears,
 and the volume and inclusive page number 35
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
Reference to a book must give,
the author or authors’ name (s),
the year,
the title,
the edition, if other than the first;
the publisher,
the city of publication, and the volume
number (if two or more).
36
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
Styles of Citation and Documentation
All sources of materials, published or
unpublished must be credited and correctly
cited.
Failure to do so constitutes plagiarism.
Example of citation;
In an investigation conducted in large factories,
Gibbs (1993) reported that absenteeism was
higher on the night shift than the day
37
 Styles, Citation (Cont…)
Quotation and Paraphrase
Quotation: involves taking the precise wording
of the author in a sentence or paragraph.
In such case we needs to put the sentence or
paragraph in a quotation mark (“ ”)
and we are required to cite the source, which
includes the name of the author, the date of
publication (the page number)
Note: the quoted sentence should be linked
with the previous or next issue in the text.
38
 Styles, Citation (Cont…)
Example:
According to Litvack et al. (1998), in the Third
World countries, the change and the emphasis
on decentralization is derived from different
factors that include:
“the advent of multi-party political systems
in Africa; the transition from a command to
a market economy in Eastern Europe and the
former Soviet Union; the challenge of ethnic
and geographic diversity in South Asia, as
well as ethnic tensions in other countries” 39
 Styles, Citation (Cont…)
Where a quotation has been changed or words
are added, it should be indicated as follows:
1.“[…] it is clear that according to the current
understanding of governance, government is one
among many economic players or actors that
are concerned with the stability of the
financial sector.” (Author, year)
This indicates omitted parts before the sentence
included in the quotation
2.“Development is […] a cumulative process.”
This indicates that something has been
omitted in between.
40
 Styles, Citation (Cont…)
3. “The development should be very
well felt by [ the community ] and local
officials”
This shows that the community is the
author’s own insertion.
Sentence that is quoted from secondary
source, which was quoted by another
author is indicated by stating,
as quoted by Alex (2006)
41
 Styles, Citation (Cont…)
Paraphrasing- sources may be paraphrased
where exact wording is not essential.
This means the researcher is adopting the view
pints of the author.
However, the researcher should not change
the original meaning while paraphrase,
All paraphrased sources must be fully
cited.
Example
to deny or reject the efficient market
hypothesis for the whole stock market implies
that production decision based on stock prices
will lead to inefficient capital allocation. Marsh
and Merton (1986pp.484)
42
 Elements of Proposal (Cont…)
When citing within the paper
Single author: example Gorge Smith 1999
should be cited as (Smith, 1999)
Two authors: example Mathew White and
Fresew Belay 2004 should be cited as (White
and Fresew, 2004).
The same is true for three authors.
If it is more than three authors, use “et al.”
Example, (Jackson et al.,2003)
43
 Reference
Reference/ Bibliography
It is a complete documentation of the source
materials used in the research.
The documentation system is not the same for
all types of source materials.
A) Reference for books
Davidson, Alan. B. (1994), the Pursuit of
Business, London, Chapman & Halls
B) Reference for Journal article
Porter, (1994), Competitive Advantage of
Nations, Harvard Business Review, 68(2), pp.
73-83
44
 Reference (Cont…)
C) Other reference
It is possible to cite unpublished works if they
are relevant to the study.
Unpublished works are:
Personal communication with experts
(professionals).
Unpublished data collected by other
researchers
Unpublished research works
Public speeches
Conferences discussion and the like 45
 Reference (Cont…)
Unpublished references are not
usually found or catalogued in
libraries.
The researcher should not put such works in
reference list unless it has been fully
approved and a date set for its publication.
And such unpublished reference should be
placed in the body of the text, not in the
reference list.
46
 Reference (Cont…)
Use parenthesis to enclose,
the complete name of the author,
the year (if available)
the appropriate tattle,
location, or other information needed to
establish the authenticity of the reference or
help the reader locate it
9. Appendix (Annex)
Information types provided in this section are
those additional details, which are difficult
to accommodate within the standard headings
47
 Reference (Cont…)
Stuffs to be included in appendix
Detail Questionnaires and interview
schedules
Detailed experimental design (in
experimental research)
Detailed statistical procedures
Samples of research materials (chemical and
some biological materials)
Survey and other geographic maps
Pictures and maps 48
 Review Guide
Summarize the document
 The topic

 Objectives

 Method proposed to achieve the

objective
Note : It has to be very short ( do not
reproduce the proposal)
Strong side of the proposed study
49
 Review Guide (Cont…)
Limitation of the paper
 Is the topic relevant?
 Does it add value?

 Does the researcher know the relevant

information needed for the study?
 The soundness of the proposed
methodology?
Over all impression of the proposed
paper
Use 15 minute to review the paper 50