What is research proposal?

blueprint of a research project! (what, how)

 It describes the research problems and its importance, and it gives

detailed information of the methods that will be used and why they
are appropriate.
 You need to convince your reader that you have an exciting research
idea, and that you have a good grasp of the relevant literature, the
major issues involved, & the appropriate methodologies.
• The purpose of a research proposal is
• to convince your target audience i.e.,
• a funding agency, a thesis committee, University

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 Essential ingredients for a health systems research proposal

6. Ethical considerations
1. Summary
7. Dissemination of results
2. Introduction
8. Work plan
3. Literature review, or
review of available 9. Budget

information 10. References

4. Aims and objectives 11. Annexes

5. Methods

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 TITLE PAGE...
The title
• Remember that the title will be read by thousands of
people Perhaps few people will read the entire paper
- All words in the title should be chosen with great care and
association with one another must be carefully managed.
• Title is a label, it is not a sentence
• Titles should almost never contain abbreviations
• It should be short and precise to describe the
objective of the paper
• It should use attractive key words for its
audience
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 The Title (or Cover) Page
• In addition, the title page usually includes

• the title of the proposal,

• the name and address of the University unit

submitting the proposal, and
• the date submitted

 Titles should be comprehensive enough to indicate the

nature of the proposed work,
 In the mean time they should also be brief.
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 SUMMARY
summary of a proposal
•Purpose:
•to highlight key points from the major sections of the
proposal.
•Contents of summary:
• Background of the study
• objective of the study
• Basic procedures/ Methods
• work plan and total bduget
• key words
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 SUMMARY
• Do not overload an abstract with unnecessary
information.
• Keep it short (no longer than one page), precise,
and to the point.
•summary should:
• Contains no abbreviations/acronyms
• Should be self-contained and stands alone
• Includes no references(citation).

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•1. INTRODUCTION
purpose
•To convince the readers that the study will yield
Knowledge or knowhow that is useful, or improves the
practice.
• Contents of introduction:
• 1.1) Background ( Scope, what is known, trends, etc)
• 1.2) Statement of the problem (nature and magnitude
of the gap)
• 1.3) Significance/ Rationale (Contribution of the
research to solve the problem)

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 1. Background
Definition (description of the problem)
Clinical knowledge
Cause , Mode of transmission, Mode of prevention
World wide, developing countries magnitude
A brief description of socio-economic and cultural
characteristics and
An overview of health status and the health-care system
in the country/district in as far as these are relevant to
the problem.

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 statement of the problem
 The first major section in a research proposal
is the ‘statement of the problem’.
 A problem statement is a concise , and precise description of the
nature ,scope, causes, severity and the effect or impact of a
problem to be addressed and the need for the proposed
project /research.
 It should describe the problem that is to be
investigated and the questions that will
guide the research process.
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 Why is it important to state and define the problem well?

• It is foundation for further development of

research proposal
• Objectives, methods, work plan, budget ....
•It facilitates search of information
•To pool knowledge
•It justifies why the research should be conducted
• To clarify the problem & related factors

• To determine focus & scope of the research

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 Why is defining problem important…

• Enables to systematically point out

• why the problem should be investigated
• what you hope to achieve with the study
results.
– this is important to highlight for those
who need to support the study
• The community members, health
professionals, funders, ministries and
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 What information should be included?
1. A concise description of the nature of the
problem
 The magnitude, distribution and severity of
the problem
 (who is affected, where, since when, and
what are the consequences for those affected
and for the services).
 To know the discrepancy
• between what is and what should be and
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 What information should be included?...

Example

ANC coverage of the city is estimated at 86%.

Despite this high coverage of ANC only 56% of
pregnant women give birth in health institutions,
while the remaining 44% deliver elsewhere,
including home deliveries. Home deliveries are
known to be associated with maternal and perinatal
morbidity and mortality, such as antepartum
hemorrhage (APH), postpartum hemorrhage (PPH),
birth trauma, infection, and fistula.
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 What information should be included?...

2. Analysis of major factors that affect the

problem and discuss why some factors

need to be investigated
• Example

• Old age, higher educational status,

higher income and being married are
factors that increases institutional
delivery.
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 What information should be included?...

3. A brief description of any solutions to the

problem that have been tried in the past,
how well they have worked, and why
further research is needed (justification for
your study ????).

 example

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 What information should be included?...

Many health institutions attempt to improve the

situation through the training of traditional birth
attendants, expanding health education and
community mobilization activities. However, these
efforts are not based on systematic evidence into
possible determinants of the prevailing practice.
The present study is intended to contribute to
bridging the information gap, and subsequently
the coverage of institutional deliveries in the city.

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 Statement of the problem

4. A description of the type of information

expected to result from the project and how
this information will be used to help solve
the problem. Justification…
Magnitude
Severity
Consequence
Any solution tried
Justification
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 Literature Review
•A systematic analysis & interpretation of available
information about a topic of study
•It is an excellent opportunity to develop professional
confidence in the field of study
Why do we review literature? (reasons)
•To know more about a problem
•To avoid duplication of information
•To learn the gaps in the field of study
•To learn various methods that others used
•To forecast challenges that might be faced in the conduct
of study

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Literature Cont…
How do we write a review of literature?
Three steps in writing review of literature
•Consider your analysis of the problem
•Organize notes based on factors
•Decide the order (you have three options)
• from global to local
• from broader to focused
• from past to current

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 Literature Cont…
Sources of information
•Card catalogues of books in libraries
•Organizations (institutions)
•Published information (books, journals, etc.)
•Unpublished documents (studies in related fields, reports,
etc.)
•Computer based literature searches such as Medline
•Opinions, beliefs of key persons

•Bad sources of information (don’t use, or use carefully)

• Google, Wikipedia

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 Referencing

• Referencing is a standardized way of acknowledging the sources

of information and ideas that you have used in your assignments

and which allows the sources to be identified.

• It is important to be consistent when you are referencing.

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 Referencing….
Why reference?

• To avoid plagiarism,

• To verify quotations and

• To enable readers to follow up what you have written and more

fully understand the cited author’s work.

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 Referencing system

• Should follow an academic style of referencing

• Referencing systems for writing a bibliography:
• The number system (Vancouver)
• The author–date system (Harvard)
• The American Psychological Association
system (APA)
• The American Medical Association system
 Methods of Referencing (citation)
The Vancouver system: most common

• For an article :

Author(s )’ Surname followed by initials. Title of article : subtitle

if any . Abbreviated name of Journal year ;volume (number) :

page number of article .

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Referencing….

25
 Referencing….
• Louria DB. Emerging- and re-emerging infections: The societal
variables . Clin Infect Dis 1996; 1(2):59-62.
• Vega KJ, Pina I, Krevsky B. Heart transplantation is associated with an
increased risk for pancreatobiliary disease. Ann Intern Med
1996;124:980-3.
• Warner JA, Warner JO. Early life events in allergic sensitisation. Br
Med Bull 2000;56:883-93.
• Popplewell EJ, Innes VA, Lloyd-Hughes S, Jenkins EL, Khdir K,
Bryant TN, et al. The effect of high-efficiency and standard vacuum-
cleaners on mite, cat and dog allergen levels and clinical progress.
Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2000;11:142-8.
• Kidane T. Factors influencing TT immunization coverage and
protection at birth coverage in rural district, Ethiopia. Ethiop. J.
Health Dev 2004; 18(3):153-8.

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 Referencing….

• For a book :

Author(s )’ Last name first. Title of publication and subtitle if any.

Edition. Place: publisher ; Year. Number of page in the book.

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Referencing….

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 Referencing….
• Hill C. Practical guidelines for cystic fibrosis care. Edinburgh:
Churchill Livingstone;1998.
• Krentz AJ, Bailey CJ. Type 2 diabetes in practice. London: Royal
Society of Medicine ; 2001.
For books other than the first edition:
• Abramson JH. Survey methods in community medicine.2nd
ed .Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone;1979.P.229.
• Kennedy I, Grubb A. Medical law. 3rd ed. London: Butterworths;
2000.
Edited book:
• Johnson CD, Taylor I, editors. Recent advances in surgery. Vol 23.
Edingburgh: Churchill Livingstone ; 2000.
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 Referencing….

For a chapter in a book, the reference can include:

• Author(s) of chapter (Surname(s) followed by initials). Chapter

title. In: Editor(s) of book (Surname(s) followed by

initials),editor(s). Title of book. Place: Publisher; year. page

numbers of chapter.

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 Referencing….

Example:
• Todd J , Barongo L. Epidemiological methods. In: Boerma T, Bennett J
and Schapink D ,editors . HIV prevention and AIDS care in Africa; A
district level approach. Amsterdam: KIT Press; 1997.p. 51-68.
• Watkins [Link]. In: Kay AB ,editor. Allergy and
allergic diseases. Oxford: Blackwell Science;1997.p.505-17.

• Porter RJ, Meldrum BS. Antiepileptic drugs. In: Katzung BG, editor.
Basic and clinical pharmacology. 6th ed. Norwalk (CN): Appleton and
Lange; 1995. p. 361-80.

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 Conceptual/Analytical
Framework
• “Schematic representation of the research goal and the general steps
needed to reach this goal”
• Emerges from previous literatures, theories, and other pertinent
information.
• Show the relationships of the different constructs that the researcher
wants to investigate.
• It may be an adaptation of a model used in a previous study, with
modifications to suit the inquiry.

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 Conceptual framework of the study
Maternal medical
factors
 Malnutrition,
Anemia
Socio-  GDM, HIV/AIDS,
• demographic
Labor & Delivery related factors
HTN
factors  History of STI HS & HCPs
• Parity
 Age related factors
during px
• ANCfollow
Educational
up  Referral
• Durationstatus
of rupture of membrane
Maternal status
•
 Level
Frequency of examination
of vaginal
near-miss  Parthograph
•
income utilization
Parthograph utilization
 Place of
• Duration of labor
residence Obstetrics  Duration of
• ofOccupation
Mode delivery
related factors labor
• Place of delivery  Parity & ANC  Mode of
• Haemorrhage follow up delivery
 Duration of  Place of
ROM delivery
 Frequency  PPH
of PVE
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Formulating Research Objectives
 Learning objectives
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:

 Describe the need for the development of research

objectives
 Differentiate between general and specific objectives

 Formulate general and specific objectives

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 Formulating Research Objectives

Introduction

A research objective is a statement that clearly indicate the

goal to be achieved by research project.

It summarize what is to be achieved by the study .

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 The formulation of objectives

The formulation of objectives will help to:

Focus the study (narrowing it down to essentials);

Avoid the collection of data which are not necessary

solving the problem you have identified.
 Organize the study in clearly defined parts or phases

So the explicit formulation of study objectives is an

essential step in planning of study.
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When Should the Objective of a Research Problem be Prepared?

 After the literature review is developed

 Before the methodology for the study is planned

Objectives:

show the precise goal of the study,

 guide development of the research methodology

orient the collection, analysis and interpretation of data .

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 The characteristics of good objectives
arranged in coherent way and in logical sequence.
Are clearly expressed in measurable terms.
Are realistic considering local conditions.
Meet the purpose of the study
defined in operational terms that are specific enough to be
measured.
Objectives shuold be 'SMART' ( specific, measurable,
achievable, (sometimes agreed), realistic (or relevant) and
time-bound, (or timely).

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 Objectives ….

How should objectives be stated?

Objective should be stated using "action verbs" that are specific
enough to be measured. Examples:-

 To determine

 To compare

 To verify

 To calculate

 To describe , find out ,establish etc….

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 Objectives….

Avoid the use of vague non action verbs such as:-

• To appreciate

• To under stand

• To believe

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 Objectives ….
What Formats can be Used for Stating
Research Objectives?
• Research objectives can be stated as:-

• Questions: "The objective of this study are to answer the

followings…"
• Positive sentences: "The objectives of this study are to
determine…."
• Hypothesis: "The objective of the study is to verify the
following hypothesis.."

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Objectives….
Types of Research Objectives

[Link] objectives: states what researchers expect to achieve by the

study in general term.

Example: in study EPI coverage in Sodo town, the general objective

was << to assess EPI coverage and its determinant in Sodo town>>
2. Specific Objectives:
 Measurable statements on the specific questions to be answered.
 Are more specific
 Related to the research problem situation.
 Indicate the variable to be examined and measured
 Should specify what you will do in your study, where and for what
purpose
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 Objectives….

Example: in study EPI coverage and its determinants in Sodo town

The specific objective could be:

• To find out the magnitude of EPI coverage for children who attend

OPD MCH, etc in Sodo town

• To examine the reason for which children are not being

immunized while attending the OPD, MCH, etc

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Class activity

• Develop general & specific objective for the

topic you selected.
 Thank you!!!

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