Chapter 5

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

1
 What is a Proposal or Research plan?
 A research proposal is a concise and coherent
summary of your proposed research. It sets out the
central issues or questions that you intend to
address. It outlines the general area of study within
which your research falls, referring to the current
state of knowledge and any recent debates on the
topic.
 The primary focus of your research project is usually
expressed in terms of aims and objectives.

2
Framework of Research Proposal or Research Plan
1. Title of the research
2. Abstract
3. Background to the study
4. Statement of the problem
5. Objectives of the study
6. Hypothesis/research Questions
7. Significance of the study
8. Scope of the study
9. Limitation of the study
10. Organization of the study
11. Literature review
12. Research methods
13. References
14. Time schedule
15.A budget breakdown

3
 Research Proposal
Word Limit: 3000 - 3500 words
Submit a research proposal for a research project that would
benefit your organization in its strategic planning.
Ensure to include:
1. An introduction to include a working title or topic area -
ensure that you convey the key points of the research
2. General overview of the research area - provide a brief
synopsis of the research, to include details of the sample and
purpose of the research.

4
1. Title of the research
The title needs to concisely state the topic of the
report.
It needs to be informative and descriptive so that
someone just reading the title will understand the
main issue of your report.
You don’t need to include excessive detail in your
title but avoid being vague and too general.

5
 Ways to select research topics
Personal experience.
Whether you want to evaluate the effectiveness of an
intervention or understand how or why it works
Curiosity about something in the media.
State of knowledge in the field
Solving a problem.
Hot topics under discussion
Everyday life.
Gaps in the research and theoretical literature.

6
 Techniques for narrowing a topic
Examine the literature.
You can repeat a previous study, explore unexpected
findings from previous studies.
Follow author suggestions for future research, extend
a theory to a new topic.
Talk over ideas with others.
Apply research to a specific demographic group.
Define the aim or desired outcome of the study.

7
 Research title must be tested before further research:
• Is the topic of current interest? A topic may very well
be selected from the burning problems of the time.
• Do the results have educational, social and scientific values?
• Do I have the knowledge and skill to complete the project?
Assess whether you can do it- any technical challenges?
• Do I have enough motivation& energy to complete the project?
• Are facilities available for me? Administrative, data,
computer, etc.
• Do I have enough funds to complete the project?
• Do I have enough time to complete the project?
• Are there ethical problems or limitations?
• Is the topic repeatable? The question of repeatability –
research shouldn’t be the first and the last. You should
see some are following you.
8
 How to make our research title interesting? Titles should:
1. Capture the readers’ interest: to do so don’t use plain words
rather try to choose words which stimulate the interests of the
readers. To this end, consult different reading materials and
experienced people.
2. be specific, concise, descriptive and clear
3. state the functional r/ships of variables: dependent &
independent variables
4. be correctly ordered: important things must come first and less
important things come next. For ex.,
• Frequent training and its impact on profit—frequent training is
more important than profit.
• Profit and frequent training –profit is more important than
frequent training.
5. Try to use a single sentence or try to shorten long sentences by
using colon (:)
E.g., Random taxation and profit performance in Debre Tabor
Town: Impacts, Volatility, and corrective mechanisms.
9
 2. Abstract
Written last
The purpose is to get the readers interest
It includes
Purpose of the study
Research methods used
 the Main results
suggestions
It does not repeat phrases from the main text

10
 3. Background of the study
begins with a few short introductory paragraphs (a
couple of pages at most).
The primary goal of the introductory paragraphs is
to catch the attention of the readers and to get them
"turned on" about the subject.
The introduction often contains dramatic and
general statements about the need for the study.
A research proposal should provide
relevant background for the proposed
study.

11
 4. Statement of the Problem
The statement of the problem is the focal point of
your research.
It is just one sentence (with several paragraphs of
elaboration).
You are looking for something wrong, or
something that needs close attention, or
existing methods that no longer seem to be working.
you can easily identify the single sentence that is the
problem statement.

12
 5. Research objective
• Main objective
• Specific objective

13
 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
• The objectives of a research project summarize what is to be
achieved by the study.
• Research objectives should be stated based on the statement of
the problem under study (general and specific objectives).
• The general objective of the study is the overall deriving force of
the research and states what researchers expect to achieve by the
study in general terms.
• the specific objectives are the means by which we intend to
achieve the general objectives. These must be clear and concise,
to the point and brief.
For example, if the problem identified is low utilization of
University Guest house, the general objective of the study could
be
“ to identify the reasons for this low utilization, in order to find
solutions”.

14
 Specific Objectives.
a general objective must be broken down into
smaller, logically connected specific objectives (parts ).
Specific objectives should systematically address the
various aspects of the problem as defined under
‘Statement of the Problem’ and the key factors that
are assumed to influence or cause the problem.
They should specify what you will do in your study,
where and for what purpose.

15
 Why should Research Objectives be
developed?
 The formulation of objectives will help you to:
Focus the study (narrowing it down to essentials);

Avoid the collection of data which are not strictly necessary for
understanding and solving the problem you have identified; and

Organize the study in clearly defined parts or phases.

Properly formulated, specific objectives will facilitate the

development of your research methodology and

will help to orient the collection, analysis, interpretation and

utilization of data
16
 How should you state your objectives?
 Take care that the objectives of your study:
 Cover the different aspects of the problem

 and its contributing factors in a coherent way and in a logical

sequence;
 Are clearly phrased in operational terms, specifying exactly
what you are going to do, where, and for what purpose;
 Are realistic considering local conditions; and

 Use action verbs that are specific enough to be evaluated.

17
 How should you state your objectives?
Examples of action verbs are : to analyze, to
determine, to compare, to verify, to calculate, to
describe, to establish, to design, to develop …..
Avoid the use of vague non-action verbs such as:
 To appreciate, to understand, to know, or to study.
Keep in mind that when the project is evaluated, the
results will be compared to the objectives.
If the objectives have not been spelled out clearly,
the project cannot be evaluated.

18
 example
 A study into the cost and quality of home-based care
for HIV/AIDS patients and their communities in
Ethiopia, developed at a workshop,
• for example, had as its General Objective:
 “To explore to what extent community home-based
care (CHBC) projects in Ethiopia provide adequate,
affordable and sustainable care of good quality to
people with HIV/AIDS, and to identify ways in which
these services can be improved”.

19
 It was split up in the following specific objectives:
1. To determine the extent to which formal and informal support
systems address these needs from the viewpoint of service
providers as well as patients.
2. To determine the economic costs of CHBC to the patient and
family as well as to the formal CHBC program themselves.
3. To relate the calculated costs to the quality of care provided to
the patient by the family and to the family/patient by the CHBC
program.
4. To determine how improved CHBC and informal support
networks can contribute to the needs of persons with AIDS and
other chronically and terminally ill patients.
5. To use the findings to make recommendations on the
improvement of CHBC to home care providers, donors and
other concerned organizations, including government.
20
In the example given, the needs of AIDS patients and
their relatives for care and support have been defined
in the first objective.
The objectives which follow concentrate on adequacy,
cost and quality of care provided whereas the last two
objectives specify possible improvements with respect
to CHBC, and to whom the results & recommendations
of the study will be fed-back.

21
 TITLE OF THE STUDY
• Now you can finalize the title of your study.
• The title should be in line with your general objective.
• Make sure that it is specific enough to tell the reader
what your study is about and where it will be calculated.
• NOT: ‘A study on community home-based care’
• BUT: ‘A study on cost and quality of community home-
based care for HIV/AIDS patients and their communities
in Ethiopia’

22
Research Questions and/or Hypotheses and/or
Null Hypotheses
• lists the research questions (although it is equally
acceptable to present the hypotheses or null
hypotheses).
• No elaboration is included.
• An example would be:
The Research questions for this study will be:
1. What are the attitudes of...
2. Is there a significant difference between...
3. Is there a significant relationship between...

23
 6. Significance of the Study
 This section creates a perspective for looking at the
problem.
 It points out how your study relates to the larger
issues and uses a persuasive rationale to justify the
reason for your study.
 It makes the purpose worth pursuing.
The significance of the study answers the questions:
Why is your study important?
To whom is it important?
What benefit(s) will occur if your study is done?

24
 7. Scope and limitations
 All research studies also have limitations and a
finite scope.
 Limitations are often imposed by time and budget
constraints.
 Precisely list the limitations of the study.
 Describe the extent to which you believe the
limitations degrade the quality of the research.

25
 8. Review of the related literature.
 It is important because it shows what previous researchers
have discovered.
 It is usually quite long and primarily depends upon how much
research has previously been done in the area you are planning
to investigate.
 If you are planning to explore a relatively new area, the
literature review should cite similar areas of study or studies
that lead up to the current research.
 Never say that your area is so new that no research exists.
 It is one of the key elements that proposal readers look at
when deciding whether or not to approve a proposal.

26
 9. Operational definitions
the proposal and the study should also contain a
definition of terms section when appropriate.
Include it if your paper uses special terms that are
unique to your field of inquiry or that might not be
understood by the general reader.
"Operational definitions" (definitions that you have
formulated for the study) should also be included.
An example of an operational definition is:
"For the purpose of this research, improvement is
operationally defined as post-test score minus pretest
score".
27
 10. Research Methods
• The methods section describes your basic research plan.
• It usually begins with a few short introductory paragraphs that
restate purpose and research questions.
• Population and sampling
1) Define the population
2) Draw a representative sample from the population
3) Do the research on the sample
4) Infer your results from the sample back to the
population

28
 Research Methods…
Define the population
it all begins with a precise definition of the population.
Usually, just one sentence is necessary to define the population.
Examples are:
"The population for this study is defined as all adult
customers who make a purchase in our stores during
the sampling time frame", or
"...all home owners in the city of Gondar", or
"...all potential consumers of our product".

29
 Research Methods…
While the population can usually be defined by a
single statement, the sampling procedure needs to be
described in extensive detail.

There are numerous sampling methods from which

to choose.

Describe in minute detail, how you will select the

sample. Use specific names, places, times, etc.

Don't omit any details.

30
 Research Methods…
• 2. Instrumentation:
 If you are using a survey that was designed by
someone else, state the source of the survey.
 Describe the theoretical constructs that the survey is
attempting to measure.
 Include a copy of the actual survey in the appendix
and state that a copy of the survey is in the appendix.

31
 Research Methods…
• [Link] and timeframe:
State exactly when the research will begin and when
it will end.
Describe any special procedures that will be followed
(e.g., instructions that will be read to participants,
presentation of an informed consent form, etc.).

32
 11. Research instrument

• Data Analysis tools

33
• Research Schedule
• Budget
• Reerence

34
 Research Studies make Assumptions
All research studies make assumptions.
The most obvious is that the sample represents the
population.
Another common assumptions are that an
instrument has validity and is measuring the desired
constructs.
Still another is that respondents will answer a survey
truthfully.
The important point is for the researcher to state
specifically what assumptions are being made.

35
• References
• List references in IEEE format - numbered
sequentially or APA format alphabetically by
author's last name
• Appendix
• Include a copy of any actual instruments. If
used, include a copy of the informed consent
form.

36
 General considerations
 All research proposals use roughly the same format.
 It doesn't matter whether you've done a customer
satisfaction survey, an employee opinion survey, a
health care survey, or a marketing research survey.
 All proposals have the same basic structure and
format.
 Once you've learned the basic rules for research
proposal and report writing, you can apply them to any
research discipline.
 The same rules apply to writing a proposal, a thesis, a
dissertation, or any business research report.
37
 General considerations
 Most research studies begin with a written proposal.
 the proposal is identical to the first three chapters of
the final paper except that it's written in future tense.
 with the exception of tense, the proposal becomes
the first three chapters of the final research paper.

38