Research Proposal Template

TITLE OF YOUR Research Study
List all authors in this part alphabetically using the format Surname, First Name Middle Initial
1. INTRODUCTION / PROBLEM STATEMENT / RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY

Overview of the Study
Introduction
Background of the study
Statement of the Problem - What you hope to find out by doing this study? Specifically, this
research/this study aims to answer the following questions:
Research Questions - What are your research questions that pertain to your statement of the
problem or elaborate your statement of the problem?
1.
2.
3.
Significance of the Study - Why this study is important?
Scope and Limitations of the Study
 What are the limitations of your study
 What could be done differently next time?
 What would make this study a stronger study
2. LITERATURE REVIEW (ORGANIZE YOUR LITERATURE REVIEW BY TOPICS, USE

IN-TEXT CITATION WHERE APPROPRIATE; UTILIZE TRANSITIONAL PHRASES FOR
EVERY PARAGRAPH WHETHER IT IS TO ADD OR TO COUNTER-ARGUE)
 Will showcase some literature that is related to your topic and be the foundation for your study
 Use the sources to make a case for your study or show why your study is important
 Organize your related literature by themes (e.g. Foreign Literature/Studies, Local
Literature/Studies, Topic 1 – subtopic 1; Topic 2 – subtopic 2)
 Include an introductory paragraph before presenting the summarized literature/studies/articles
 Include a concluding paragraph after all the related literature/studies/articles have been presented
in the body part of this chapter
3. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

A. Overview of the Study’s Design (Answer the following questions in paragraph format. Include
all justifications with proper citation – meaning that your argument on explaining your answer in
the following questions should be based on related literature which will support your claim)
 Why is a quantitative study important here – what are you trying to find out (repeat from the
introduction)?
 What type of study will you do (a case study, an exploration of a topic, action research used to
improve practice, a descriptive study, a correlational study)? Explain why you chose this type,
include citation of the basis of your justification.
 How will you manage bias and control the quality of the study?
o What you do anticipate will happen and how will you manage this bias?
o You need to make it clear where you stand as the researcher so it is clear to readers
o What is the role of the researcher?
B. Population and Study Sample

 What will be the sample size for your study?
 How you will select the participants for your study? Why?
 What criteria will you use when selecting sample participants?
C. Research Methodology
Answer the following questions in bullet form in a summarized manner to introduce this chapter of the
study:
 Here is where you will lay out your research methods (think of it like a cookbook) of hwo the
study will run
 Sources of Data and Data Collection Methods
o Where will you get data? – interviews, survey, focus groups?
o How will you collect the data?
o Will you need to create an instrument (ex. survey)?
o What questions will you ask in the interview or focus group?
 Data Analysis process
o How will you analyze the data
o How are you going to code?
This is the recipe for your research and enables you to write down and discuss with your mentor exactly
what you want to do. It also enables anyone reviewing the research (like the ethics committee) and later
when you publish your results, to repeat the study in another location or time. In this part of the research
proposal, it is essential to be comprehensive and precise and you have to define each term used, describe
exactly how the data will be collected and managed and how it will be compared to make a scientific
conclusion.
Research setting
Describe the place where the research will be undertaken. Describe briefly what type of management
and care is normally given to the children that you will include in your study. By reading this section,
someone outside the situation (in another country, in another hospital) should be able to understand the
study setting and how it is similar or differs from their own setting.In order for the reader of your
published article to understand the context and setting of your research, it is important to describe the
setting accurately and in detail.
Research design
Describe the study design e.g. cross-sectional study, cohort study, case control study and provide the
rationale for selecting this type of study design. Provide justification (reason, explanation) as to why
you chose this type of research design. Your justification should be based on literature (e.g. Cresswell,
Trochim, Silverman) as to why you think this is appropriate for your to be able to conduct the study.
Target and study population

Describe the target, accessible and study populations. List the inclusion and exclusion criteria for
participation in the study. For example, if you study the association between HIV and pneumonia, the
target population is all the children in the whole world. You can of course not study all these children
because you have access only to the children in (for example) Tygerberg Children’s Hospital (the
accessible population). You will then select to include (for example) all children of a certain age over a
certain period in Tygerberg Children’s Hospital who had an HIV test done and who have information
on whether or not they have pneumonia (the study population). It is essential to remember that your
results and conclusion will be true only for the children selected for your study from Tygerberg
Children’s Hospital (study population) and not for all the children in the whole world (target population)
It is important to clearly state which children will be excluded and to ensure that you will not bias the
study by excluding certain children.
Sampling
If you want to select a sample from the study population you have to discuss this with a statistician
before you finalise your proposal. It is not good enough to state in proposal “a statistician will be
2
consulted”. Rather, explain and justify in this section the sampling technique/procedure that will be
done. Make sure to include appropriate citations to support your argument.
The statistician will help you to describe the sampling frame and how the study sample will be drawn.
You have to discuss with the statistician which assumptions should be used in calculating the sample
size.
Sample size
Determine your population’s sample size using appropriate methods. Refer to statistics books or articles
that discuss how to determine the sample size of your study’s population/respondents/participants.
Data collection
In this section you describe how you will collect the data. You basically have two options:
 Paper questionnaire/case report form (CRF)
 Electronic data capture device (like a tablet).
Clearly state if you are going to do any additional tests or anything that is not standard of care.
Clearly define each variable
The detail of the variables you are going to collect, the CRF, the data dictionary should be added as
appendices
Data Collection and Management

Describe the process of collecting, capturing, storing and preparing the data for analysis. Indicate how
ethical standards specifically how the confidentiality of data will be maintained.
Discuss data flow logistics and any standard operating procedures that will be developed. Indicate what
database will be used. Indicate how data will be backed-up and stored.
Data Analysis Plan
Discuss this with the statistician and indicate the planned analysis of the study population, the statistical
tests that will be used and indicate whether an analysis of sub-population will be undertaken and any
potential confounders identified.
D. Ethics and Human Subjects and Data Management Issues

 How will you manage and store the data you collect (keep data secure)?
 How will you protect the anonymity of participants?
4. REFERENCES
You will list all of the sources you reference anywhere in your study (Literature Review, Discussion,
Introduction
Use APA format in citing your references and sources
Arrange all references alphabetically by categories (e.g. books, journals, online publications, etc.)

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TITLE OF YOUR Research Study

1. INTRODUCTION / PROBLEM STATEMENT / RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY

2. LITERATURE REVIEW (ORGANIZE YOUR LITERATURE REVIEW BY TOPICS, USE

3. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

B. Population and Study Sample

Target and study population

Data Collection and Management

Data Analysis Plan

D. Ethics and Human Subjects and Data Management Issues

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