How to Prepare a Research Proposal:

Structure & Common Mistakes

Presented by:
Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD
Associate Professor, Dept. of CSE, IIUC
[email protected]
 What is your research proposal used for and
why is it important?
 A research proposal is a simply a structured, formal document that explains
 what you plan to research (i.e. your research topic),
 why it’s worth researching (i.e. your justification), and
 how you plan to investigate it (i.e. your practical approach).

The purpose of the research proposal is to convince the research committee that :
 Your project is interesting, original and important
 You are familiar with the field, you understand the current state of research on
the topic, and your ideas have a strong academic basis
 Your proposed solution is the best approach to answer the question
 Your project is possible within the practical constraints e.g., time and funding

2 Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD , Associate Professor, Dept. of CSE, IIUC
 How long should my research proposal be?

 The proposal should be 2,000–3,500 words (4-7 pages) long.

 It is important to bear in mind that specific university/funding

bodies might have different word limits.

3 Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD , Associate Professor, Dept. of CSE, IIUC
 Title page of the Research Proposal
The proposal will usually have a title page that includes:
 The proposed title of your project
 Your name and student ID
 Your supervisor’s name and Designation
 The institution and department
 The type of document (eg thesis/Project)
 The department and institution
 The degree program (eg BSc in CSE/ MSc in CSE)
 The date of submission
 It sometimes also includes your university’s logo.

Additional:
 If your proposal is very long (more than five pages), you might also have to
include an abstract and a table of contents to help the reader navigate the
document.You can put them just before the Introduction segment.
4 Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD , Associate Professor, Dept. of CSE, IIUC
 What should be included in your research proposal?
Your proposal should include the following:
 Title
 Introduction
- Research Problem, Research question, Rational of the research,
Significance of the study, research scope
 Literature review (Including research gap)
 Research Objective(s)
 Ethical considerations There may be
 Research design and methods some variation in
how the sections
 Implications and contribution to knowledge are named or
 Research schedule divided, but the
overall goals are
 Budget always the same.
 Reference list or bibliography
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Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD , Associate Professor, Dept. of CSE, IIUC
 Title
 Your title should give a clear indication of your proposed research
approach or key question.
 Your provisional title should be clearly and accurately indicate
your area of study and/or proposed approach.
 It should be catchy, informative and interesting.
 Rarely use abbreviations or acronyms unless they are commonly
known
 Is limited to 5 to 15 substantive words.
 If the title is too long, this usually indicates there are too many
unnecessary words.
 A title which is too short often uses words which are too broad
and, thus, does not tell the reader what is being studied.

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6 Dept. of CSE, IIUC
 Introduction
 After reading the introduction, your readers should be able to
clearly understand what you want to do. Likewise, they should be
able to appreciate your enthusiasm for the topic and to be engaged
in the potential results of the study.
 Consider your introduction as a two-four paragraph narrative that
concisely responds to the following questions:
 Problem statement
 Research question
 Rationale of research
 Significance of the research
 Research Scope
N.B: No require an abstract or synopsis before the introduction
7 Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD , Associate Professor, Dept. of CSE, IIUC
 Introduction (Cont..)
Consider your introduction as a two-four paragraph narrative that concisely
responds to the following questions:
 Problem statement: What is the central problem of the study? Present the
core problems or issues that will be addressed. This can be made either in
(research) questions or statements. A problem statement should have
following criteria:
 Who has an interest in the topic (e.g. scientists, practitioners,
policymakers, particular members of society)?
 It should focus on only one problem.
 It should not suggest a solution.
 Research Question: When you have a clearly-defined problem, you need
to formulate one or more questions. Think about exactly what you want to
know and how it will contribute to resolving the problem.

8 Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD , Associate Professor, Dept. of CSE, IIUC
 Introduction (Cont..)
 Rationale of the research: state the rationale of your research proposal
and explain, in an engaging way, why it is worthwhile to conduct.
 Significance of the research:
 Why is this topic significant to you?
 Why should others be interested in it?
 You should therefore explain why your Thesis/Project is important
(for example, by explaining how your Thesis/Project builds on and
adds to the current state of knowledge in the field or by setting out
reasons why it is timely to Thesis/Project your proposed topic).
 Research Scope: Clearly establish the limits of your proposed study to
provide a clear research focus.

9 Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD , Associate Professor, Dept. of CSE, IIUC
 Aligning your work

The relationship between The problem statement, The research questions, and the objectives of the
study. The problem statement should be aligned to the main objective. The research questions should be
aligned to the research objectives (a few questions sometimes is needed to be answered in order to
achieve one objective, e.g. above 2RQs will be answered in order to achieve RO1). The research
questions are retreived from the details given in the problem statement. When all specific objectives are
achieved, then the main objective is automatically achieved. when the main objective is achieved, thus
we solved the problem posed in the problem statement.
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Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD , Associate Professor, Dept. of CSE, IIUC
 The research question formulates a research problem that you want to
investigate. The scope of the question is informed by your research
objectives.

Example research problem Example research question(s)

The teachers at university do not have What practical techniques can teachers
the skills to recognize or properly guide at school X use to better identify and
gifted children in the classroom. guide gifted children?
Research Question
To develop techniques for teachers to guide gifted children

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 Literature Review

What exactly is the purpose of the literature review process? There are at
least four core functions:
 For you to gain an understanding (and demonstrate this
understanding) of where the Thesis/Project is at currently, what the
key arguments, conflicts, etc are.
 For you to identify the gap(s) in the literature and then use this as
justification for your Thesis/Project topic.
 To help you build a theoretical framework for empirical testing (if
applicable to your Thesis/Project topic).
 To inform your methodological choices (i.e. see what methods
were used in similar studies) and help you source tried and tested
questionnaires (for interviews) and measurement instruments (for
surveys).

Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD , Associate Professor,

12 Dept. of CSE, IIUC
 Literature Review (Cont…)
Tips:
 Read extensively on your topic. In fact before deciding on
your topic and objectives, you should have done a significant
amount of reading to identify a problem. Such a worry is
what is often stated as your statement of the problem.
 Make a summary/list/table of the authors in the field, their
Thesis/Project focus, their objectives/their findings and
your observations/reflections on their findings.

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 Research Objectives
 What are you trying to achieve with your Thesis/Project ? Are you
addressing a gap in the current Thesis/Project ? Is there something you're
trying to prove or disprove? Make sure that this is a clearly focused
statement.
 It is recommended to write the objective statement in one sentence in order
to make it clear that makes it look more convincing to the reader.
 Specify two or three objectives based on problem statement and literature
review. They may be stated as ‘general’ and ‘specific’.
 The general objective of the research is what is to be accomplished by the
research project, for example, to determine whether or not a new robot
should be incorporated in an industry.
 The specific objectives relate to the specific research questions the
investigator wants to answer through the proposed study for example,
primary: To determine the performance of the new robot in the specific
industry. To study the cost-effectiveness of this robot.
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Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD , Associate Professor, Dept. of CSE, IIUC
 Ethical considerations
 Ethical considerations apply to all types of research that include creature
e.g., human and animal.
 Health related research introduces special moral and ethical problems that
are not usually encountered by other researchers during data collection,
and hence, the researcher should take special care in ensuring that ethical
standards are met.
 Ethical considerations refer to the protection of the participants' rights
(right to self-determination, right to privacy, right to autonomy and
confidentiality, right to fair treatment and right to protection from
discomfort and harm), obtaining informed consent and the institutional
review process (ethical approval).
 Informed consent needs to be obtained from the participants (details
discussed in further chapters), as well as the research site and the relevant
authorities.
15 Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD , Associate Professor, Dept. of CSE, IIUC
 Methodology of the Thesis/Project
 The methodology section should clearly show why your methods suit your
objectives and convince the reader that you chose the best possible approach to
answering your problem statement and research questions.
 The methodology chapter explains what you did and how you did it, allowing
readers to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Thesis/Project Remember
that your aim is not just to describe your methods hardware devices/tools, but
to show how and why you applied them and to demonstrate that your
Thesis/Project was rigorously conducted.
 Focus on your objectives and research questions
 Your methodology can be strengthened by reference to existing research in the
field, either to:
 Discuss how you evaluated different methodologies and decided on your
approach
 Show that you took a novel methodological approach to address a gap in the
literature
16 Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD , Associate Professor, Dept. of CSE, IIUC
 Additional Tips for writing a strong methodology:
In nutshell, It should include:

17 Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD , Associate Professor, Dept. of CSE, IIUC
 Implications and Contribution to Knowledge
This section is where you contend how you think your proposed study will
enhance, change, or expand current knowledge in the research topic that
will be investigated. By drawing from your research objectives, explain
how the expected outcomes will affect future studies, practice, theory,
policymaking, procedures, etc. Discussing study implications typically have
either methodological, theoretical, or substantive significance.
You can use these guide questions when framing the potential ramifications
of your proposed research:
 What could the outcomes signify when it comes to disputing the
underlying assumptions and theoretical framework that support the
research?
 What recommendations for further studies could emerge from the
expected study results?

18 Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD , Associate Professor, Dept. of CSE, IIUC
 Implications and Contribution … (Cont..)
 How will the outcomes affect practitioners in the real-world context of their
workplace?
 Will the study results impact forms of interventions, methods, and/or programs?
 How could the outcomes contribute to solving economic, social, or other types of
issues?
 Will the outcomes affect policy decisions?
 How will people benefit from your proposed research?
 What specific aspects of life will be changed or enhanced as an outcome of the
suggested study?
 How will the research outcomes be implemented and what transformative insights or
innovations could emerge when they are implemented?
 The purpose of this section is to reflect upon gaps or understudied topics of the
existing literature and explain how your proposed research contributes to a new
understanding of the research problem should the study be conducted as proposed.

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Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD , Associate Professor, Dept. of CSE, IIUC
 Research Schedule
A Gantt chart is an overview of tasks/proposed activities and a time frame for the same.You
put weeks, days or months at one side, and the tasks at the other.You draw fat lines to
indicate the period the task will be performed to give a timeline for your research study.

20 Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD , Associate Professor, Dept. of CSE, IIUC
 Budget

 Make sure to check what type of costs the funding body will agree to cover,
and only include relevant items in your budget. For each item, include:
 The actual Cost: present how much money do you need to complete the
entire study
 Justification: why is this cost necessary to complete the Thesis/Project ?
 Source: how did you calculate the amount?
To determine your budget, think about:
 Travel costs: do you need to go to specific locations to collect data? How
will you get there, how long will you spend there, and what will you do
there (e.g. interviews, archival Thesis/Project )?
 Materials: Access to any tools or technologies. Training or installation
costs.

21 Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD , Associate Professor, Dept. of CSE, IIUC
 Reference list or Bibliography
 As with any scholarly research paper, you must cite the sources you used in
composing your proposal. Although the words ‘references and bibliography’
are different, they are used interchangeably.
 References -- lists only the literature that you actually used or cited in your
proposal.
 Bibliography -- lists everything you used or cited in your proposal with
additional citations of any key sources relevant to understanding the research
problem.
 Cited works should always use a standard format that follows the writing
style advised by the discipline of your course [i.e., Engineering = IEEE,
education=APA; history=Chicago, etc].
 This section normally does not count towards the total length of your
proposal.

Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD , Associate Professor,

22 Dept. of CSE, IIUC
 Common Mistakes to Avoid in Proposal Writing
With rejection rates reaching as high as 97% at prestigious journals, it is only
prudent to ensure that you are not making any of these customary mistakes
when submitting your research proposal:
 Submitting lengthy proposals. When writing research proposals, be to
the point. Your submitted document must be focused and concise. Don’t
diverge into irrelevant tangents without a clear sense of purpose.
 Covering too much research ground. It is common for students to fail
in delimiting the contextual boundaries of their studies, be it the topic, time,
place, etc. As with any research paper, the proposed research must clearly
inform the reader how the study will investigate the problem.
 Not citing major works in a literature review. While it is advised to
keep everything in the proposal at a minimum—a few milestone research
studies must already be included. Proposals should be grounded in landmark
studies that provide the groundwork for appreciating the growth and scope
of the issue.
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Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD , Associate Professor, Dept. of CSE, IIUC
 Common Mistakes to Avoid … (Cont..)
 Too much focus on minor issues, yet very few details on major
issues. A proposal must focus only a few key study questions to clearly argue
why it should be conducted. Mentioning minor issues is acceptable but they
should not overpower the major ones, which should control the overall
narrative.
 Inability to frame a persuasive and coherent argument for the
proposed study. This is another common yet crucial mistake of students
and grant-seekers. In essence, the research proposal must be able to
effectively argue why a study should be approved or funded.
 Poor grammar or careless writing. While a research proposal only
represents a small part of a complete study, it is expected to be well-written
and observes the writing style and guidelines of good academic writing.

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Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD , Associate Professor, Dept. of CSE, IIUC

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