WRITE UP

Chapter 6
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Chapter objectives
• Describe an appropriate format, structure and
style of preparing the final research report;

• Plan and design an oral presentation of your

report.
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The Research Proposal

• Regardless of one’s research area and the
methodology chosen, all research proposals must
address the following questions:
– What is planned to be accomplished
– Why one wants to do a research and,
– How is it going to be done

• They are:
– Written in the future tense.
– All pieces must fit together.
– Change one thing – change all things.
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Writing Thesis/Dissertation Proposals:

The Big Picture
Your proposal describes your proposed plan of work:
• What you intend to study (objective, scope
research questions and background).
• How you intend to study your topic
(methodology).
• Why this topic needs to be studied
(significance).
• When you will complete this work (timeline).
• What resources will be used
• Who will undertake the study
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The Purpose of Research Proposal

• Research proposals serve a number of
purposes. Among them:
– They convince others that your research is worth
undertaking.
– They enable you to demonstrate expertise and
competency in your particular area of study.
– They may serve as a contract between the
researcher and funding agencies.
– They serve as a planning tool for the researcher.
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Parts of a Research Proposal

• Title
• Organization of the paper
• Table of contents / Overview of Chapters
• Introduction • Review of Literature
• Background • Related theory, lit,
• Problem Statement studies/empirical review
• Research Design and
• Purpose/Rationale/
Research Questions Methods
• Plan of Work
• Significance/ Implications
• Time table
• Scope of the study • Budget

• Limitation of the study • Bibliography

• Definition of key terms
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Creating a Working Title

• Orient your readers to your research
topic.
• Indicate the type of study you will conduct.
• It should be concise and descriptive
• Often titles are stated in terms of a
functional relationship
• Informative but catchy title
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Chapter one: Introduction

1.1. General background of the concept and the
study area
• The primary goal of the introductory paragraphs
is to catch the attention of the readers and to get
them "turned on" about the subject.
• Provide general information on the discipline

• Provide historical, geographical, societal facts

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1.2 Statement of the problem

• The statement of the problem is the focal point of your
research. It is just one statement (with several paragraphs
of elaboration).
• Present persuasive arguments why the problem is
important enough to study.
• Include the opinions of others (politicians, futurists, other
professionals).
• Explain how the problem relates to business, social or
political trends by presenting data that demonstrates the
scope and depth of the problem.
• Answer the question: What is the gap that needs to be
filled? and/or What is the problem that needs to be solved?
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1.3 Objectives of the study

• The objective is a single statement or paragraph
that explains what the study intends to accomplish.
• They are statements of the problem expressed in
terms of ― The objective/ goal of this research is
to...
• They are expressed in action verbs
• Specific objectives are required regardless of the
degree of informativeness of the general objective.
• They are breakdowns of the general objective with
the narrower subsets of the main theme.
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1.4. Significance of the study

• Justify the importance of the study as to how the results of your
study will be useful to the beneficiaries
• The contribution it makes in augmenting knowledge

• Discuss the methodological, substantive, and/or theoretical

contribution.
• State the practical and/or theoretical importance of the problem
and/or objectives of your study.
• Explain the usefulness or benefits of the study to both the
outside world and the research community.

1.5. Delimitation(scope) of the Study

• Present geographical, conceptual, methodological and time
scope of the research.
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1.6. Limitations of the study

• Specify the limiting factors that hindered the
attainment of the research objectives such as:
• Practical weaknesses in the methodologies
the researcher adapted
• Lack of access to the right data
• Lack of up-to-date literature in the areas
• Time and resource constraints
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1.7. Organization of the Paper

• Shows what each chapter deals within the paper.

• Some proposals include a sentence length

description of each chapter (i.e. chapter two
reviews relevant literature; chapter three
discusses the methodology).
• Other proposals include more in-depth reviews of
body chapters that might include major
hypotheses, arguments, methods, etc. for each
chapter.
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1.8 Definition of terms

• Definition of terms section (when appropriate) is
Include 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 pre-
test score".
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Chapter 2: Review of Literature

Writing the literature review allows you to understand:
• How other scholars have written about your topic.
• The range of theories used to analyze materials or
data
• How other scholars connect their specific research
topics to larger issues, questions, or practices
within the field.
• The best methodologies and research techniques
for your particular topic.
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Tips on drafting a literature review

• Categorize the literature into recognizable topic

• Clusters:
– stake out the various positions that are relevant to
your project,
– build on conclusions that lead to your project, or
– demonstrate the places where the literature is
lacking.

• Avoid ―Smith says X, Jones says Y in literature

reviews.
• Avoid including all the studies on the subject.
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Chapter 3: Research Design and Methods

• The methodology section describes your basic
research plan.
– Restate purpose/design
– Population and sampling
– Instrumentation (include copy in appendix)
– Procedure and time frame
– Analysis plan (state critical alpha level and type
of statistical tests)
– Validity and reliability
– Assumptions
– Ethical consideration
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Tips on Drafting Methodology

• Break down your methodology into subsections.
– In the social sciences, these sections may
include selection of participants, interview
process, profiles, interpretive and analytic
framework, methods of qualitative analysis, etc.
• Remember that your methods section may
also
require supporting literature.
• Anticipate and preempt the audience’s
methodological concerns.
– Acknowledge major problems.
– Justify your approach by showing how benefits
outweigh potential problems.
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Timeline/Plan of Work and Budget

Some things to keep in mind:
• Be aware of important dates for submitting and
defending dissertations.
• Do not be overly ambitious.
• Remember that your proposed timeline
demonstrates your awareness of the various
elements of the study (approval, travel; design, testing, and
length of experiments; negotiation of entry into the study site;
purchase of necessary equipment; drafting; redrafting).

• Budget: estimates of costs to be incurred to

undertake the research project, with details of items
and allowance is kept for contingent expenses
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Bibliography & Appendices

• Include a working bibliography of key texts that inform your
study and methodology.
• Your appendices may include Experiment Diagrams,
Permissions for Human Subject Testing,
questionnaires and other tools used to collect data
etc.
• Append materials that elaborate an issue which may
not be directly related to the objectives but are of
relevant to the topic.
• Any appendix has to be inferred in the body of the write
up
• Appendices tend to be discipline specific: know what
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What Stays the Same or Changes

Very Little in the final report
• Title page and References
– No changes
• Method section
– Reflect changes in procedure
– Reflect number and type of participants
– Change to past tense

• Other preliminary pages like acknowledgement,

acronyms, list of tables etc.
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1. ResearchReport Components

• The Title
• Should provide sufficient information about the nature of the study

• Acknowledgement
• Acknowledge all people who were directly or indirectly supported you on your
research
• Table of Contents, List of tables and figures

• Acronyms: Lists of abbreviations

• Abstract/executive Summary

• Introduction

• Literature Review

• Research Methods

• Data Presentation, analysis & Interpretation

• Summary of findings, conclusions and recommendations

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Abstract/executive Summary

1. Abstract: Summary in one paragraph that consists of:

• The major research question (problem),
• Major objective and brief explanation why the research was
important
• The methods used in the research
• Major findings and conclusions
• major recommendation made

2. Executive Summary: Summary of the complete content

of the project by emphasizing on major findings and
recommendations (mostly written between two pages
and five pages.
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Chapter Two: Review of Related Literature

2.1. Introduction
2.2. Definitions and Concepts
2.3. Theoretical, Analytical and Empirical Frameworks
2.4.Discussing what other authors have done in the area,
includes findings and your hypothesis
2.5. Use Appropriate citations in all of your papers
2.6. Conclusion that reflects the main themes, concepts,
variables that are going to be used in your research
(Conceptual framework)
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Chapter Three: Research Methods

3.1. Introduction: Summary of the theories, concepts and
variables drawn from the literature
3.2.Type of research: Quantitative Descriptive/ exploratory/
Qualitative: Case Study, Grounded, Phenomenal, historical,
etc. and the rational for using the type of research
3.3. Types of data:  Secondary data, Primary data.
3.4. Population and Sampling: Population, Sampling frames,
Sample size, response rate, Sampling techniques (All
procedures used and the justification for the use of a
particular sample design)
3.5. Data gathering tools:  such as Questionnaire, Interview,
Observation, FGD, Documents, etc. with their respective
variables including procedures for Collecting Data
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Chapter Three: Research Methods…

•  Data Collection
• How many were involved?, Have they had training? How were they
managed?
• When were the data collected? How much time did it take?
• What were the conditions in the field?
• How were irregularities handled?
• Validity & Reliability

3.6. Method of data Analysis: The methods used to analyze

the data
• Data handling and processing
• Mathematical or descriptive, pictorial model for data analysis
• Computer programs, and the rationale for selecting a particular data
analysis method
3.7. Chapter summary (if necessary)
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Chapter Four: Data Presentation, Analysis and

Interpretation
4.1. Introduction
4.2. Demographic profile of Respondents
4.3. Major Issues of Analysis: Present using tables, graphs,
texts… then interpret and analyze – show the
implication, support with additional data from
interview… and evidences in the literature
4.4. Discussion of findings by relating to the theoretical
discussions made in the literature
• Differences and similarities with the other authors findings
• Coherence and cohesiveness of arguments
4.4. Chapter summary
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Writing the Results Section

• Start off simple
• Don’t report results - analyze them
– Only include analyses, numbers, and statistics that
make a point
– Tell the reader what the point is--Explain why the
analysis was done and what the results mean

• Focus on the hypothesis

• Have a friend read it to see if it makes sense

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Writing the Discussion Section

• Did the results support the hypothesis?
• What do the results mean in terms of the points you
brought up in your introduction?
• What are the limitations of your study or
alternative explanations for your results?
• What explanations do you have for any unexpected
findings?
• What directions do you see for future research?
• What are the practical or theoretical implications of
your findings?
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Chapter Five: Summary, Conclusions and

Recommendations
5.1. Summary of findings: Should reporting fact and meet the
objective of the study

5.2. Conclusions
• Drawn from the findings

• Findings state facts while conclusions represent

inferences drawn from the findings
• A process of making judgement than reporting fact

• Should answer research questions

• Should explain the implications of your findings for the

current state of knowledge of the topic
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Chapter Five cont’d

5.3. Recommendations
• Suggests way forwards

• Suggest policy directions

• suggests corrective actions

• Suggests further study

• Always give possible recommendations as

they are related to your research 
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Recommendations cont’d
• Present recommendations based on your findings.
– Avoid the temptation to present recommendations based
on your own beliefs or biases that are not specifically
supported by your data.

– Recommendations fall into two categories.

• The first is recommendations to the study sponsor.
What actions do you recommend they take based
upon
the data.
• The second is recommendations to other
researchers.
There are almost always ways that a study could be
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References and Appendices

References
• Lists of books, journals, internet sources, etc.

• Apply consistent style and proper citation

• Don’t forget listing all materials that you have cited in your text

• Start your referencing section at the beginning of the writing process

and add to it as you go along

Appendices  
• Place for complex table, statistical tests supporting documents,
copies of forms and questionnaires
• keep it to the minimum

• put materials that are ‘interesting to know’ rather than ‘essential to

know’
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Oral Presentations
• Introducing yourself

• The nature of the project (general background

information)
• Objective, statement of the problem and
research questions
• Methods and limitations

• Findings, conclusions, and Recommendations

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Thank You!
Wish you success on your Research activities