How to Prepare a Project

Proposal

Shidrokh Goudarzi
Outline:

• Recognize benefits of engaging social / scientific research.

• Define what a ‘Research Project' is.
• List the major characteristics of project proposal.
• Describe steps of conducting a social / scientific research project.
• Prepare a brief summary of a project proposal.
• Describe the main components of a project report.
Introduction

• Scientific / social research project plays a very important role in our efforts to advance
technological / knowledge envelope

• Research project helps us create new knowledge and develop proper tools for the use of existing
knowledge.

• Not only does it enable researchers to identify problems, also provides evidence for policies and
decisions on socio-economic development
What is research project?

• Research project is the systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of data to answer a certain
question or solve a problem.
• Characteristics of research project:

• It demands a clear statement of the problem.

• It requires clear objectives and a plan (it is not aimlessly looking for something in order to come across
a solution).
• It builds on existing data, using both positive and negative findings.
• New data should be systematically collected and analyzed to answer the original research
objectives.
Project Proposal – Definitions
• “… the meaning of proposal … suggests looking forward, to what the
researcher plans to do in the future. …

• The proposal lays out the problem for research, describes exactly how the
research will be conducted, and outlines in precise detail the resources that the
researcher will use to achieve the desired results.”
• Leedy & Omrod, Practical Research. 8th ed, p. 117, 115.

Essentially, to make the reader to understand :-

▫ What you are going to do: Project Scope
▫ Rationale of the project: Project Justification
▫ Objectives: Project Goals
▫ Methodology: Project Approach
▫ Expected output: Project Deliverables
What is a proposal ?

• A good proposal should consist of the first

• An outline of the research problem
three chapters of the report
• A statement of the significance of the problem • It should :-
• A review of related studies ▫ Begin with an Introduction - statement of
• A discussion of the procedures the problem/background information
(Chapter 1)
• Methods for data collection and analysis
▫ A review of the Literature (Chapter 2)
• A note about the study’s limitations ▫ Defining of the Research Methodology
(Chapter 3)
Research
Project
Process
•The Research Project
Process For Applied and
Basic Research

7
 Steps of conducting a research:

• A. Prioritizing and selecting a research topic

• B. Review of literature and other existing information
• C. Development of a Research Proposal
• D. Implementation of study:
• Data collection
• Data processing and analysis
• Interpretation of results
• Final report writing
• Presenting the results: Scientific, presentation at meetings, seminars,
workshops conferences, and presentation for administrators and policy-makers
 • Prioritizing and selecting a research topic
•Criteria for selecting a research topic:
1. Relevance: The topic you choose should be a priority problem.
• Questions to be asked include:
• How large or intensity of the problem?

Steps of • Who is affected?

• How critical is the problem?

conducting 2. Avoidance of duplication:

a research: • Before you decide to carry out a study, it is important that you find
out whether the suggested topic has been investigated before,
either within the proposed study area or in another area with similar
conditions.
• If the topic has been researched, the results should be reviewed to
explore whether major questions that deserve further investigation
remain unanswered.
• If not, another topic should be chosen
 Steps of conducting a research:
•B. Literature review
Why is it important to review already available
information when preparing for a research? • Learning what is known and unknown

• Learning how field of knowledge was developed

• It prevents you from duplicating work that has been
done before. (history)
• Showing you understand your field
• It helps you to find out what others have learned and
reported on the problem you want to study. This may • Confirming your own research is worthwhile
assist you in refining your statement of the problem.
• Explaining how knowledge is developed over time
• It helps you to become more familiar with the various
• Justifying your research
research methods that might be used in your study.
• Identifying how you will make a contribution
• It should provide you with convincing arguments for
why your particular research project is needed.
 •C. Development of a research proposal

•Contents

Steps of • Title of the research

• Introduction: Background information and Statement of

conducting the research problem (Scientific justification for the

study)
• Research project objectives

a research: • Research project hypothesis

• Methodology
• Work plan
• Plan for utilization and dissemination of research results
• References
a. Title of the proposal
•C. Development of a proposal

• A good title should be short, accurate, and concise

• It should make the central objectives of the study clear to the reader

• It is important to specify what population will be investigated, and where it

will be conducted.

• E.g. Factors Influencing e-Marketing Adoption in the Public Sector

b. Introduction (Background
information and Statement of the
research problem)
•C. Development of a research proposal
This section should convince the reader of the relevance of the study

It should provide enough background data for an outsider to

understand the different aspects of the problem, or the different
factors influencing the problem and the context in which it occurs.

Your review of available literature and reports should further illustrate

why the problem is important, not only in your own working area but
probably also beyond

Note: Be selective, remembering that this section serves to

justify your study, not to display your ability to read literature.
 C. Development of a proposal
• c. Objectives Example Objective To examine the User Factors and
System Factors that Influence eMarketing Utilization
Research objectives are the goal to be achieved by a among Government Sourcing Officials in UK Public
research. Sector
Why should research objectives be developed? The Example Specific Objective:
formulation of objectives will help you to:
• Focus the study (narrowing it down to essentials) 1. To identify the variables that may influence the
• Avoid the collection of data which are not strictly adoption of eMarketing by government users
necessary for understanding and solving the problem
you have identified 2. To examine the effects of the variables on the
• Organize the study in clearly defined parts or phases adoption of eMarketing by government users
- Properly formulated, specific objectives will facilitate
the development of your research methodology and will 3. To propose a framework to analyze the adoption of
help to orient the collection, analysis, interpretation and eMarketing by government users
utilization of data.
- How should you state your objectives?
4. To examine if some of the variables have
The general and specific objectives should be included as moderating or mediating effects on the
stated in the proposal relationships established as stated in objective 2
 d. Research hypothesis
•A hypothesis can be defined as a prediction or explanation
of the relationship between one or more independent
variables (PREDISPOSING/RISK FACTORS) and one
dependent variable

C. (OUTCOME/CONDITION/DISEASE)).

• a logical relationship between two or more variables

Development expressed in the form of a testable statement. A
hypothesis, in other words, translates the problem
statement into a precise, clear prediction of expected
of proposal outcomes.

• It must be emphasized that hypotheses are not meant to

be haphazard guesses, but should reflect the depth of
knowledge, imagination and experience of the investigator
must be based on established theory/model

• Therefore, in the process of formulating hypotheses, all

variables relevant to the study should be identified.
 • H1: Performance expectancy is significantly related to
officials’
adoption of eMarketing
• H2: Effort expectancy is significantly related to officials’
adoption of eMarketing
• H3: Social influence is significantly related to officials’

Example : adoption
of eMarketing

Hypotheses
• H4: Facilitating conditions is significantly related to officials

adoption of eMarketing
• H5: Information quality is significantly related to eMarketing
adoption
• H6: System quality is significantly related to eMarketing
adoption
• H7 : Service quality is significantly related to eMarketing
adoption
• H5a : Satisfaction significantly mediates relationship between
information quality and eMarketing Adoption
Example :Proposed Research Model
Personal Experience
Innovativeness In IT

Performance H1a
H2a
Expectancy H2b H4a
H1
H3a
Effort Expectancy
H2

Social Influence H3

eMarketing
H4
Facilitating Adoption
Conditions
H5
Information
Quality
H6
System Quality

H7
Service Quality

H7a
H6a Satisfaction
17
H5
An Example of Research Design
Extent of Study Setting Measurement and
Type of
Purpose of Researcher Measures
Investigation
the of Study Interference
5 point Likert- Data
Minimal: Natural Type Scale Analysis
Explanatory Studying Setting
Correlation
(Hypothesis events as (Adapted IS
Testing) they normally (Non- Success Model,
contrived) Metrics)
occur 1. Feel for
Data

2.Goodness
of data
Problem
Statement
3. Hypothesis
Testing

Unit of Time Horizon Data Collection

Analysis Sampling Method
Design
Individual Survey
Probability: Cross (Structured
Simple Sectional Questionnaire)

(One-Shot) Primary Data

source

Pilot Study

Adopted From Sekaran, 2003 (p.118)

The classical report structure

INTRODUCTION What I want to do

LITERATURE What others say about it

DESIGN My plan for doing it

RESULTS What happened when I did it

DISCUSSION What this means

CONCLUSIONS What I found out

Simplified model of research

Punch, K. F. (2007). Developing Effective Research Proposals (2 ed.). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.
Significance of the
Study
• Why this study is significant?
• Why do it now?
• What will it contribute to the existing research
literature?
• What implications your findings may have?
• Who will benefit from it?

[Scholarly acceptability]
 • The references in your text can be numbered in the
sequence in which they appear in the report and then
listed in this order in the list of references
• Harvard Citation or author/date system references made in
the text are listed in alphabetical order by the surname of
the first author in the bibliography at the end of the text.e.g.
• Reference within essay: In his survey of the mating habits
of frogs, Bloggs (1998) refuted that ...
• Entry in bibliography:

…References • Bloggs, B. 1998. Frogs and their mating habits . London:

Tadpole Press
• The Vancouver System or footnotes/endnotes or numeric
system; references are numbered consecutively in the
order in which they are first cited in the text.e.g.
• Reference within essay:
• In his survey of the mating habits of frogs, Bloggs (1)
refuted that ...
• Entry in bibliography:
• 1. Bloggs B. Frogs and their mating habits. London :
Tadpole Press; 1998
Writing a Report

• …..Overall Main Components of a Report :

• I. Title or cover page

II. Abstract
III. Introduction
IV. Objectives
V. Methodology
VI. Research results (findings)
VII. Discussion
VIII. Conclusions
IX. Recommendations
X. References
XI. Annexes or appendices (data collection tools, tables)
Main Components
• Chapter 1 : Introduction
• Background of the study
• Overview of research subject
• Broad to specific
• Problem statements
• Objectives of study
• Practical implications
• Theoretical contributions
• Study Limitations

• Chapter 2: Literature Review

• Past research related to study
• Global & local publications – journal and books
• Overview of theories related to research subjects – at least 5 or 3 key theories
• Review and critique
 Main Components
• Chapter 3: Theoretical Framework
• Introduction
• Conceptual development
• Models/theories comparisons
• Which models as base of proposed model
• Proposed research model
• Hypotheses development
• Independent variables
• Dependent variables
• Moderating / mediating variables
• Chapter 4: Methodology
• Introduction
• Population and sampling
• Data Collection and Sampling procedure (target ; sampling population ; size)
• Questionnaire design
• Measurement of variables
• Research design
• Measurement model
 Main Components
• Chapter 5 : Data Analysis & Discussion
• Introduction
• Feel for data
• Frequency distribution of demographics
• Positions ; locations ; years of working ; gender
• Testing Goodness of Data
• Reliability and validity
• Results from SEM analysis
• Significant or not significant related to hypotheses
• Chapter 6 : Conclusions
• Introduction
• Discussions on results – conform to findings in literature ; if not why..?
• Implications of Research Findings
• Theoretical Implications/Practical Implications/Policy Implications
• Recommendations for Future Research
• Limitations
…CONCLUSIONS

- The conclusions should follow logically from the discussion of the findings.

- As the discussion will follow the sequence in which the findings have been
presented (which in turn depends on your objectives) the conclusions should
logically follow the same order.

….RECOMMENDATIONS

- The recommendations should follow logically from the discussion of the

findings.
- Recommendations may be summarized according to the groups towards which
they are directed, for example:
Þ policy-makers / stakeholders
Þ program managers/implementing officials at different levels
Þ potential clients
Þ the community at large
Further Readings
1. Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE, p. 97–127.
2. Hernon, P. (2007). Editorial: what is problem statement? Library & Information Science Research, 29, 307−309.
3. Hernon, P., & Metoyer-Duran, C. (1993). Problem statements: An exploratory study of their function, significance, and form. Library &
Information Science Research, 15, 71−92.
4. Metoyer-Duran, C., & Hernon, P. (1994). Problem statements in research proposals and published research: A case study of researchers'
viewpoints. Library & Information Science Research, 16, 105−118.
5. Nitecki, D. A. (2010). Guest editorial: Finalizing a research paper—findings through conclusion. Library & Information Science Research, 32,
1−3.
6. Sproull, N. L. (1988). Handbook of research methods: A guide for practitioners and students in the social sciences. London: Scarecrow Press,
p. 140.
7. Teddlie, C., & Tashakkori, A. (2009). Foundations of Mixed Methods Research : Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches in the
Social and Behavioral Sciences. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE, p. 120–124.
8. Locke, L. F., Silverman, S. J., & Spirduso, W. W. (2019). Proposals that work: A guide for planning dissertations and grant proposals (7th ed.).
Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
9. Creswell, J. W. (2021). Writing and designing research proposals (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
10.Yin, R. K. (2018). Case study research and applications: Design and methods (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
11.Pautasso, M. (2018). Ten simple rules for writing a literature review. PLoS Computational Biology, 14(4), e1006205.
12.O'Sullivan, P. B., & Rassel, G. R. (2020). Research proposals: A practical guide. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications.