CHAPTER

2
Proposal and Research
Writing

Compiled By Kebebew (MSc)

What is research proposal?
A Research proposal is a document written by a
researcher that describes in details the program for a
proposed research.
It is like an outline of the entire research process that gives
a reader a summary of the information discussed in the
research/project.
Research proposals are written in future tense and have
different points of emphasis.
A proposal should present strict research plan in order to
distribute research time according to tasks importance and
their time consuming capacity. 1
(Cont’d…)
It is a document of usually three to seven pages that
informs others of a proposed piece of research
idea/problem.
A research proposal can be rejected as unsuitable or
poorly designed.
If the proposal is well-designed, it can form an outline of
the research to follow, and ideally, can be mapped onto
various parts of the final research.
Research Proposal:
o Where you express your intentions and plans (Future).
o The detail plan of study.

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(Cont’d…)

A well-thought and well-written

proposal can be judged according to
three main criteria
n Is it adequate to answer the research question(s) and achieve study objectives?
n Is it feasible in the particular set-up for the study?
n Does it provide enough detail that can allow another investigator to do the study and
arrive at comparable results?

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Components of Research Proposal
 The Research Topic or Title  List of references
 Summary/Abstract
used in preparing
 Introduction/background of the study
the proposal
 Statement of the problem & its justification
 Objectives of the study
 Research Question/hypothesis
 Literature Review (not detail)
 Scope/delimitation of the Study
 Methodology of the study
 Significance/benefits of the study
 Budget and Time Schedule

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The Research Topic or Title
A title ought to be
 Well defined
 Use few words to adequately describe the contents of study
 Give, so far as its limits permit, a definite and concise indication of what is to come
 Titles should contain no abbreviations
 Title is a label, it is not a sentence
 All words in the title should be chosen with great care, and association with one
another must be carefully managed
First impressions are strong impressions; make your title
an attention grabber

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Title…
First impressions are strong impressions; make your title
an attention grabber
Under the title you should include
 Your name
 Name of your school/institute
 Advisor(s) name
 Date of delivery

The title page has no page number and it is not counted

in any page numbering

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Title…
Title: Examples
 Load balancing in parallel computing
 Throughput and delay analysis of IEEE 802.11(Wi-Max)
 Performance improvement of IEEE 802.11 in Wireless Sensor Networks
 An Energy-Efficient Broadcast Protocol in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks
 …

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Summary/Abstract
Abstract is a one page brief summary of the thesis proposal
It should inform the readers
Why a particular topic is important/significant?
How you are going to answer the question?
How the work fits into what is already known about the topic?
What new contribution your work will make?
In the abstract section do not put
Information that is not in the main text of your research proposal
References, figures or tables
Summarizing a wide topic is more difficult than it sounds

3
(Cont’d…)
Issues to remember
 The abstract is a concise summary of the material
presented in the proposal
 Even though it appears at the front of the proposal, it is
written last.
A well-prepared summary enables the reader to
 Identify the basic content of a document quickly and
accurately
 Determine its relevance to their interests, and
 Decide whether they need to read the documents in its
entirely
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Introduction/Background information
Provides readers with the background information for the research
proposal
Its purpose is to establish a framework for the research, so that
readers can understand how it is related to other research
At the beginning of the introduction, include a hook, i.e.,
 A statement to motivate readers to read the rest of the
proposal
 Indicate that the study addresses an important/interesting
scientific problem
Start with general then to specific information

3
(Cont’d…)
Introduction should address the followings
 Sufficient background information to understand the context
and significance of the question under study
 Proper acknowledgement of previous work on which this work
builds
 Sufficient references if readers need further information
 Be focused on the research question(s)/problem
 All cited work should be directly relevant to the goals of the
research
 Explain the scope of your work, what will and will not be
included
 A verbal "road map” or “table of contents” guiding the reader
to what lies ahead 3
Statement of the Problem
Statement of the problem summarizes the question you are trying
to answer
A problem might be defined as the issue that exists in the
literature, theory, or practice that needs further study.
 It is important in a proposal that the problem should be defined
clearly so that the reader can easily understand the problem that u r
going to solve.
Effective problem statements answer the question
 “Why does this research need to be conducted?”
It establishes foundation for everything to follow in the proposal

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Literature Review
Addresses how similar and related problems have been solved
before
Researchers should indicates what theoretical knowledge he/she
possesses about the prospective research
Literature review
 Is not a compilation of every work written about a topic
 Description of the literature RELEVANT to a particular field or
topic
 Gives an overview of
What has been said? Who the key writers are?
What are the prevailing theories and hypotheses?
What questions are being asked?
What methods and methodologies are appropriate and useful?

3
(Cont’d…)

Stages of a Literature Review

nDefine the problem
Narrow the scope of what you need to look out when you read
nCarry out a search for relevant materials
o Books
o Articles from journals
o Conference proceedings
o Workshops
o Newspaper articles
o Theses and dissertations
o ….

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(Cont’d…)

Stages of a Literature Review…

Initial appraisal (evaluation) from raw bibliographical data
 What are the authors’ credentials?
 Are they experts in the field?
 Are they affiliated with a reputable organization?
 What is the date of publication, is it sufficiently current or will
knowledge have moved on?
 If a book, is it the latest edition?
 Is the publisher a reputable, scholarly publisher?
 If it is a journal, is it a scholarly journal peer reviewed?

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Objective/aim of the Study
The objectives of a research define the ends or aim which the
researcher seeks to bring about
An objective may be thought of as either a
 Solution to a problem or
 Step along the way towards achieving a solution
Objectives of a research project are
 Summarize what is to be achieved by the study
 Should be closely related to statement of the problem
 Be simple (not complex)
 Specific (not vague)
 Stated in advance (not after the research is done)

3
Cont’d…
Commonly, research objectives are classified into
 General objectives and
 Specific objectives
General objective
 What exactly will be studied?
 General statements specifying the desired outcomes of the
proposed research
Specific objectives
 It identifies the specific aims of the research project
 Breaks down what is to be accomplished into smaller logical
components

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Research Question/ Hypothesis

Question- research focus to be answered

 Hypothesis- potential answer for the study
 A predicted answer to a research question
The Role of Research Questions
Organize the research project and give it direction and
coherence
Delimit the research project – show the boundaries
Keep the researcher focused
Indicate the data that will be needed
Provide a framework for writing up the project

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Research Question/ Hypothesis

Question- research focus to be answered

 Hypothesis- potential answer for the study
 A predicted answer to a research question
The Role of Research Questions
Organize the research project and give it direction and
coherence
Delimit the research project – show the boundaries
Keep the researcher focused
Indicate the data that will be needed
Provide a framework for writing up the project

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Scope/delimitation of the Study

Defining the research focus/concern

 Set the set of activities that will be done in achieving the research objectives.
Limiting the research boundary: Activities
 Physical & Logical boundaries

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Research Methodology

 Defining the ways/procedures to be followed in which the goals

of the study will be achieved: methods, materials, procedures,
tasks, etc.
The methods or procedures section is really the heart of the
research proposal.
o You must decide exactly how you are going to achieve your
stated objectives: i.e., what new data you need in order to
shed light on the problem you have selected and how you are
going to collect and process this data.
Indicate the methodological steps you will take to answer every
question, to test every hypothesis illustrated in the Questions or
Hypotheses section or address the objectives you set.
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Cont’d…

Generally, in the research methodology the following points should

be included/considered:
 Research Area
 Research type
 Data collection tools to be used
 Sample design/ methods
o Determine he sampling size
o Description of study participants
 Data collection procedure/tools
 Data analysis and interpret tools & techniques

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Significance of the Research

What are importance of the study/ Why is this work important?

The importance of the research outcome(s)
Potential beneficiaries at different levels
 Individual level
 Organizational level
 National level
Plainly state the practical and/or theoretical importance of the
problem and/or objectives of your study, given current knowledge
and practices.
Explain the usefulness or benefits of the study, if possible (and
especially for funding agencies), to both the outside world and the
research community.
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Budget schedule

Resources needed to conduct the research

Money required for each activity
Timeline schedule/Plan of Work
Show activity to be performed within a a specific time-span. It may
include:
The tasks to be performed;
When and where the tasks will be performed;
o Including the beginning and end of each activity.
Who will perform the tasks & the time each person will spend on
them;
The plan specifies how each project activity is to be measured in
terms of completion, the time line for its completion;
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References

It makes a very strong impact if you can identify where there is a
research gap in the literature that your proposal hopes to fill.
References cited in the research proposal should be included in the
reference list
Follow a specific and consistent guideline regarding use of
references in text and in the reference list.
Example
[1] B. Sikdar, S. Kalyanaraman, and K. Vastola, “Analytic
models for the latency and steady-state throughput of
Tahoe, Reno and SACK,” IEEE/ACM Transactions
on Networking., vol. 11, no. 6, pp. 959–971, Dec. 2003

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Writing a Research Proposal and Research
Report

Research Proposal: Where you express your intentions

and plans (Future)
 It should be Written in future tenses
Research Report: Where you present what you have done
(past).
 It should be Written in past tenses.

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 Research Proposal Research Report

1.1 Introduction/background of the study 1.1 Introduction/background of the study

1.2 Statement of the problem 1.2 Statement of the problem
1.3 Objective 1.3 Objective
1.4 Research question/hypothesis 1.4 Research question/hypothesis
1.5 Scope of the study 1.5 Scope of the study
1.6 Related literature review (not in 1.6 Significance/Application of the study
detail)
1.7 Methodology 1.7 Limitation of the study
1.8 Significance/Application of the study 2. Related Literature review (in detail)
1.9 Budget schedule 3. Methodology
1.10 Time schedule 4. Data Analysis
List of references 5. Conclusions and Implications
References
Appendices
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Any Question?

Compiled By Kebebew (MSc) 29