University of Gondar

Institute of TECHNOLOGY
Electrical Engineering
Department

Research Method and

Presentation(EEng4344)

Chapter -Two
Research Proposal and Presentation Skill
May, 2023
Amanuel A. & Lidia B..
By:12/15/2024 1
 Introduction

A research proposal is:

 a document written by a researcher that provides a

detailed description of the proposed inquiry.

 Most important aspect of the research project

 Once a proposal has been developed and approved

 The study should be started and progressed based on the
proposal frame
 It should be adhered to strictly and not be changed.
2
 Identifying a research topic

 First step and one of the most difficult task in research

 Defining the problem (The research problem is a definite

or clear expression about an area of concern, a condition to

be improved upon or a difficulty to be eliminated).

 Each topic that is proposed for research has to be judged

according to certain guidelines or criteria(depends on

familiarity with the topic).

3
 What is a research proposal?
Research proposal is
 Complete planning of a research(detailed plan
of study).
 Specific course of action that will be followed.

Writing a proposal is to describe

What you will do(research topic )
Why it should be done(research significance)
How you will do it(Research design(approach))
What you expect will result(Possible outcome).

4
 Continued…………

 A well-written proposal can be judged according to three

main criteria.

‣ Is it adequate to answer the research question (s), and

achieve the study objective?

‣ Is it feasible for the particular set-up of the study?

‣ Does it provide enough detail that can allow another

investigator arrive at comparable results?

5
 Components of a Research
proposal
Cover/Title page
Abstract
Table of Content
List of Abbreviations
List of Symbols
List of Figures
List of Tables
Introduction/Background
Statement of the problem
Literature review
Hypotheses /Questions 6
Cont’d,,,

 Objectiveof the study

 Research method, material and procedures
 Study area , design, Sample size
 Sampling methods ,Method of data collection
 Work plan
 Budget
 References
 Appendices/Annexes

7
Title page
 The research title should be -
• specific, direct, concise, meaningful and easily
understandable;
• not more than one or two lines (Avoid too long title).
• The title should not also be too brief
 Contents of title page
 Title/topic of the research
 Name of researcher
 Name of his/her department/ faculty/ Institution
 Advisor and co-advisor Name
 Date of submission
 The title page has no page number
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Summary/Abstract

◦ It is a mini version(brief summary) of the

proposal and approximately 300 words.

 It should include the research question, the

rationale for the study, the hypothesis (if
any), method and the main findings.

9
Cont’d,,,

Note that:
 Though it appears at the front of the proposal, it is written
last.
 Do not put references, figures, or tables in the abstract.
 A well-prepared summary enables the reader to
◦ Identify the basic content of a document quickly and
accurately,
◦ Determine its relevance to their interests.

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 Table of contents
o A table of contents should:

 List the research proposal sections in a

hierarchical way, using titles and subtitles
 give accurate page references for each
section
 Introduction

An introduction should:
o Follow a general-to-specific writing pattern
o Start by providing background information that orientates
the reader to the research’s general socio-political,
historical, scientific, and educational contexts
 Proper acknowledgement of the previous work( cite those
who have done the most recent and relevant work).

• Include a hook (a brief opening statement that catch

up the attention of the reader) at the very beginning.
 Statement of problem
o It is the focal point of any research.
o It is the description of an issue currently existing which
needs to be addressed.
o That is, what the researcher wants to solve and what
questions he/she wishes to answer.
o It can be defined as an area of concern, a gap in the
existing knowledge, need further understanding and
investigation.
 Research Question

o This is the question that you are trying to answer when

you do research on a topic or write a research report.
o It should be as specific as possible.
o In some cases, you may make two or more research
questions to cover a complex topic.
o It is a key element of a research study
o It defines the main purpose or direction of the study.
 Quantitative Research Questions

1. They Begin with “How”, “What”, or “Why” and can

never be answered by a simple Yes or No

2. Specify the independent and dependent variables

3. IF your questions deal with connections among

multiple variables, you will again - use relate

 Qualitative Research Questions

1. Ask only a few general questions [no Yes/No questions] to

permit participants to share information with you

2. Ask questions that are neutral exploratory language that

does not convey conclusions you expect
o E.g., Begin with “How” or “What”.
o Avoid “Why” [this is a quantitative term that implies cause
and effect].
 Objectives of Research

o It refers what you are going to do in your research.

o The number of objective depends on the nature of research.

o But it should not be too many.

o It must be contextual/consistent to the title

 Continued……
o Concise, clear-cut, expressed in simple language
o Distinctive, quantifiable , measurable
o Two types of objectives : general/broad/overall; specific
• General objective= from title

• Specific objectives = from basic questions

 Significance/expected outcomes

o It states the importance or contribution that the study

will have for different bodies.

The importance could be;

 to create awareness about the problem,

 to provide solutions to a problem,

 to provide basis for other researchers, or

 to extend the scope of knowledge.

 Delimitation of the Study

o is a boundary to which a study was deliberately

confined.

o It indicates the scope (coverage) of the study.

o Your study should be delimited to a manageable size.

o This should be done in relation to the area coverage as

well as to the extent of treatment of the variables in

your study.
 Limitations of the study

o refer constraints or difficulties you think that they have influence on

the results of your study.

o It may be in relation to the weaknesses in the methodology, lack of

access to data, faulty instruments, sampling restrictions, lack of recent

literature in the area etc.

o In general it involves;

 limitation before and After

 Factors that will affect the study and not controlled by the

researcher
 Methodology / Design of the Study/

o In this part you will indicate

 the subjects of your study

 the variables that you will treat in your study,

 the sampling technique you will use to select sample

subjects,
 your tools for data collection,

 the procedures you will follow for collecting data and

your method of data analysis.
 Definition of Basic Terms

 In writing a research proposal, it is necessary to define

all unusual terms and concepts that may be

misinterpreted by your readers.

 E.g broken family, children, adult, literacy etc.

 Work Plan

o This needs to include the time needed to complete the

study such as
• Preparation of the proposal;

• Preparation of the questionnaire/checklist;

• Data collection;

• Tabulation;

• Preparation of draft report;

• Review of draft report;

• Finalization of the report - up to defense

 Financial Budget

o It will include money that will be needed to conduct

and complete the study.
o Total amount of money should be broken up into
different heads and sub-heads.
o Form your proposal you need to be prepare budget
breakdown
Literature Review:

What is
Literature
review ?

19
 Literature review

 asks how similar and related questions have been answered before.”
 The stages of a literature review

1. Define the problem

2. Initial appraisal (evaluation) from raw bibliographical data:

 What are the authors’ credentials or evidence?
 Are they experts in the field?
 Are they affiliated with a reputable or honorable
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?

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 Cont’d,,,

 Sources of literature

 Books and professional journals

 Internet: https://www.sciencedirect.com/ , https://www.IEEE.org/ ,
https://arxiv.org/
 Interview
 Formal research reports. etc.
 Popular publications should not be included e.g. Newspapers,
news magazines etc.
 Literature Review
 Strategies to be followed:

1.Search

2.Record
3.Write
up

R.no Authors Title Methods Finding Resear

name and ch Gap
year
Questions and/or
Hypotheses
 Is a tentative proposition of the problem statement.

Issues to remember:
 A research hypothesis is usually stated in an explanatory
form, because it indicates the expected reference of the
difference between two variables.
 The research hypothesis may be stated in a directional or
non-directional form.
A directional hypothesis statement indicates the
expected direction of results, while a non directional one
30
Methods, material and
procedures
 show how you will achieve the objectives, answers the
questions.”
 heart of the research proposal
 What belongs in the "methods" section of a research
proposal?
◦ Information to allow the reader to assess the believability
of your approach.
◦ to replicate your experiment for further research.

◦ Description of your materials, procedure, theory.

◦ Limitations, assumptions, and range of validity.

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 References

o Lists only the literature that you actually used or cited in

your proposal.

o Refers to those consulted materials that are actually cited

in-text.
References & Citations:

What are
References
and
citations?
References
 References may be made in the main text using index numbers
in brackets (Vancouver style) or authors name (Harvard style)

For a journal paper give:

◦ the names of the authors,

◦ the year of publication,

◦ the title of the paper,

◦ the title of the journal,

◦ the volume number of the journal,

◦ The first and last page numbers of the paper.

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Continued……………
For a book give:
◦ The author,
◦ The year of publication,
◦ The title, and the edition number if there is one,
◦ The name of the publisher,
◦ The page numbers for your reference.
 For an internet reference give:
◦ The author of the web page,
◦ The title of the item on the web page,
◦ The date the item was posted on the web page
◦ The date the item was accessed from the web page
◦ The complete and exact URL.
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References and Citations:

Methods of Citations: text

1. IEEE: Consecutive numbers are used in the text to

indicate the references. Example[1]
2. APA: Author's last name and the year of publication for
the source should appear in the text, like, for example,
(lidia, 2022)
Others:
Vancouver, Harvard ,MLA ,etc.

12
 References and Citations:
References:

1.IEEE:
 Cont’d,,,

References :

1.APA:

14
Cont’d,,,:
 References and citations : Example(IEEE)

15
Cont’d,,,
References and citations: “et al”.
 is a scholarly abbreviation of the Latin phrase et alia, which
means “and others”.
 It is commonly used when you don‘t want to name all the
people or things in a list, and works in roughly the same way
as etc.
Cont’d,,,
Free software packages
 For simplifying and improving the quality of references and
citations as well as text processing the following software
packages can be utilize in write-up:
EndNote
 Mendeley
Zotero
LaTeX
Appendices/Annexes

any additional information you think might be

helpful to a proposal reviewer.

For example, include: Questionnaire & other

collection forms; Dummy tables; Biographical data
on the principal investigator.

42
Technical report writing
 Writing is presentation of ideas using text.
 To structure information using both text and design to achieve
an intended purpose for clearly defined audiences
Elements of good Technical Writing
 Thoughtfulness
 Correctness
 Appropriateness
 Readability

Characteristics of good research report

 Try to say a lot in few words
 Be professional and serious
 Maintain accuracy and clarity
 Always keep your objectives and your audience in mind

43
Continued …………..
Steps in Writing:
◦ Organizing
◦ Composing
◦ Reviewing
◦ Preparing
 Key Elements that should be remembered during writing
 Purpose
 The target audience

44
Continued……………

 SomePrinciples & Good Practices in Technical Writing

Outline your ideas before you start
Draw a diagram or mind map of relationship between ideas.
Write the body.
Write summaries of individual sections (to be deleted later);
Write regularly.
Talk about your ideas before, during, and after writing them
down.
Get regular feedback on what you write

45
Continued……………
Write the outline
◦ Message 1
 Support 1-1 for message 1
 Support 1-2 for message 1
 Sub-support for 1-2-1
 Sub-support for 1-2-2 ….
◦ Message n
 ……
…


46
 General structure of a research report
Parts of a typical scientific report:
◦ Title
◦ Acknowledgement
◦ Abstract
◦ (Table of Contents)
◦ (Lists of Figures and Tables )
◦ Introduction
◦ Materials and methods
◦ Results
◦ Discussion/Conclusion
◦ References
◦ Appendices, where applicable
47
 Cont’d,,,
The entire technical report can be viewed as having three basic
parts: Front, Main (body) and Back part.
 The Front part generally include:
 The cover page should consist of:
Logo, the name of the university, The college, department
name, the title of the project(the research title), the name of
students, Advisor name date and place(the month and the
year followed by the location).
Front Part
 Title Page, Abstract,
 Table of Contents and
 Lists of Figures and Tables
48
Cont’d,,,
 The Main part includes:
Introduction; Methods, Materials (& Assumptions);
Design parts
Results and Discussion; Conclusions;
Recommendations;
References
 TheBack part includes: Appendixes; Bibliography and
Acronyms.

49
Some editorial, format and layout
issues in technical writings
 Paper size
 Font type, size and typeface
 Line (and new line) spacing
 Paragraph indentations
 Columns in a page
 Page/column margin sizes
 Figures/graphs/tables

 Equations
50
 Oral presentation skills
Presentation is conveying information to others via
speaking (oral) or in written form - reports.
Presentation has a specific purpose
 communicating with others
 Persuading/convincing others
 training/teaching others
 graduating;
 etc
51
 Continued …………
Speaker Audience
Wants to convey May want to listen and
something benefit
One person, usually Many persons
Familiar with the topic May not be familiar with
topic
Planning your presentation: Issues
i. Determine the objective (type) of talk which may be
◦ Talk to present new research results
◦ Review/Overview talk
◦ Tutorial talk
◦ Training/Teaching
◦ Presentation for selling an idea or a product (proposal)
52
 Continued …………
ii. Assess knowledge level of audience
◦ Homogeneity,Knowledge of audience
◦ Tailor your talk to the audience
iii. Major points you want to present
◦ 3-5 points

Planning your presentation: Organizing

 Why was the work done? State problem and goal
 What are possible solutions? State solutions
 What findings resulted from the work? Present the

results of your work

 What do the results imply? State

implications/consequences of your work

53
 Continued …………
 Planning your presentation:
1. Tell them what you are going to present
◦ Overview, introduction, motivation------------ 20%
2. Your main presentation
Main body of your talk {Methods, Analysis,
Results & Discussions}------------------
70%
3. Tell what you told them again
◦ Summary{Conclusion and Recommendation}-
10%

54
 Outlining and formatting oral
presentations
Stylistic Issues: The Slide
Layout:
background color of the slide & the color of
the text should have a sharp contrast
Font:
‘Small’ case letters are easier to read than
‘CAPITALIZED’ letters
Select a font type that is easily legible and has
sufficient spacing between letters
font size, may be in the range of 18 to 28 a
good starting point is twenty-four,

55
 Continued …………
Content of pages in the slide - Text

 The rule for technical presentations may be:

 2 minutes per slide.

 One slide ~ one message!

 Don’t overdo formulas (also be created with equation

editor)

 Watch your colors (at most 3 colors).

56
 Personal preparation for
presentation
The Presenter: physical appearance (both for males and
females)
 Dress appropriately and also be clean, and attractive.
 no defined dress code, but “don’ts” that you should always
follow
◦ Do not dress shabbily

◦ Do not come with unkempt/undressed hair and untreated

beard
◦ Do not wear slippers

◦ Do not wear jeans and T-shirt, or

57
 Continued …………
The Presenter: emotional tensions and Others related issues
 Language (English)
◦ Keep it simple (concise/short but accurate)

◦ Emphasize the key points (and minimize on less essentials)

◦ Check the difficult pronunciations

 Ending a point and beginning a new point
◦ Slow down and higher volume

◦ Short pauses

◦ Appropriate expressions
58
 Continued …………
Interact with audience
◦ Questions to audience (not frequently)
◦ Be open to questions

Questions and Answers (Q&A)

 Visual Aids (Computer & LCD projector)

59
 Project
 Select any research topic(it can be social
aspect, political aspect, economic aspect,
science, engineering and technology
aspect, but it is better if the research
topic is related with your profession)
 Based on the selected topic, prepare a
fundable proposal.
 Group members not more than 6
 Submission date: May 20/2015E.C
 Evaluation:
 Documentation:30%
 Presentation:20%

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Research Methodology in
Lifelong Learning and
Community Development

Thank You!!!