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How To Prepare A Research Proposal by DAKM
How To Prepare A Research Proposal by DAKM
Presented by:
Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD
Associate Professor, Dept. of CSE, IIUC
akmmasum@iiuc.ac.bd
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?
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.
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.
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).
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?
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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.
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Abdul Kadar Muhammad Masum, PhD , Associate Professor, Dept. of CSE, IIUC