A BRIEF GUIDELINE FOR WRITING A RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Introduction

A research proposal is an intended plan of carrying out a research. Without a research proposal,
a researcher can only be poorly organized and is likely to produce unworkable, un-analyzable or
un-interpretable peace of research outputs. The purpose of a research proposal is, therefore, to
design a workable research that will result in an interpretable empirical finding of significant
merit.

The aim of this document is to give students practical guidance about how to write their thesis
proposal. Accordingly, the structure that should be followed in writing a research proposal as
well as additional issues that need to be addressed including the proposal evaluation checklist are
outlined under Two Parts.

Part-I: Structural Elements of a Research Proposal

Your research proposal should include the following components:

1. Title Page
 Title of the Thesis/paper;
 Researchers name;
 Affiliation;
 Name of advisor/instructor;
 Date and Place.
2. Background of the study
 Discuss briefly the literature related to the study. However, note that you
are not expected to include exhaustive historical review.
 Introduce the problem briefly.
 Summarize earlier related works in brief, avoiding non-essential details.
Focus on brief and pertinent ideas, methods, findings and conclusions.
 State briefly the purpose of your study in a general format, connecting your
brief review of the literature with the problem you intend to investigate.

3. Background of the Company (Optional )

 Briefly describe the background of the company if you are doing a research on a
case company.
4. Statement of the Problem
 A literature review and a study of previous field experiments, and research,
might throw up some vague areas of interest.
 A scientist may even review a successful field experiment, disagree with the
results, the tests used, or the methodology, and decide to refine the research
process, retesting the hypothesis.
 Define the problem that you intend to study.
 The problem statement that you construct will become the focus of your study.
 So, you should clearly formulate and state your problem.
 Discuss the background, efforts made so far, possible causes, and
consequences of the problem

5. Basic Research Questions
 A research question can be regarded as a statement of an intellectual puzzle.
 After briefly and clearly formulating and stating the problem that the study
intends to address, go directly to formulating the basic research questions
that your study is expected to answer based on the data collected and
analyzed.
 The research questions can be embedded in the statement of the problem or
treated under a separate section.
 A research questions are generated from the research topic or research
idea/problem
 Your research questions may focus on:
 Description of what the situation, process and/or magnitude of the
problem is;
 Explanation of why the problem occurred; and
 Prediction of what will happen next if the problem continues or
discontinues.
 Depending on the nature and scope of your research, you may focus on only
some or all of these guiding questions.

6. Objectives of the Study

 Research objectives can be driven from the research questions.
 First indicate the general objective of the study, and then state the specific
objectives that your research intends to achieve at the end.
 General objective of the study
 Specific objective of the study
Objectives
 are the steps you are going to take to answer your research questions or a
specific list of tasks needed to accomplish the goals of the project
 emphasize how aims are to be accomplished
  must be highly focused and feasible
 address the more immediate project outcomes
 make accurate use of concepts and should be sensible and precisely
described
 are sometimes numbered so that each objective reads as an 'individual'
statement to convey your intentions
Objectives should not:
 be too vague, ambitious or broad in scope
 just repeat each other in different terms
 just be a list of things related to your research topic

7. Hypothesis of the Study

 Hypotheses are usually generated from the research problem or questions.
 They should be specific and testable.
 Hypothesis can be written in Null or Alternative forms.
 They can be directional or non directional.
 Hypotheses are tentative statements subjected to acceptance or rejection
following the result of the data.
8. Definition of Terms / Concepts /constructs
 Your definition of relevant terms/concepts could be conceptual or operational. Thus,
you need to specify the type or nature of your definition of terms.
 Conceptual Definition of Terms: refer to the definition of concepts/terms
or variables from the theoretical perspective.
 Sources of such definitions should be cited.
 Operational Definition of Terms: include practical definition of terms
given by the researcher as they appear to be in the text.
 If you are sure that your definition of terms are operational, i.e., if
they are your own definitions, there is no need of mentioning any
source.
9. Significance of the study
 Indicate how important your intention of studying the problem is.
 Specify whether your study will have practical or theoretical significance or
both.
 Practical significance: -
o If the study intends to empirically inform decision – makers and
others concerned about the problem at hand;
o to suggest ways and means of tackling the problem at hand;
o To fill in current gaps specified by the problem; to shed light for
further studies; etc., it will have practical significance.
  Theoretical Significance:-
 If the study intends to develop a theory;
 To test a theory; etc.,
10. Delimitation/Scope of the Study

In this section, you are expected to clearly describe the boundary of your research.
 The scope of your research can be delimited in terms of geographical location,
methods, variables, subjects or tools to be used.
 You should, therefore, clearly state the delimitation of your study and specify the
reasons thereof.
 Remember that scope or delimitation is usually induced due to resource and skill
constraints (money, time, experience, etc.).

11. Research Methodology

In this section, you are required to specify the type of your research, how your research work
is designed and the methods that you intend to employ in carrying out your research
undertaking, as indicated below:
 Research Approach(qualitative vs. quantitative)
 Type/design of Research(exploratory, descriptive and explanatory)
 Sampling Design ( Population of the study , sampling techniques, sampling
procedure, sample size)
 Sources of Data Collection (Primary, Secondary)
 Research Instrument (Questionnaires, Standardized tests/scales, structured
interview guides, Observation checklists, Focus group discussion guides, etc.)
 Method of Data Collection (face-to-face (or personal), mail (or postal) and
telephone interview etc ;.)
 Procedures of Data Collection (specify the steps involved during the data
collection process. For example if you are going to use structured interview to
collect part of your data, you should clearly express what steps you will follow
before, during and after the interview session.)
 Data Analysis Methods(qualitative Vs. Quantitative data )
o Qualitative:-Interview questions and responses are typically tape-
recorded and then transcribed verbatim before analysis is begun.
Qualitative researchers often categorize data into patterns as the
primary basis for organizing and reporting results. Due to the large
amount of data that can be generated in qualitative research, a data
reduction process must be used to aid analysis. This procedure
includes: organizing the data, identifying emerging themes,
categories, and patterns; and testing hypotheses against the data.
 o Quantitative: - Statistical methods are used to analyze quantitative
data. We apply both descriptive and inferential statistics. Statistical
analysis involves both descriptive and inferential analysis. The former
helps the analyst to have the feel of the data he/she is dealing with,
and to guide him/her as to what variables and techniques should be
used in the inferential analysis. For inferential statistics, we use
statistical techniques such as t-test, correlation analysis, regression
analysis, Chi-square, factor analysis, ANOVA, cluster analysis,
discriminant analysis etc.

12. Validity and Reliability

Validity
o Validity determines whether the measuring instrument truly measures what it was
intended to measure or how truthful the research results are.
o To measure the validity of results, we consider the theory and the measuring
instrument used.
o Validity can be measured by factor Analysis.
o In order to check and establish the validity and to increase the accuracy of this
research(Guion, 2002).
o Data Triangulation, Methodological Triangulation and Analysis Triangulation is
critical to measure the validity of research findings.
o Data triangulation is related to verifying the similarities of outcomes obtained from
different sources (Begley, 1996).Methodological Triangulations related to the use of
different methods of analysis and arrive at the same outcome (Hussein, 2009).
Reliability
o The extent to which results are consistent over time and an accurate representation
of the total population under study is referred to as reliability.
o If the results can be reproduced under a similar methodology – then the
instrument is reliable.
o Reliability can be measured by the Cronbach’s Alpha.

In sum, Triangulation (using more than one sources of data or data collection method)
helps to improve the validity and reliability of the results.

13. Ethical Considerations

According to Kumar and Kandasamy (2012) ethical considerations in research work
includes the following:

 Right to Choose: everyone has the right to determine whether or not to

participate in a marketing research project.
  Right to Safety: research has the right to safety from physical or
psychological harm. While it is unusual for a respondent to be exposed to
physical harm, it is common for a respondent to be placed in a physiologically
damaging situation. Individuals might experience stress when an interviewer
presses them to participate in a study.
 Right to be informed: research participants have the right to be informed of
all aspects of a research task. Knowing what is involved, how long it will take,
and what will be done with the data, a person can make an intelligent choice
to whether to participate in the project.
 Right to Privacy: all consumers have the right to privacy. Consumer privacy
can be defined in terms of two dimensions of control. The first dimension
includes control of unwanted telephone, mail, e-mail, or personal intrusion in
the consumer’s environment, and the second concerns control of information
about the consumer.
 Confidentiality: Moreover, ethically, confidentiality concerns must be
observed. For e.g., we use only number codes to link the respondent to a
questionnaire and storing the name –to- code linkage information separately
from the questionnaire, and refuse to give the names of respondents to anyone
outside the research project. Individual respondents should never be identified
in reporting survey findings; completely anonymous summaries, for example,
in terms of tables and charts should be given. Respondents must be asked for
their consent to participate in a survey, and their privacy and rights must be
observed.

14. Organization of the Research Report

 Chap-1:-Introduction:-This chapter should contain background of the study,

statement of the problem, basic research questions, objectives of the study,
hypothesis (if any), definition of terms, significance of the study, and
delimitation/scope of the study.
 Chap-2:-Literature review: - This chapter deals with the literature relevant to
your study. It will have an introduction, theoretical review, empirical review
and the conceptual framework of the study.
 Chap-3:-Research Methodology:-Under this chapter, you are required to
describe the type and design of your research; the subjects/participant of the
study; the sources of your data; the data collection tools/instruments
employed; the procedures of data collection; and the methods of data analysis
used.
 Chap-4:-Results and discussion/Data presentation, analysis
&interpretation: - This chapter should summarize the results/findings of the
 study, and interpret and/or discuss the findings. Here, you are expected to
make extensive use of the literature review.
 Chap-5:-Summary, Conclusion, recommendation:-This chapter comprises
four sections, which include summary of findings, conclusions, limitations of
the study and recommendations. Your summary of findings should be drawn
from the results discussed under chapter four; your conclusions should be
drawn from the summary of findings; specify any limitations that could have
effect on your conclusions. Make sure that your recommendations are realistic
practical.

You may add some more chapters depending on the nature and scope of the research.

15. Research /Time Schedule /Time Line

15.1 Time Schedule
Duration in Months (M)
S/ Activities M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9
No
1 Finalizing the proposal
2 Finalizing the Review of
Related Literature
3 Finalizing the Research
Methodology
4 Development of the
research instrument
5 Data collection
6 Research Report Writing
7 Submission of Draft
8 Submission of Final
9 Presentation

15.2 Budget Schedule

If you are expecting someone to sponsor your research, it is advisable to indicate the budget
required to undertake the study. You specify where and how the money will be used. You may
use the following factious table:
 Ser. Activities Unit of Unit Cost/Rate Quantity Total Cost
No. Measure ( in Birr)

1 Stationery Pcs/Packages Overall 800.00

materials

2 Fee for data Man hour per 10 persons @ 5 250

collectors person birr/questionnaire 6250.00

3 Secretarial Overall 500.00

service

4 Sub Total 7550.00

4 Contingency (10%) 755.00
Grand Total 8, 7305

16. References

Indicate the reference materials or sources you consulted in preparing your

research proposal. You can use (APA, Harvard, British Standards Style,
Oxford, and Vancouver Style of Referencing)

17. Annex (If Any)

Part II: Tips for Writing the Research Proposal & Checklist for Evaluation

1. Tips as to how to Determine a Good Literature Review

Determining when you have done a good literature review is not that difficult.

Here is a checklist of what to look for:

 Has all the relevant literature been reviewed? Including other

dissertations/theses.
 All literature is current as well as capturing key seminal contributions
 I feel confident I have not missed any important work - which tells ‘the story’
of the topic
 It is critical and evaluative, not just descriptive. It describes who has worked
on this topic before and how it was studied
 It clarifies the state of constructs and variables related to the topic
  It summarizes methodological challenges associated with my topic
 It clearly states the gaps in the research on the topic
 It clearly supports the rationale for my proposed contribution and its
significance
 It ends with a clear summary and hypotheses or propositions where
appropriate
 It is interesting to read, well synthesized and well-written
 It could stand alone as a publication
 Exhaustive literature review
 All relevant studies have been critically analyzed and evaluated
 Shortcomings of published studies have been indicated. E.g. weaknesses in
research design, biased sampling, validity and reliability of measuring
instruments, unsuitable statistical analysis, etc

1. Tips For Writing A Research Proposal

Be aware of the following points in preparing your research proposal:

 In order to write your proposal effectively, you are expected to have read
many articles and books related to the topic of your research (to be
included in your List of Bibliography).
 In writing the proposal (and the thesis) you should strictly follow the
style adopted by the school Harvard or APA style whichever is preferred
by you.
 You need to follow either of the approaches consistently.
 Your proposal should range from six to ten pages (one and a half
spacing).
 Use the future tense in writing your proposal.
 Meet deadlines

2. A Checklist for Reviewing the Proposal

Davis and Parker (1997) provide the following checklist for reviewing the proposal:

1. Does the proposal have imagination?

2. Is the problem stated clearly?
 Are the hypotheses clear, unambiguous, and testable?
 If no hypotheses, is the objective clearly stated? Can it be accomplished?
 Is the problem too large in scope?
3. Is the research methodology feasible?
 Can data be collected?
  How will data be analysed?
 Will the analysis allow the accepting or rejecting of the hypotheses?
 Is the population to be sampled receptive to investigation?
4. What might the results of the analysis look like? A useful technique in clarifying
the proposal is to try to sketch the form of the tables or other results from the data
analysis.
5. What is the consequence to the dissertation/thesis of any of the following:
 Experiment fails?
 Data not obtainable (for each major item of data)?
 A small amount of data?
 Inconclusive analysis?
 Hypotheses not rejected?
6. Can major research activities be listed?
7. Can a time estimate be attached to each major activity?
8. Is the thesis trying to do too much? If yes, what can be dropped or reduced to
make the project of manageable dimensions?

Enjoy Your Writing!!!