Research Proposal

Research proposal is a document

• Prepared to present a plan for a research project
to reviewers for evaluation.
• Can be a supervised research project or a project
proposed to funding agency.
• Convince the reviewers about the capability of
the researcher.
• For funded projects the researchers need to show
the track record of past success.
 Proposal development
• Research proposal to be developed in accordance
with the expectations of the advisor, advisory
committee, and funding agency as the case may
be.
• Model guideline may be point of departure for
discussion.
 Proposal’s Overt Functions
• Persuade a committee of scholars that the
project shines with three kinds of merit:
• - Conceptual innovation;
• - Methodological rigor; and
• - Rich, substantive content.
 Grab the attention
• Say what you have to say immediately, crisply, and
forcefully.
• The opening paragraph, or the first page at the
most, is your chance to grab the attention of the
reviewer.
• Overstate, rather than understate, your point or
question.
• Questions that are clearly posed are excellent way
to begin. Was the decline in environmental
pollution the result of corporate social
responsibility? Or make a hypothesis.
 Questions like
• Why is there an increase in cases related to sexual
harassment at place of work?
• What is the effect of temporary assistance to the
needy families on the children of recipients?
• How do the leaders use their emotional intelligence
at their place of work?
• What is the level of prevalence of emotional labor in
the job performance of airline staff?
• Is there a relationship between CSR and OCB?
• What are the emotional consequences of divorce on
job performance?
 Capture reviewer’s attention
• Proposal reader looks for answers to three
questions:
• 1. What are we going to learn as a result of the
proposed project that we do not know now?
• 2. Why is it worth knowing?
• 3. How will we know that the conclusions are
valid?
 Include a title on your proposal
• Don’t leave the title for the end.
• A good proposal has a good title. First thing to
help the reader begin to understand the nature of
work.
• Use it wisely. Work on your title early and revisit
it often.
 A good title means:
• Having the most important words appear toward
the beginning of the title
• Limiting the use of ambiguous or confusing words.
• Breaking your title up into a title and subtitle
when you have too many words. [12 words
recommended]
• Include key words that will help researchers in the
future to find your work.
 Describing the research problem
• Begin with a clear and simple formulation of the
research question:
• This research project tries to find out the extent to
which vigilantism is growing within different
sectors of the Lahore population. In particular the
research focuses on the factors which promote and
maintain vigilantism in Pakistani society.
• Where does this question come from?
• Clarify the concepts.
 Problem definition
• From broad to specific concern.
• Present problem statement in clear and precise
manner. Problem could be:
• An existing business problem identified by the
Manager.
• Scope for future improvement.
• Areas needing conceptual clarity.
• Curiosity of the researcher.
Specify the objectives
• Summarize the introduction into specific
objectives, preferably number each objective.
• On completion of study, make sure that the
stipulated objectives have been achieved.
 Importance of the study
• Rationale for the study.
• Basic research.
• Applied research.
 Make sure that your proposal has a
comprehensive review of literature
• Never say that your area is so new that no
research exists.
• Demonstrate that you are aware of the breadth
and diversity of relevant literature.
• Show awareness of the important theories,
models, studies, and methodologies.
• Time to get informed and to learn from others.
 Conceptual/theoretical framework
• Debate in quantitative and qualitative research.
• Review of literature should help.
• Establish the context. Situate the problem in terms
of its relevance to live theoretical currents.
• Demonstrate awareness of alternative view points.
• Use a fresh approach. Surprises and puzzles can
persuade the reviewer.
 Research design
• Discipline specific. Written in future tense. Two
important requirements:
• 1. Must specify the research operations + how the
results will be interpreted.
• 2. RD is not just a list of research tasks but an
argument  why these tasks add up to the best attack
on the problem.
• Any innovative parts of RD.
• Specify the archives, the sources, the respondents,
and the proposed techniques of analysis.
• Ethical issues.
 Sponsored Researches
• Symptoms of issues identified – tip of the iceberg
– underlying factors to be identified.
• Management dilemmas to be translated into
research questions.
• Terms of reference.
• Some steps may not get emphasis.
• Management’s research decisions based on the
urgency of the study, time available, existing
information, and cost-benefit equation.
 Research proposal sections
• Introduction: background, objectives, significance
• Review of Literature
• Theoretical Framework
• Hypothesis (es)/ research question(s)
• Research design (data collection technique,
population, sample, tools, fieldwork, data
processing and analysis)
• Report writing
• Time schedule
• Research Team
• Budget