Module title: Research Methodology

Module code: CSC3264

 Lecturer: Dr. UWITONZE Alfred
 E-mail: alfruwitonze@gmail.com
 Tel: 0788549588
 10 credits/36 teaching hours
 Score proportion
 Continuous assessment: 50%
 Final assessment: 50%

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Chapter 3
 RESEARCH PROJECT OR RESEARCH
PROPOSAL (PROVISIONAL PLAN)

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The importance of a research
proposal
 The proposal must tell you, your research
supervisor and a reviewer the following information
about your study:
 What you are proposing to do
 Why you selected the proposed strategy
 It is the design to be followed during the whole
process

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The standard design for
presenting a research proposal
 The research proposal should contain the following
information about your study:
 Abstract
 Introduction to the case study
 Problem statement
 A statement of the objectives of the study
 A list of hypotheses if you are testing any
 A study design (structure)
 The research instruments you are planning to use such as
softwares and hardwares
 Information on sample size
 Information on data-processing procedures
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The standard design for
presenting a research proposal
 The limitation of the study
 The proposed time frame (Use the diagram of GANTT
chart)

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Design for presenting a
research proposal
 According to the research plan recommended by
some other universities, the research project
comprises of the following elements in the order as
below:
 Introduction
 Choice and interest of the topic(Justification)
 Topic delimitation( in space, time and field)
 Problem statement of the research
 Research hypotheses
 Research objectives
 Research methods and techniques
 Work subdivision.
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Design for presenting a
research proposal
 Choice and interest of the topic (motivation)
 Develops or explains the reasons or the factors
which urged you to select the topic.
 These reasons or factors can be:
 a current issue
 the scope of the problem to be studied
 the pertinence of the topic, personal experience.
 Thereafter, the researcher sorts out the interest of
the research at three levels: academic, scientific,
personal and socio-economic interest

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Design for presenting a
research proposal
 Topic delimitation or scope of the research
 3 levels do exist:
 1° Delimitation in space.
 Present briefly the area in which the study is conducted by
locating it at the politics administrative level.
 2° Delimitation in time.
 Indicate the beginning of the studied period
 3° Position of the researcher in research field or
in a sub-discipline.

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Design for presenting a
research proposal
 Research problem statement
 Raise the problem on the basis of observation
 N.B. Problem statement generally ends by
questions. Provisional answers to these questions
automatically become hypotheses.
 Research hypotheses
 Expected or provisional answers to the research
questions

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Design for presenting a
research proposal
 Research objectives
 General objective
 Specific objectives
 Techniques and Methods (methodology)
 For each method, we must concretely demonstrate
its pertinence: in which way it imposes itself and
how it is inevitable.
 We also have to stress out its importance, its
contribution to research and to which extent it has
been used.
 So should it be for each technique.
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Design for presenting a
research proposal
 Work subdivision or organization of the study
 It displays the different points of the different chapters

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Structure of the scientific
research
 Preliminaries
 All that is written before the introduction makes up the
preliminaries.
 These preliminaries carry pagination which is different
from the remaining part of the whole work.
 Below is an example of such pagination:
- i- I a A
-ii- II b B
-iii- III c C
-iv- IV d D

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Structure of the scientific
research
 1°. Flyleaf page
 This page is optional. It’s a blank page, set apart for
readers’ comments.
 In some works, two or more pages are reserved at the
beginning or at the end of the work.
 2°. Title page
 This one is compulsory
 It contains the whole information found on the cover of
work (the author’s name, the title, the sub-title if any,
the edition, the volume, the name of the country, the
institution name, its address, the city, the year, etc).
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Structure of the scientific
research
 3°. Dedication
 It is optional
 It explains whom the work it is dedicated to.
 Examples:
 To my dear parents, for so many sacrifices, I
dedicate this book.
 To my beloved and my dear wife X (to my beloved
husband X) and my children, for your love and
permanent support in the completion of this book, I
dedicate this piece of work.

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Structure of the scientific
research
 4°. Acknowledgement
 Acknowledgement is an important section in any
scientific research work.
 The author expresses his/her feeling of gratitude to
those who, in one way or another, have contributed
to his/her scientific education and to the perfection
of his/her scientific work.
 Among the individuals to be enumerated, we can
mention parents, some teachers, the director of the
work, some true friends, etc.

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Structure of the scientific
research
 4°. Acknowledgement
 Since it is hard to mention all those who positively
contributed to your formation and research work,
after having mentioned some important names, it is
advisable to use a general formula as below:
 “My feeling of deep gratitude are expressed to
anyone, who has somehow contributed to my
formation” or “I express my gratitude to any person
who has assisted me morally or materially”.

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Structure of the scientific
research
 5°. Preface
 It’s a short text (one page maximum) written by a
greater scientific person in order to present the
author and his work.
 It is written by a figure with tremendous competence
in the field or the subject-matter.
 The preface is mostly used in very important books.
Therefore, it is optional. Very often, the preface
appears on the back of the cover page.

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Structure of the scientific
research
 6°. Abbreviations
 When a scientific work contains acronyms and
abbreviations, it is important to foresee just before the
introduction a page presenting acronyms and
abbreviations as well as their explanations.
 Abbreviation: ULK, UR, CST, CHU/CHK
 The aim is to facilitate understanding the text to
readers.
 List of tables
 List of appendices
 Table of contents
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Structure of the scientific
research
 Development of different chapters
 Chap. I. (Introduction)
 Introduce your research topic in general
 Chap. II. (Literature review)
 This is always devoted to theoretical consideration, it is
a theoretical framework. Everything related
theoretically to the subject-matter has to appear in this
chapter. Fundamental concepts as well as other works
by researchers in the same domain must be consulted.
More a work has references (i.e. written works or other
consulted documents), greater is its scientific value.

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Structure of the scientific
research
 Development of different chapters
 Chap. III.
 This one deals with analysing systematically data,
information and facts. Here begins genuine work.
 Chap. IV
 It is the logical next step to chapter III.
 REFERENCES

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Structure of the scientific
research
 Other important elements
 Ordering ideas in an attractive form, a good style
and layout. This must be done paragraph after
paragraph, section after section, sub-chapter after
sub-chapter, and chapter after chapter.
 I………………….title (chapter)
 I.1……………….Sub-title (sub-chapter)
 I.1.1…………….Section (paragraph)
 I.1.2…………….Section
 I.1.3……………Section

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Structure of the scientific
research
 Final plan or outline
 It stems from the composition. In facts, the
provisional plan undergoes a number of
modifications during the research process.
 Some sections are cut off, others turn into chapter,
and some chapters became sections or are deleted.
 In short, the provisional plan is deeply modified, and
the final outline becomes obvious when the first
draft or composition has been completed.

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 END OF CHAPTER 3!

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