Research Proposal

What is Research?

Research is defined as the creation of new knowledge

and/or the use of existing knowledge in a new and
creative way so as to generate new concepts,
methodologies and understandings. 
What is a Research Proposal?

A research proposal is a concise and coherent summary

of your proposed research.

• It sets out the central issues or questions that you intend to address.
• It outlines the general area of study within which your research falls,
referring to the current state of knowledge and any recent debates on
the topic.
• It also demonstrates the originality of your proposed research. 
Purpose of a Research Proposal
• It gives author a chance to explain the significance of the
research/project to organizations who might wish to
fund/support/supervise it.

• The proposal gives the author an opportunity to show that he has the
aptitude for research.

• The proposal gives the author an opportunity to show that he has the
ability to communicate complex ideas clearly, concisely and critically.

• The proposal also helps to match the research interests of the author with
an appropriate supervisor. 
Major Components of a Research Proposal
• Title
• Introduction or Background
• Preliminary Literature Review
• Problem Statement
• Aims & Objectives
• Proposed Methodology
• Tentative Research Timeline
• References
Title
• Provide a brief and meaningful title to your research.

• A concise, accurate title which explains the focus of your proposed

research clearly.
Introduction or Background
• Background or introduction section provides a description of the basic
facts and importance of the research area.
• What is your research area?
• The motivation of research?
• How important is it for the industry practice/knowledge
advancement?
Preliminary Literature Review
• In order to justify a piece of research you should be able to
demonstrate a sufficient familiarity with other work in the subject
area.

• Preliminary literature review provide a summary of previous related

research on the research problem.
• What is known/what have been done by others?
• What are their strength and weakness?
• Why your research is still necessary i.e. a justification of your research?
Problem Statement
• Problem statement provides a clear and concise description of the
issues that need to be addressed.
• What is the specific problem in that research area that you will address (e.g.
lack of understanding of a subject, low performance ...)?
Aims and Objectives
Aims
• A simple statement of what the research is seeking to achieve. 
• The aims should be fairly focused to demonstrate that you have narrowed
down the topic to something that is both achievable and manageable.

Objectives
• Four or five bullet points of intended objectives to demonstrate an
understanding of how the research aims will be met.
Methodology
• This section details how you intend to carry out the research.
• What techniques are to be used, the reasons for their selection,
and the means of their implementation?
• The range of data that will be gathered from the research
techniques and how this information will be analyzed.
Tentative Timeline
• A research can take one year, two years, three years or more. You
should always plan it out to ensure you have a timely completion.

• Tentative means not certain or fixed; provisional.

• Creating a timeline to complete your thesis will help to keep you on

track.
References
• References provide the information necessary for readers to identify
and retrieve each work cited in the text.

• Check each reference carefully against the original publication to

ensure information is accurate and complete.
End of Lecture
Reference Materials Used for Presentation
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Presentation.