RESEARCH METHODS IN COMPUTET

SCIENCE

DEVELOPING THE RESEARCH

PROPOSAL

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Types of Research Proposal:
Research proposals can be generally classified
into student, internal and external.
Student research proposals range between term
paper and senior essay that are least complex as
compared to thesis and Ph.D. dissertation that
are most complex. The form and content of
student research proposal differs according to
complexity of the student research. For instance,
term papers are meant for teaching students as to
how to do research where as senior essay, thesis
or dissertation are supposed to develop students’
knowledge on a specialized field.
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Research proposals are internal if they target an entity or
organization and are prepared by individual or a team of
researchers who are part of the entity or organization.
For instance, academic and administrative staff research
proposals of Infolink University College addressing
efficiency and effectiveness of the university college are
internal proposals. The organization or entity usually
provide budget for large scale internal research projects
even though it is also not uncommon for the researcher
to self-sponsor small scale internal research projects.
Research proposals that are not either in the student or
internal proposal categories are external research
proposals. External research proposals are either
solicited or unsolicited. Solicited research proposals are
when the customer asks for a proposal. For instance,
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students that look for masters scholarships abroad
are expected to sell themselves by writing best
research proposal according to the specific
guidelines in the call for scholarship. In fact
research proposal is usually a mandatory
requirement to get Ph.D. scholarship. Likewise,
large scale research projects such as the
NORAD of Norway, the IUC of Belgium, and
the NUFU of the Netherlands call for research
proposals for funding. Hence research
proposals that are addressed to NORAD, IUC,
NUFU etc funds are all solicited external
proposals. 4
 Is there a formula for writing successful research
proposals?
A research proposal is a written plan for a study. It spells
out in detail what the researcher intends to do. It permits
others to learn about the intended research, and to offer
suggestions for improving the study. It helps the
researcher to clarify what needs to be done, and aims to
avoid unintentional pitfalls or unknown problems.
Before examining what a research proposal might look
like, it is important to be aware that what will be
suggested in the remainder of this chapter is intended to
serve as a general framework, not a definitive set of
instructions. The only general rule that must always be
adhered to is that the research proposal should be both
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succinct and complete.
All research proposals are not same. Each university
research committee or external funding agency will have
its own expectations about the actual format of the
research proposal, and some will be more explicit than
others in this respect.
Research proposals often vary significantly in terms of
length. In some cases, application forms that prescribe
precisely what is wanted will need to be completed. In
others, the researcher will have more latitude to decide
upon the format of the proposal.
However, the onus will be on the researcher to ‘bend’ to
meet the requirements of the university review committee
or external funding agency.
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 3.3 GENERAL FORMAT OF RESEARCH
PROPOSAL
An outline of the major components of the research proposal:
i) Cover Page carrying all the following:
 Research Title
 Purpose why the research is conducted
 Name and Address of the investigator (Student researcher)
 Name and Address of the advisor and co-advisor
 Logo
 Month and Place where the proposal is written

ii) Inside the proposal/ Preliminary pages/

 Acknowledgement …………….. i
 Declaration by a student ………...ii
 Certification from advisors……...iii
 Table of Contents …………….. iv
 List of Tables …………………...v
 List of Figures vi
 List of Acronyms …………... Vii
 Abstract ………………… ……viii
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 CHAPTER ONE
1. INTRODUCTION:
1.1 Background of the study: From General to
specific or deductive order is recommended
 Global issues and trends about the topic
 Situations in less developed countries or in an
industry
 National level
 Regional level
 Organizational level (Supported by Review of
Literature)

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1.2. Statement of the problem: (Justification of
the study).
 All research proposals must start with a clear
statement of the problem to be addressed and the
general objective in conducting the research.
 Facts that motivated the investigator to conduct the
research have to be justified.
 Exactly specifying and measuring the gap
 Hard facts or quantitative data about the topic for
some previous years
 At the end, discuss the problems in the study
organization that urged you for the study.
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At an early stage it is necessary to determine if
the proposed research is applicable, i.e. it will
actually help to tackle the problem that has
been identified, and whether it is relevant,
urgent, feasible, acceptable politically and
ethically, and avoids duplicating existing
research findings.
From the very beginning, before accepting the
research topic for the study, it is necessary to
determine whether it is researchable or not. It
must be consisting of independent and
dependent variables for the study.
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1.3 Significance of the study: Beneficiaries of
the study (Who may use findings?)
1. Mention the study gap (s) that makes the study
so significant (important).
2. Mention the beneficiaries that can use the
findings of the study at the end like:
 The industries
 User organizations
 Other researchers
 Students
 Libraries
 The society or the community
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1.4 Research Objectives – Research objectives should be closely
related to the statement of the problem and summarize what
you hope will be achieved by the study.
Writing your research objectives clearly helps to:
• Define the focus of your study
• Clearly identify variables to be measured
• Indicate the various steps to be involved
• Establish the limits of the study
• Avoid collection of any data that is not strictly necessary.
Objectives can be general or specific. The general objective of
your study states what you expect to achieve in general
terms. Specific objectives break down the general objective into
smaller, logically connected parts that systematically address the
various aspects of the problem.

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 Your specific objectives should specify exactly
what you will do in each phase of your study,
how, where, when and for what purpose.
1.4.1 General Objective: Often written in one
statement directly related to the topic of the
study.
Eg. The general objective of this study is  to
identify factors that affect the acceptability of
VCT services and to assess community
attitudes towards comprehensive care and
support for people living with HIV/AIDS.
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1.4.2 Specific Objectives: Often ranges from 4-8:
a. What the researcher want to achieve
b.About s/he want to collect the data;
c. What to analyze and compare
Examples of specific objectives:
 To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of the
community towards HIV/AIDS and VCT services.
 To identify barriers and concerns related to VCT and its
uptake.
 To assess the awareness and perception of the study
community regarding comprehensive care and support
for people living with HIV/AIDS.
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1.4.3 Research Questions – Questions to be answered to
meet the research objectives or produce implications of
the hypothesis. They have to be same as research
objectives. They are optional with research hypotheses.
1.5 Research Hypothesis (Optional) – Tentative
propositions to be tested in the research. They are
optional to research questions. They mean almost same
things.
1.6 Research Methodology (For details see chapter 3)
Research methodology should be written in separate
chapter as chapter three which is carrying only
methodologies used to address the study problem (s).

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1.6 Limitations of the study:
Limitation is the implication or effect of the scope. A
Limitation identifies potential weaknesses of the study.
Think about your analysis, the nature of self-report, your
instruments, the sample, etc. Think about threats to
internal validity that may have been impossible to avoid
or minimize-explain.
A Delimitation addresses how a study will be narrowed
in scope, that is, how it is bounded. This is the place to
explain the things that you are not doing and why you
have chosen not to do them-the literature you will not
review (and why not), the population you are not
studying (and why not). Limit your delimitations to the
things that a reader might reasonably expect you to do
but that you, for clearly explained reasons, have decided
not to do.
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1.8 Chapterization:
Organization of the chapters to be written. Such as,
• Chapter One : Introduction
• Chapter Two: Review of Literature
• Chapter Three : Analysis and Interpretation
• Chapter four: Data analysis and presentation
• Chapter Five: Summary of major Findings,
Conclusions, and Recommendations.

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2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE:
2.1 Concepts and definitions of terminologies directly
related to the topic:
2.1.1 Define and delimit the dependent variable
2.1.2 Define and delimit the independent variable(s)
2.2 Trace on how the independent variable(s) affect the
dependent variable.
Remember that you are supposed to write only the
relevant literature and write it in a deductive order
(General to Specific). Moreover, you need to put in
mind the following important points in writing your
review of related literature:
 Adequacy- Sufficient to address the statement of the
problem and the specific objectives in detail.
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  Logical flow and organization of the contents
 Variety of issues and ideas gathered from many
authors with adequate citations (Harvard,APA
Style).
3. TIME SCHEDULE AND BUDGET FRAME:
3.1 Time Schedule:
Try to put reasonable and realistic time on the basis
of
 The scope of the study
 The research objectives to be achieved
 The methods and techniques to be used
Table 3.1:
Description Time Schedule
of Activity Duration Final Date Remark

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3.2 Budget Frame:
Realistic and detailed to reflect the activity schedule and
convincing for the reader or possibly the financier;
reflect real budget.
Table 3.2: Budget Frame
Description of Unit Unit Price Computations Total Cost Remark
Activity

4. References / Bibliography:
I strongly recommend following the American
Psychological Association(APA) style.
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Annexure / Appendix :
Questionnaires or Tables
• We can conclude that, all reviewers will have their own
set of criteria by which they will judge the proposals
that come before them.
• Unfortunately, there is no easily applied formula that
can be applied to all research proposals that can
guarantee success. However, the more consideration that
you have been able to give to the research you plan to
carry out, reflecting on the outline elements that have
been covered in this chapter, the more likely it is that
you will have produced a proposal that stands up to keen
scrutiny.
THANK YOU
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