The Research Proposal

 A research proposal is intended to convince others that

you have a worthwhile research project and that you
have the competence and the work-plan to complete it.
 Detailed outline of procedures associated with a
particular research methodology.
 It includes information on cost and deadlines.
 The proposal must communicate exactly what
information, how and where it will be obtained
through the study.
 Questionnaires and other supporting documents should
be attached for reference.
The Research Proposal
 Generally, a research proposal should contain all
the key elements involved in the research process
and include sufficient information for the
readers to evaluate the proposed study.
 Regardless of your research area and
the methodology you choose, all research
proposals must address the following questions:
What you plan to accomplish, why you want to
do it and how you are going to do it.
The Organization of Research Proposal:

 A specific structure of the business

research proposal depends on the types of
research, institutional and organizational
requirements and may vary from institutions to
institutions.
 However, the variability does not usually
affect the basic structural model or major
 The Structure of Research Proposal:
Most of research proposals
contain: Title of the research
1. Introduction
1.1 Background the study
2. 2 Statement of the problem
1. 3 Objectives of the study
3. 4 Hypothesis
1. 5 Significance of the study
4. 6 scope / delimitation of study
1. 7 limitation of study
5. 8 organization of study
 2. Literature review
 2.1. theoretical review

 2.2. empirical review

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3. Research Methodology
3.1 Brief description of study
area 3.2 Source and type of data
3.3 Method of data collection
3.4 Method of sampling
3.5 Method of data analysis
3.6 Description of variable/ if any
3.7 Model specification/if any

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4. Budget breakdown and time
schedule
4.1 A budget break down
4.2 Plan of action or work plan
References
Appendixes

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The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

 The Title:
 The title of the business research proposal

is informative and concise.

 It gives the readers enough information to

attract their attention and to trigger their

curiosity.
1.1 The background of study/Introduction:

A research proposal should provide
relevant background for the proposed study.
 Specifically, the proposal should precisely

define the problem at hand.

 This section should be used to put the work

into context, what has been done before,

and how will the proposed work adds to it.

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 The introduction situates the research
subject within a larger business context.
 The introduction section identifies the
problem that needs to be resolved as a
result of the research and outlines the
proposed activities and describes the
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expected outcomes.
 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

1.2 Statement of the problem:

 A clear, concise statement of the problem to
be solved by the proposed research
 The problem provides the context for
the research study and typically generates
questions which the research hopes to answer.
 The problem statement should “hook” the
reader and establish a persuasive context
for what follows.
 The problem statement should close with
question.
The Structure of Business Research
Proposal:
1.3 Objectives of the study:
 Statement(s) the purpose of
identifying research. the
 The objective(s) should be phrased in
positive terms (e.g., to develop, to
determine, to measure, rather than broad
generalities, such as, to investigate, to study)
 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

1.4 Hypothesis:
 is proposed explanation on observable phenomenon.
A hypothesis is a logical supposition, a reasonable
guess and educated conjecture.
 It provides a tentative explanation for a
phenomenon under investigation.
 A useful hypothesis is testable statement which
may include a prediction.
 States on expected relationships or difference
between two variables.
 A good hypothesis is stated clearly and concisely,
express the relationship between two variables
and defines those variables in measurable form
The Structure of Business
Research
Proposal
:
1.5 Significance of the study:
 There should be well justification for conducting and

choosing your topic and research problem in such a

way that either there has been no other research on the
problem with the same approach or that the proposed
research project will extend, modify or refine prior
research.
 Thus the proposed research should be related to

past research accomplishments and how it builds upon

rather than duplicating any previous research.
 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

2. Literature Review
Most of the time literature reviews suffer from
the following problems:
 Lacking organization and structure

 Lacking focus, unity and coherence

 Being repetitive and verbose

 Failing to cite influential papers

 Failing to keep up with recent developments

 Failing to critically evaluate cited papers

 Citing irrelevant or trivial references

 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

3. Research Methods

The methods section is an outline of all the activities
that the researcher is planning to perform in the
pursuit of his/her research goals. The methods section
includes a descriptions of the research participants,
measuring instruments, procedures and data analysis.
 The key to a successful research is to identify
appropriate data collection techniques, to gather
relevant and usable data. Surveys, face-to-face
interviews, focus groups are the three methods of
collecting primary data.
 Secondary data can be gathered from annual
and market reports, financial and legal
documentation, organizational structure-charts,
executive publications and speeches, and so on.
 The focus of this section is on the details: the
timeframe for each activity, the list of participants,
the scripts for the interviews, the materials, and so on.
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 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

The method section typically consists of the

following sections:
 Design -Is it a questionnaire study or a
laboratory experiment? What kinds of design do
you choose?
 Subjects or participants - Who will take part in
your study? What kind of sampling procedure do
you use?
 Instruments - What kind of measuring
instruments or questionnaires do you use? Why do
you choose them? Are they valid and reliable?
 Procedure - How do you plan to carry out your
study? What activities are involved? How long
does it take?
The Structure of Business Research
Proposal:

In short the methods section should

clearly outlines-
 What will be the research methodology e.g.

survey or secondary data analysis or

observation?
 Who are the population for the study?

 What would be sample size?

 How this sample would be selected –

applying probability or non-probability

method?
 What instrument would be used to collect data
or how the data would be collected from the
sample?
 How the data would be analyzed? What
statistical tool would be used to analyze and
interpret data? (Proposed method of data
analysis).
 Research Period Provide detail work
plan mentioning the activities and time schedule in
a bar chart. For example: Gantt Chart
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The Structure of Business Research
Proposal:

 References
 Research Period or Work Plan: Provide detail
work plan mentioning the activities and time
schedule. Preferably in Gantt Chart
 Budget
 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

Financial plan/Cost of Research

 Remuneration / fees for employed research associates /
assistants (where applicable).
 Cost for support services (field workers, laborers,

conveyance etc.).
 Cost of consumable materials with break up.

 Construction of pilot study with break up (if necessary).

 Cost of experimental work (if necessary).

 Cost of report preparation, binding etc.

 Others
 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

Common Mistakes in Proposal Writing

 Failure to provide the proper context to

frame the research question.

 Failure to delimit the boundary conditions for

your research.
 Failure to accurately present the

theoretical and empirical contributions by

other researchers.
 Failure to stay focused on the research

question.
 Failure to develop a coherent and persuasive

argument for the proposed research.

 Too much detail on minor issues, but not
enough detail on major issues.
 Too much rambling — going "all over the map"
without a clear sense of direction.
 Too many citation lapses and incorrect references.
 Too long or too short.
 Failing to follow the appropriate referencing style
(APA or Harvard style.

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The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

Guideline for Technical evaluation of Research

proposal
 Appropriateness and clarity of

conceptual/theoretical framework

Logical relationship between the
conceptual/theoretical framework and the problem
of the study.
 clarity and adequacy of research method

 Realistic work Plan/Activities

 itemized financial breakdown of the total project

cost.
THE END