CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH PROPOSAL
3.1. What is a Research proposal?

A research proposal is a written document requesting both authorization and funds to undertake
a specific research project. Its always includes a statement explaining the purpose of the study or
a definition of the problem. It systematically outlines the particular research methodology and
details the process that will be utilized at each stage of the research process.

In research proposal:
o What information will be required?
o What research procedures will be implemented?

Will be clearly specified so that others may understand their exact implications

3.2. Function of the research proposal

 Research proposal may function at least in three ways, namely, as a means of

communication, as a plan and as a contract
1. Proposal as a means of communication serves to communicate the investigator’s
research plan to those who give consultations and/or disburse fund. Proposal is the
primary source on which the graduate students’ thesis or dissertation committee must base
the function of:
 Review
 Consultation
 And more importantly, approval for implementation of the research project

In general, the quality of assistance and the probability of financial support will all depend
directly on the clarity and justification of the proposal.

2. Research proposal as plan, helps the researcher to organize his ideal in a systematic
manner and to look for strengths and flaws, a successful proposal sets out the plan in step
by step detail. That is, it provides and inventory of what must be done and which materials
have to be collected as a preliminary step.

Generally, the acceptability of results is judged exclusively in terms of the adequacy of the
methods employed in recording, analyzing and interpreting the data in the planned study.

3. Proposal also functions as a contract. A Completed proposal approved for execution

and signed by all members of the sponsoring committee, constitute a bond of agreement
between the researcher and that committee

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 An approved grant proposal results in a contract between the investigator (and often the
university) and funding sources.

 Proposal for thesis and dissertation should be in final form prior to the collection of
data. Once document is approved in final form, neither the student nor the sponsoring
faculty members should be free to alter the fundamental terms of the contract by
unilateral decision.

3.3. The Purpose of Proposals

The general purpose for writing proposals includes:

1. To present the problem that will be researched and to show its importance

2. To discuss the research efforts of others who have worked on related problems

3. To identify the data that are necessary for solving the problem and how these data will be
gathered, treated, and interpreted.

3.4. Reasons Why Research Proposal Fail

The research Proposal may be failed by sponsoring institutions or advisor because of the
following:

1) Aim and objectives of the research proposal are unclear

2) There is a mismatch between the approach being adopted and the issues to be addressed

3) The overall plan is too ambitious and difficult to achieve in the time table

4) The researcher does not seem to have conducted enough in depth background research

5) Problem is of insufficient importance

6) Information about data collection is insufficiently detailed

7) Information about the data analysis method is insufficiently detailed

8) Time scale is inappropriate or unrealistic

9) Resources and budget have not been carefully thought out

10) If the topic selected has been done too many times before-indicates a lack in background
research

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3.5. General format and Elements of proposal
There is no a hard and a fast format in scientific research proposal writing. It varies from one
organization to another and from one country to another. Some universities and funding agencies
make very specific demand for the format of proposals. Others provide general guidelines for
form and content. Though the format varies, the essence expressed in different proposal remains
the same.

The major components (Elements of proposal)

1. Cover Page 7. Literature review

2. Title 8. Materials and methods (methodology)

3. Abstract (Optional) 9. Work plan (time budget)

4. Introduction 10. Cost budget

5. Rationale and Justification 11. References

6. Objective of the study 12. Appendix

Each of them can have their own separate section in research proposal. Each main section should
begin on a new page. Some can be merged. Some on the other hand can be split into separate
sections or into further subsections.

1. Cover Page

Cover page contains introductory information for the proposal: the names of the proposed project
or title of the research, the author of the proposal or principal investigator and the institution
which funds the research, and date. Some funding agencies have standardized cover page that
may contain additional information.

2. Title

The title is one of the most important parts of a proposal. It will immediately attract or lose the
interest of any potential donor. The title should be:

 The title should be as explicit as possible and transparent

 It should be clear and short
 It should capture and reflect the content of the proposal. It should enable the
readers to understand the concepts of the study

Try to get the title down to one line or two

3. Abstract (Optional in Proposal)

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Is summary, which reflects the whole content of the proposal (most of the time less than 300
words).Abstract should be concise, informative and should provide brief information about the
whole problem to be investigated.

The abstract of a proposal should contain the following points

 Title or topic of the research

 Statement of the problem and objective
 Methodology of investigation
 Expected result (tentative only if a researcher starts with a formulated hypothesis)

4. Introduction
This section in research proposal should give the general background of the study and the need
for undertaking the study. It reviews the previous work to reveal what is known of the subject.

Some question to be addressed in this part may include:

 What are current and previous studies that have been made on the issues to be studied?
 What is the present gap in knowledge and current trend?
 What makes worth studying?
 Why has the problem not been solved yet?
 What do we intend to fill the gap or solve the problem?

If the researcher finds this section to be very vast he can add (split this section) a section
(heading) called “rationale” and or the problem statement.

5. The Rationale
The rationale provides some of the reasons for doing the study and its importance. Citations form
past research may be relevant here; likewise recent political and economic events, previous
efforts to solve the problem that did not succeed can be mentioned.

6. Objective
In this section, the proposal can indicate what is expected to occur and why, suggest the variables
that determine a relationship, or provide an explanation for a phenomenon to that has been
observed, which strengthens the proposal and research agenda.

Generally this section should focus on the points

 What is to be achieved by the proposed investigation has to be stated plainly and

concisely
 Should be to the point and logically arranged

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  Should be stated in a from which shows the relations between variables
 Must clearly state the target of the research activity, i.e. what kind of results are expected
or sought from conducting research.

7. Literature review
Literature review means locating literature in a variety of sources reading it carefully and
thoroughly organizing it in to these along with the line of investigation.

Types of reviewed literature can be

 theoretical works
 methodological review
 original findings and reviews of them

It is not necessary to have a separate heading for the review of literature in a proposal. In many
respects it is more useful to show that such a review has been made by citing useful literature in
problem statement (introductory part), objective, methodology and where ever this information
has been helpful in developing the research proposal.

The researcher may decide to have a separate heading for review literature when the wants to
develop theoretical frameworks reviewed from different sources, detailed explanation and
extensive references of the research outcomes related o the proposed study.

8. Material and Methods (Methodology) or Data and Methodology

The methodologies are the core and the largest part of the scientific research proposal. The
methodologies are largely descriptive. This section is an essential prerequisite for validating the
results and hence acceptability of the proposal.

An accurate, clear and valid methodology is required so the peers can:

 Replicate the experiments described in an experimental research

 Modify them with assurance that the modification is different from the original in
particular way
 Apply them under different conditions

Methodology should give full details to show how the research activity is going to be carried out

Since this section is the largest and the most important part of the research proposal, researchers
are advised to spit it in to sub sections. Such effort makes the proposal transparent and clear to
the readers as well as the reviewing committee and therefore, minimizes the risk of being
rejected by a research committee (examiners board).

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The suggested sub sections can be:

 Data (materials)
 Methodology (methods)

8.1 Data (some authors prefer Materials)

In this subsection of the methodology, information required to attack the problems is explained.
Each variable or indicator identified by a researcher is explained and justified to show how it is
relevant to the current study. The source of the data, the site (location) of the study and time that
will be included (relevant time period) should also be specified. Detailed techniques of sampling,
data collection and method of analysis would be left to the next sub section. This is important
particularly when a researcher plans to collect primary data to test the basic hypothesis.

8.2 Methods (Methodology)

In this subsection the details of all technical matters will be explained. These include:

 Method of data collection: how the data are obtained from earlier specified sources?
There are different methods to collect primary data. All available methods are expected to
be considered by a researcher and the best one is selected. The researcher explains and
justifies how his/her selection of a particular method is relevant and appropriate to his
study.
 Method of sampling: from which elements are the data collected? The researcher has to
specify the elements from which the desired information is collected and how these
elements are selected. There are different sampling techniques. The researcher is
expected to consider all of them and select the one, which is appropriate for the current
study. Justification of his choice of a particular sampling technique is relevant here. The
sample size should also be specified with its method of sample size determination.
 Method of analysis: once the information is collected how it will be processed and
analyzed will also be explained. Particularly if the researcher uses mathematical models
like simple or multiple regression, time series or liner programming models, he has to
show their mathematical derivations and relations briefly to demonstrate their relevancy
for the current study.
 Method of presenting the outcome: Sometimes it is worth to mention how the outcome
of the research will be presented to consumers (general public). This is important if the
research is not a part of a particular study program (like, master or doctoral study).

9. Budget of time

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A time table explaining how the researcher expects to carry out his project and when each of the
important phases will be completed is helpful to both the researcher and the reviewer. It is a plan
in terms of numbers of weeks or months and expected completion dates. Commonly researcher
presents it in a table form.

The length of time required for postgraduate study (Doctoral study) is determined by the budget
of the time presented by students. Thus researcher should be realist in budgeting his time.

10. Cost budget

Most proposals put together with the expectation what funding will be necessary and an itemized
list of the items needed to carry out the methodology is listed in some detail. Personal needs,
including the principal researcher’s time are included.

These are items like:

 Field expenses for data collection

 Pay for consultants where they are necessary
 travel and all such items needed to be detailed
 a sum of money for contingencies

A carefully developed budget reflects the seriousness of the proposal and the degree to which it
is a realistic assessment of what is needed.

11. Reference or Bibliography/ Literature cited)

All works cited in the proposal are listed either alphabetically or numerically at the end of the
document usually under the heading of “References or Bibliography”

Some conservative authors would like to make distinction between references and bibliography
as mentioned below:

 References: are lists of literature, which have been cited in the text of a document
 Bibliography: includes also items, which were not cited but are relevant to the
document.

There are several ways of making citation and recording references. The two main systems of
referring are:

A. Harvard system: this system uses author’s name, date and page reference. This system is
used mainly by Anthropology, Social science and in life science research. Harvard
system is recommended to be used in business research.
B. Vancouver system: uses in text number instead of an author, date and page reference. It
is used in the applied science such as chemistry, physics and mathematics.

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Harvard system

 The reference list must include all published works referred to in the text.
 Each reference to a periodical publication must include in order, the name (s) of the
author(s) the year of publication, the full title of the article, the publication in which it
appears, and the volume and inclusive page number
 Reference to a book must give the author or authors’ name(s) , the year, the title the
edition, if other than the first; the publisher, the city of publication, and the number of the
volume (if two or more).

Example of some of the common types of literature citation (J. Hussey AND
Hussey, 1997)

i. Citation

Citation under the Harvard system:

In an investigation conducted in large factories, Gibbs (1993) reported that absenteeism was
higher on the night shift than the day.

Citing more than one authors

A number of research studies have been conducted in to the effect of the recession on small
business (smith, 1984: Anderson, 1990; Jones, 1995)

ii. Referring or listing the cited works

A. Reference for books

Davidson, Alan B (1994), the pursuit of Business, London, Chapman and Halls

B. Reference for Journal article

Porter, Michael E. (1994), competitive advantage of nations, Harvard Business Review, 68(2),
pp. 73 – 83

C. Other reference

It is possible to cite quote or paraphrase unpublished work if they are relevant to the study.

Unpublished works are:

 Personal communication with experts (professionals)

 Unpublished data collected by other researchers
 Unpublished research works

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  Public speeches
 Conferences discussion and the like

The researcher should not put such an unpublished work in reference list unless it has been fully
approved and a date set for its publication.

Unpublished references are not usually found or catalogued in libraries. And such unpublished
reference should be placed in the body of the text, not in the reference list.

Use parenthesis to enclose the complete name of the author, the year (if available) and
appropriate title, location, or other information needed to establish the authenticity of the
reference or help the reader locate it.

Example

“…………………” (David Lee, Cornell University, 1995 personal Communication)

“ ………………” (Yilma Kebede, LAR, 1984 unpublished data)

It is also possible to use numbered footnote and will be referred to by using the number as a
superscript at the proper position.

12. Appendix (Annex)

It is not mandatory to have this section. If the researcher thinks that having this section will
increase the quality of the research proposal he/she is free to do so.

Information types provided in this section are those additional details, which are difficult to
accommodate within the standard headings

Stuffs to be included in appendix:

 Detail Questionnaires and interview schedules

 Detailed experimental design (in experimental research)
 Detailed statistical procedures
 Samples of research materials (chemical and some biological materials)
 Survey and other geographic maps