WRITING RESEARCH PROPOSAL
All research endeavors are preceded by a proposal.
Proposal informs:
what you are planning to do.
how you are going to carry it out.
what are the expected outcomes.
how useful are the outcomes.
Proposal is an overall plan, scheme, structure and strategy designed to
obtain answers to research problem.
A proposal is intended to convince others that your research project is
worthwhile and you have the competence and the work-plan to complete it.
A proposal has to be approved by the school or research provider.
Quality of research project depends on the quality of the proposal.
STRUCTURE OF RESEARCH PROPOSAL
The Title
Introduction
The problem
Aim & Objectives
Research Questions
Hypothesis
Study design
Significance
Scope & Limitations
Ethics
Schedule
Budget
The Title
This is just a tentative title for your intended research.
The title is revised during the course of your research.
Titles (as faces) are usually read first - they should be attractive.
Characteristics of a good title:
A good title is concise and precise - uses min. words
with max. impact.
Captures main idea of the research.
Indicate the key (specific) issues under investigation
Catchy: It grabs attention and makes you want to read
further - intrigue.
Not too long (how long should it be?).
The Title
Skills on how to frame a good title is very important.
Class Activity
With reasons, indicate whether the following are good or bad title:
1) Research Methodology for Construction Students
Good.
Brief and clear
General but specific.
Research methodology is a wide subject but this narrows
down to specific students (audience); professionalism.
Non-construction students may not pick up this title;
limited audience.
The Title
Class Activity
2) Characteristic Features of the Behavior and Perception
of Evacuees from the Daegu Subway Fire and Safety
Measures in an Underground Fire in South Korea.
Bad.
A bit too long.
Contains redundant words;
characteristic ≃ features
subway ≃ underground
Corrections:
Behavior and Perception of Evacuees from Subway Fire:
The Case of Daegu, South Korea.
The Title
Class Activity
3)
Building a dAR-ES-SALAAM, destroying the DAR-ES-SALAAM
Good.
Short and clear.
Intriguing; which is the dAR-ES-SALAAM and DAR-ES-SALAAM,
why is it destroyed?
The use of art: the reader has to recognise the small letter “d” and
capital letter “D”.
The word destruction rises eye brows of building surveying,
conservation and heritage enthusiasts.
The Title
Class Activity
4) How can we Manage the Tourist-historic City? Tourism strategy
in Cambridge, UK, 1978-2003.
Good.
Though appears a bit long but the length is broken by a
sub-title.
Title may include main & sub titles.
Titles can be stated in the form of questions.
The subtitle is provided to make the main title clear and
more specific.
Note: Time frame may be included to show the specific
duration the study is considering.
The Title
Class Activity
5) Social Entrepreneurship and Social Transformation: An
Exploratory Study.
Good.
Entrepreneurship is contemporary topic; attractive.
Social transformation; world strive; attractive.
Title short and clear.
Key issue are apparent; an entrepreneurship that could
bring social transformation.
Research type indicated; exploration.
We know: exploratory studies bring about new things.
The Title
Class Activity
6) Accidents of Foreign Workers at Construction Site.
7) Is That a Horseshoe in Your Pocket? Homosocial Male
Archetypes in the Western.
9) Comparative Study of BOT Projects.
Introduction
The proposal should include some of the information listed
below:
✴ An overview of the main area under study;
✴ Historical perspective (development, growth, etc.)
✴ Philosophical or ideological issues relating to the topic;
✴ Trends in terms of prevalence, if appropriate;
✴ Major theories;
✴ The main issues, problems & advances in the subject area;
✴ The main findings related to core issues;
Introduction
Example:
Study on the relationship between academic achievement and
social environment.
The role of education in our society.
Major changes in the philosophy of education over time.
Factors affecting attitudes towards education
The development of education in the country
Trends in education participation rates
Changing educational values
Role of parents and peers in academic achievement
etc.
The Problem
The introduction gives a broader picture of your research.
The problem focuses on central issues of the theme.
What are the issues basis to your study?
Identify main gaps in the existing body of knowledge.
How your study will fill the identified gaps?
Study objectives
Objectives are goals you set to attain in the study.
They inform the reader what you want to achieve.
objectives
main
specific
Study objectives
main
specific
also known as study
aim
address specific aspects of
the overall aim.
overall statement of the
study.
numerically listed.
Make sure the objectives
are achievable.
Use action-oriented words/
verbs to write objectives.
Examples: To measure, To
describe, To find out, etc.
Objectives should identify
the main variables.
worded unambiguously.
each specific objective
addresses only one aspect
of the study.
Number depends on the
study. In general 2-4 are
reasonable.
Research questions
RQ sets out what you want to learn about the topic in much
more detail.
RQ are more inquisitive, so leads to exploration of variables.
RQ guide the structure and choice of data to be collected and
analysed.
Good research questions are formed and worked on, and are
rarely simply found.
You start with what interests you, and you refine it until it is
workable.
RQs are developed in a logical order; from the more general to
more specific.
RQ should not be one to one translation of specific objectives.
Research questions
Characteristics of good research question
1) Relevant
Be of academic and intellectual interest in the field and topic
you have chosen.
Arises from issues raised in the literature or in practice.
2) Manageable
Realistic in terms of scope and scale of the project.
The question you ask must be within your ability to tackle.
A research question may appear feasible, but when you start
your fieldwork or library study, it proves otherwise - Seek
supervisor’s guidance in advance.
Research questions
Characteristics of a good research question
3) Substantial and original
Not simply copied from questions asked previously undertaken.
It shows your own imagination and your ability to construct and
develop research issues.
It gives sufficient scope to develop into a dissertation.
4) Clear and simple
Complex question tend to hide unclear thoughts and lead to a
confused research process.
A very elaborate question which is not differentiated into
different parts, may hide concepts that are contradictory or not
relevant.
Research questions
Characteristics of a good research question
5) Interesting
The question needs to intrigue you and maintain your interest
throughout the project.
6) Encourages complex answers
not just a 'yes' or 'no' response
Hypothesis
Definition:
A hypothesis is:
a preposition of what is likely to be the outcome
an educated guess of how things work or
a statement of your assumptions about:
the prevalence of a phenomenon or
a relationship between variables
that you plan to test within the framework of the study.
Hypothesis
Examples:
- Student’s self-esteem and academic achievement at school are
positively correlated.
- The greater the parental involvement in a student’s studies, the
higher the academic achievement.
- A student’s attitude towards teachers is positively correlated with
his/her academic achievement in that subject.
Hypothesis
Importance:
brings clarity, specificity and focus to a research
problem.
Tells a researcher what specific information to
collect, hence provide greater focus.
a hypothesis may result to formulation of a theory.
it enables to specifically conclude what is true or
what is false.
Hypothesis
Testing:
hypotheses are based on logic.
before research is complete the outcome is not known.
therefore, the hypothesis is tested using information collected.
the test results could be:
right;
partially right; or
wrong.
Study design
In this section you describe what you plan to use to answer
research questions;
Case study
Descriptive
Experiment, etc.
Details of various logistical procedures.
The details should allow one to repeat the procedures and
arrive at same answers.
Study significance
This is a very important aspect in the proposal structure.
It shows the value of your research project.
Convinces research acceptance.
What contribution will the research make?
Example contributions:
•
•
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refine, revise or extend existing knowledge
add a new theory/idea
solve a practical problem
provide a new method for doing things
Most studies have 2 audiences; show contribution to:
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academicians
practitioners/professionals.
Scope & limitations
Limitations
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•
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Factors that may impact or influence the interpretation and
application of the results.
They are often beyond researcher’s control.
Stating limitations is useful because provides a method of
acknowledging possible errors.
Researcher should show how s/he going to deal with them to
minimize their impact on the results.
Scope & limitations
•
Possible limitations:
✦ Small sample size: difficult to find significant relationship
between variables; results are not generalizable.
✦ Access: limited access to information render results less
effective.
✦ Longitudinal effects: time available to research the
problem.
✦ Cultural & other biases
✦ Fluency in a language.
✦ Respondents condor (frank, open & sincerity)
Ethics, Budget, Schedule & References
Home assignment