Dr.

MUHAMMAD ISMAIL

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 Plan of your research

 A document which contains details of your research

plans including
 why you are doing your research,
 what questions it asks,
 how you are going to collect data and
 analyze the data to answer the questions
 A good research proposal lays a solid foundation for a
successful execution of your research and a meaningful
research thesis.

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In Writing A Research Proposal, Students
Often Ask The Following Questions:
 What should I include in my research proposal?
 Do I need a title for my research proposal?
 What should I write in my Introduction?
 How should I write my literature review?
 What should I write about my research methods?
 What else do I include in my proposal?
 What format should I use to list my references?
 What writing styles are appropriate for a research
proposal?
 How do I handle the comments and suggestions of my
supervisor?
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What Should You Include in Your
Research Proposal?

 In essence, your research proposal includes any

relevant details of your research plan.

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Research Proposal Serves Two Main
Purposes.

 First, it spells out every detail of your plan, and by

showing it to your professors, supervisors, and ethics

review committee, you will have a chance to obtain

valuable feedback to improve the overall plan.

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 Second, a written proposal helps you maintain focus

despite any new developments and distractions you

may encounter in the research process. You will be able

to remember important details for each phase of

the research and keep track of your progress against

your initial plan.

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Key Elements of Research Proposals
 1. Introduction
 1.1. Background of Study
 1.2. Problem Statement
 1.3. Research Questions
 1.4. Research Objectives
 1.5 Hypotheses (Suggested for Quantitative Study)
 1.6. Significance of Research

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 2. Literature Review (Identification of gap is
mandatory for PhD)
 2.1. Literature Analysis (For Sciences or wherever
required)
 2.2. Theoretical / Conceptual / Operational
Framework

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 3. Research Methodology
 3.1. Research Nature (Philosophical Foundations,
Quantitative / Qualitative / Mixed Method with
justification)
 3.2. Research Population (Justify with references)
 3.3. Sample and Sampling Technique (Justify with
references)
 3.4. Sources of Data
 3.5. Data Collection Procedure (Justify with references)
 3.6. Data Analysis Technique (s) (Justify with references)
 3.7 Limitations of Study (Justify with references)
 3.8. Initial Findings (For Sciences or wherever required)
 3.9. Organization of Thesis
 3.10. Timetable / Research Plan

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 4. References
 APA referencing style for sciences, social sciences and
MLA for English literature.

 Note: Students are hereby directed to follow this

format for the submission of their thesis proposal to
the BOASAR for approval. However, more details may
be added to this proposal format if required for any
particular topic. Pages required for the proposal are 07
to 15, in A4 size.

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Do You Need a Title for Your Proposal?
 Yes.

 Use a Title that tells you something about the whole

project.

 Should be direct and accurately reflect the contents

of your proposed research.

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Title Should Be
Descriptive And Concise.

 Descriptive titles convey the topic of your research so

that readers immediately understand what your
research is about.
 It is a common practice to include main concepts or
variables in the title.
 Concise titles are short and effective. If your title is
more than two lines long, think of how to shorten it
without reducing what it is telling.

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 Can also include your research methods and
population in the title

 You may need to revise your title at any point during

writing proposal

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 Three simple strategies for evaluating a
potential Research Topic

 Interest and Curiosity

 Worthwhile

 Do-Able?

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What Should You Write in Your
Introduction?
 Make your Introduction (or statement of the problem)
succinct and to the point, but include these four items:

 First, write an explicit topic statement.

 Introducing your readers to the problem or issue you are

about to investigate is the most important mission of your
introduction.

 Background knowledge may include a brief history of how

the issue has developed, or the extent to which the issue
has affected or been important to society.

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 Basic statistics may help to establish that your topic
is worthy of investigating. For example, if you are
researching adolescent substance use because you
believe
 it seriously affects school performance,
 give your readers the percentage,
 what substances they use, and
 how serious the problem is for the society.

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 You might include the percentage of adolescents
whose school performance has been affected by their
substance use and how serious the impact has been.

 You can emphasize the significance of your topic by

discussing the inadequacy of our understanding of the
issue and the need for your study.

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 Second, if your topic statement includes theoretical
concepts, you want to provide clear and specific
definitions of these concepts in the introduction.

 It is a good idea to draw upon the definitions

researchers use in their published work.

 If this is the way you want to use these terms in your

proposal, you should state them upfront so that you
will establish a common ground for understanding
your research.

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 If you are conducting deductive research and would
like to start with a theory, you should briefly explain
the theory even if you assume many of your readers
already know it.

 After establishing a common understanding of the

terms and theories, you may discuss why it is
necessary and appropriate for you to test the theory
with your research project.

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 Third, inform your readers of the objectives or
purposes of your research, and tell them what you
expect to find out from your research.

 Do you intend to provide some descriptive data on a

social issue or a phenomenon?

 Are you testing the relationship between two

variables, or testing a theory?

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 Are you investigating a new issue which has not been
studied by other scholars? Or,

 Use the introduction to communicate what you want

to achieve in the research project.

 Do you have two objectives for your proposed

research? List them both.

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 Fourth, explicitly state the significance of your
research.

 Tell your readers why the proposed research is worth

doing and explain its social or academic significance.
For example, if your research project may increase our
understanding of an important social problem or a
timely policy issue, state it in the introduction.

 If your research project will have a great social

applicability, let readers know that your research
project may help a great number of people.
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 Research Question
 There are many sources for inspiration, and the
number of possible questions is infinite.
 Your Research Question is the overall guiding
question to which you are seeking an answer.

 It is intimately linked to your research method.

 It is absolutely imperative that you use the

appropriate research method to answer your
research question, or your research will have little or
no value
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 The most important rule for writing research
questions is that your question must be answerable.
 Can be answered with data, not a philosophical
question whose answer is unknowable, or based on
personal values, i.e:
 “Is there a heaven?”;
 “Is capital punishment immoral?”;
 “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

 The question must be feasible: You must have

adequate resources to conduct the research.

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 The three most important considerations in
feasibility are time, money, and access.

 Time: Research can be very time-consuming, and

some research questions will require more of your time
to answer than others.

 Money: Research can also vary in how expensive it is:

Large-scale surveys are very expensive, while content
analysis can be quite cheap.

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 Access: Some groups of people or information are very
hard to access.

 People without an institutional connection (such as

people who don’t vote),
 people who guard their privacy (the celebrities), and
 people who are difficult to contact (those without
telephones) are difficult to access.

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 RQ should be broad enough to cover all the various
aspects of the topic.
 A good research question is one that can’t be answered
with a yes/no response, and is not answerable with one
or two words.
 Finding out the answer to the question:
 Does gender affect voters’ candidate choice for
president? is not nearly as interesting as learning in
what ways it does or does not have an effect. Hence,
better versions of this question include
 How does gender affect voters’ choice of candidate
for president? and
 What is the relationship between gender and
candidate choice for president?
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 Well worded, so that every word is
 Clear,
 Accurate, and
 Says exactly what you mean

 You should never have to include

 examples,
 explanations, or
 parentheses in a research question in order to make the
question clear
 RQ should be concise and grammatically correct

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 RQ should represent the sum total of what you want
to study:
 Unless you are conducting a large-scale research
project,
 Stay away from multiple RQs or
 Subparts of RQs.
 Instead, broaden or reword your research question so
that one single question covers all that you are
researching.
 RQ is drafted, but not finalized, until after a LR has
been conducted.

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 What Should You Write in Your
Literature Reviews?

 Literature Review should be

 comprehensive,
 up to date, and
 include all major studies on your topic.

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 The quality of your LR will depend on whether you
have

 Spent sufficient time completing a comprehensive

literature search and a

 Thorough review of the literature, and

 Whether you were able to synthesize, rather than

simply list and juxtapose, the literature.

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 Include the following elements in LR
 Show Your Knowledge of the Field
 demonstrate that you have a firm grasp of up-to-date
knowledge in this field

 Include Theories
 Reviewing the competing theories or explaining a
theory or theories that will guide your research
questions

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 Present with a Clear Focus
 classify, evaluate, synthesize, and summarize the
applicable literature

 Synthesize the Literature

 Avoid narrative reviews, and write a systematic
literature review.

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 Think about Effective Organization for the Review
 use subheadings, (Galvan 1999: 97)
 can use tables,
 diagrams, or
 figures
 to summarize,
 make comparisons, and
 organize the results of your literature review when
they are appropriate.

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 Write Optimal Length
 It should be brief enough
 Number of pages in your literature review or the
number of references in your proposal should be
determined by the scope of your study

 Limit the Use of Quotations

 Avoid direct quotes in the literature review
 Review of a study should be comprehensive
 Avoid using slang, colloquialisms, and idioms in
your writing (Galvan 2013)
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 End with Your Own Research Questions

 A review in a thesis, dissertation, or journal article

presenting original research usually leads to the
research questions that will be addressed.(Galvan.
1999: 73–74)

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 What Should You Write about Your
Research Methods?
 When you write the methods section of your proposal
you should sufficiently and clearly answer all of the
following methodological questions:

 What is your study population?

 What is your sample size?
A description of the population and the sample
(e.g., size, sampling techniques, representativeness,
limitations)

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 Research Methodology

 A research method is a method of data collection, such

as a survey, experiment, or interview.
 A Methodology is a whole philosophical perspective
about
 How research should be conducted,
 The reasons it should be conducted, and
 How it should be used.

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 Methodology is closely tied to theory, with different
theoretical perspectives endorsing particular
methodologies.
 Science is typically grounded in the positivist
methodology, which is based on the principles of
 Logic,
 Objectivity,
 Replicability, and
 Highly structured processes.

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 There are other methodologies, however, that are
commonly used in Political Science, including the

 Interpretivist methodology,

 Feminist methodology, and

 Critical methodology (sometimes called critical social

science),

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 Researchers are generally oriented toward a
particular methodology because they agree with its
philosophical views on research.

 They will tend to gravitate toward particular research

topics and research methods based on their preferred
methodology.

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 Some methodologies are better at answering particular
types of questions, however, and so sometimes

 Researchers will vary the methodology they use,

depending upon the particular research they are
conducting and its purpose.
 The methodology you choose to use will ultimately affect
every aspect of your research, from your
 RQ to the way in which you
 Collect your data and
 How you analyze them.

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 How are you going to draw a sample from the
population?

 What are your variables?

 What are the measures for your concepts?

Site information, if applicable, variables and

measures to be used in the study (e.g.,
conceptualization, operationalization, inclusion of
survey or interview instruments)

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 Sampling
 To sample is to decide
 From whom you will get your data, and
 How you will choose those sources.

 It is called sampling because you are only getting

information from a subset, a sample, of the whole
population about which you are asking your research
question.
 Your sampling unit is the people or thing about
which you will collect your data.

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 Sampling units are usually individuals, but they can
also be
 Organizations,
 Regions, and
 Countries—and,
 In the case of content analysis, they can be
 Texts or
 Images such as letters of correspondence,
illustrations, or even graffiti in bathroom stalls.
 In each of these cases, in order to sample you would
decide on the criteria each person

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 Next, you would choose one of many sampling
methods, which is the method by which you decide
which one out of all those who meet those criteria will
actually participate in the study.
 You will also decide on a sample size—that is, how
many people will ultimately be included.
 Sampling is of extreme importance because all of
your data, and therefore your results, will be affected
by which elements are included and which are
excluded from your study.

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 Interview researchers therefore generally use Non-
probability sampling, which means that not
everyone in the population shares the same chance of
being chosen to participate in the research.

 Avoid generalizing your findings beyond your sample

to a larger population.

 Convenience sampling is alerting people of the

opportunity to participate and allowing them to
choose you, which is ostensibly a more convenient
and expedient way of sampling.

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 Snowball sampling involves recruiting people who
participate in the research and who then recruit other
people they know to participate in the research as well.

 Purposive sampling, the participants are purposely

chosen for a particular reason.

 Of particular use is maximum variation sampling,

in which you try to recruit a sample with as much
diversity of experience and opinion as possible.

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Some Purposive Sampling Techniques

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FIVE STEPS IN EXPERIMENTAL-TYPE
SAMPLING
 1. Define population by specifying criteria
 a. Inclusion criteria
 b. Exclusion criteria
 2. Develop sampling plan
 a. Probability
 b. Nonprobability
 3. Determine sample size
 4. Implement sampling procedures
 5. Compare critical values of sample to population
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 THREE CRITERIA FOR ELEMENTS OF A
TARGET
POPULATION
 Must possess all the characteristics that the
investigator has identified as “inclusion criteria”

 Must not possess any of the characteristics that the

investigator has defined as “exclusion criteria”

 Must be available, at least in theory, for selection into

the samples

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Summary of Common Sampling Plans Used
in Experimental-Type Research
 Probability Sampling

 Parameters of a population are known

 Sampling frame is used
 Every member/element has the same probability of
being selected for sample

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 METHODS
 Simple random sampling
 Table of random numbers is used to randomly select
sample

 Systematic sampling
 Sampling interval width is determined and individuals
are selected

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 Stratified random sampling
 Subjects are randomly selected from predetermined
strata that correlate with variables in study

 Cluster sampling
 Successive random sampling of units is used to obtain
sample

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 What methods will you use to collect data from your
selected sample?

 Are there any ethical concerns, and if so, how are you
going to address them?

 How will you make sure that your subjects will not be
harmed?

 What completion rates do you expect for your survey?

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 What follow-up procedures will you employ, if
response rates are low?

 How are you going to control the quality of your data?

 How will you analyze your data?

Research ethics and informed consent procedures,

data collection techniques, administrative details
and types of data (e.g., data collection methods,
response rates), and plans for data analysis.

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 Conceptualizing and Operationalizing
 The process of Conceptualizing means developing a
precise definition of the concept you are studying.

 This is closely linked to Operationalizing, which

means then figuring out how to obtain the
information that will help you tap into, or measure,
that definition (Operationalizing is sometimes called
measurement, especially in quantitative research).
 Clarify the important concepts you are studying, and
turn them from abstractions to concrete definitions
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 DATA COLLECTION
 Steps and Procedures to gathering the information
from sample
 If you are doing a survey, it is the
 delivery of the survey to the participants,
 Instructions you give them,
 Administration of the survey, and
 Follow-up you do with them.
 Solving problems that arise during data collection.

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 Data Analysis
 Interpretation you make of the information you get
from your sample.
 Analytic procedures that you use will depend on your
research question and the research method you have
chosen.
 Quantitative data analysis means
 Computing statistics, and then
 Determining what those statistics mean and
 Whether they are significant.

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 Qualitative data analysis generally involves looking
for patterns in what information was provided
and/or how that information was conveyed.

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 What Else Do You Include in Your
Proposal?
 Your Research Timeline

 Potential Problems and Remedies

 Usually, there are three sources of potential problems.
 One is related to your research design itself. no research
design is perfect.
 The second type of source involves issues arising as matters
of routine social life during the field research process.
 The third type of problem is ethical issues which develop
in the process of research

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 Appendix

 Attach any relevant supplementary documents

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What Format Should You Use to List
the References?
 At the end of your proposal, provide a complete list of
references you cited in your proposal.
 Use an appropriate format for your reference list.
 For APA reference style, refer to the Publication
Manual of the American Psychological Association,
Sixth Edition, published by the American
Psychological Association in Washington, DC in 2014.

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 What Writing Styles Are Appropriate
for Research Proposals?
 Succinct and to the point.
 Clarity is a key to a good proposal
 Write it clearly, logically, and formally.
 Clearly means you state your ideas unambiguously so
that your readers will understand what you intend to
do. The best way to check the clarity of your writing is
to ask someone to read your proposal to see if that
person has any difficulty understanding your writing.

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 Logically means that you organize your writing with a
clear sense of order and structure. Sentences in a
paragraph should relate to each other and contribute
to the theme of the paragraph.

 The overall outlines would give the proposal a well-

organized structure, each part of the proposal should
also have self-contained structures.

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 Formally means that you use

 formal language and

 avoid slang,

 colloquial expressions, or

 professional jargon which others cannot easily

understand.

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 One way to write formally is to use the passive voice
in quantitative studies.
 But for qualitative research, you may need to use the
active voice.
 Take the time to proofread your proposal, or
 Ask a trained person to proofread your writing.
 Finally, maintain consistent formatting, including
 consistent first and second level subheadings and
 uniform font size and style.

 Also, the document should have numbered pages.

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Exercises for PROPOSAL WRITING
 Exercise 1: Proposal Outline Check List
 Use below outlines to structure your research proposal, if there is no required format for your
assignment.
 Title of research project
 1. Introduction
 1.1. Background of Study
 1.2. Problem Statement
 1.3. Research Questions
 1.4. Research Objectives
 1.5 Hypotheses (Suggested for Quantitative Study)
 1.6. Significance of Research

 2. Literature Review (Identification of gap is mandatory for PhD)
 2.1. Literature Analysis (For Sciences or wherever required)
 2.2. Theoretical / Conceptual / Operational Framework

 3. Research Methodology
 3.1. Research Nature (Philosophical Foundations, Quantitative / Qualitative / Mixed Method with justification)
 3.2. Research Population (Justify with references)
 3.3. Sample and Sampling Technique (Justify with references)
 3.4. Sources of Data
 3.5. Data Collection Procedure (Justify with references)
 3.6. Data Analysis Technique (s) (Justify with references)
 3.7 Limitations of Study (Justify with references)
 3.8. Initial Findings (For Sciences or wherever required)
 3.9. Organization of Thesis
 3.10. Timetable / Research Plan

 4. References
 Appendix (e.g., survey instrument, interview schedules)

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 Exercise 2: Evaluation of Your
Research Proposal
 After completing the proposal, you want to evaluate
whether your research is ready to take off. You can
use the following rubric for self-evaluation, or, better
yet, ask a peer to review your proposal. Or, your
project supervisor or professor may give you
feedback using this rubric.
 Criteria
 Self-evaluation
 Notes/ Feedback
 Good
 Fair
 Revise 69
 1 Direct, concise and descriptive topic
 2 Clearly stated research objective or objectives
 3 Sufficient background information for the research project
 4 Significance of the study
 5 Adequate literature review and justification for the research
 6 Specific and clearly stated research questions or hypotheses
 7 Specific and clearly stated study population and sampling
 8 Specific and clearly stated data collection procedures
 9 Assessment of potential problems and proposal of remedies
 10 A well-planned timeline for carrying out the research project
 11 A complete reference list in appropriate format
 12 Survey instrument, interview guides, and/or site information

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Exercise 3: Constructing a Table-format
Research Timeline
 Meeting the deadlines for the completion of your research is an
important part of your goals. Creating a timeline at the proposal
stage is essential for a balanced allocation of time for each phase
of the research process. Below are two models for timeline for a
16-week semester project. Choose one of them to construct your
own timeline table.
 Model A
 Use shaded blocks, as shown below, to mark how many weeks
you plan to allocate for each stage of the research. Example
shown below is based on two weeks allocated for topic selection,
one week for compiling a working bibliography, and three weeks
for the literature review. Continue to mark the time allocation for
each phase using shaded blocks.

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 Model B
 As shown below, write in the tasks you plan to
complete for each of the week during the research
period. Below is our suggestion for a 16-week semester
project. But you can modify the time allocation to fit
your schedule and needs.

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 Month
 Week Number
 Task
 Note
 September
 Week 1
 Topic selection
 Week 2
 Information search
 Topic approval by supervisor
 Week 3
 Reading/literature review
 Week 4
 Literature review
 October
 Week 5
 Literature review
 Week 6
 Methodological design
 Week 7
 Proposal writing
 Week 8
 Proposal-completion
 Ethics approval and
 Supervisor approval

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 November
 Week 9
 Data collection/Field research
 (If qualitative study)
 Transcription
 Week 10
 Data collection/Field research
 (If qualitative study)
 Transcription
 Week 11
 Data collection/Field research
 (If qualitative study)
 Transcription
 Week 12
 Data collection/Field research
 (If qualitative study)
 Transcription
 December
 Week 13
 Analysis of data
 Week 14
 Analysis of data
 Week 15
 Report-writing
 Week 16
 Report-writing

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Summary of Research Methods and Their Purposes

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Quantitative and Qualitative Research
Methods

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THE END

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