2. What is a Research Proposal ?
• 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.
• 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.
3. All Research Proposal must have the following questions :
• What do you want to accomplish ?
• Why is the research important ?
• How you are going to do it ?
The quality of your research proposal depends not only on the
quality of your proposed project, but also on the quality on
your proposal writing . Therefore, it is essential that your
writing is coherent, clear and compelling.
4. Elements of Research Proposal
• Title
• Background
• Statement of the problem
• Objective of research
• Literature review
• Hypotheses or research questions
• Scope and limitation of the study
• Methodology
5. Title
• The title is the first thing that help the reader to understand
the nature of the work
• The title should be concise and clear
• This should be short, focused and describe what your
research is about:
• We must avoid ambiguous and confusing words
6. Background
• Definition of the topic of research
• Magnitude of the problem
• Brief statement on what is already known
• A statement on what is not known (Gaps in the existing
knowledge)
• What is the research question to be answered
7. Statement of the problem
• The problem statement describes the context for the study
and it is also identifies the general analysis approach
• A problem statement is a clear description of the issue(s), it
includes a vision and method that used to solve the problem
• It explains that how the results will contribute to the existing
body of knowledge
8. Objective of Research
• States what your research hopes to accomplish
• Objectives are very specific issues through which the aim is
going to be achieved
• Objective should be crafted very carefully as one is expected
to fulfil all the objectives at the end of your research
9. Literature review
• The review of literature provides the background and
context for the research problem. It should establish the
need for the research and indicate that the writer is
knowledgeable about the area
• Shows that you have the theoretical knowledge in your
chosen research area
10. By reviewing related literature at this stage, it will
make you:
• Aware of other similar work which has been done
• Expose methodologies that have been adopted and
which you may use or adapt
• Provide sources of information that you do not have
yet
11. Hypotheses or research questions
• Based on your experience with the study problem, it might be
possible to develop explanations for the problem, which can
then be tested. It so, you can formulate hypotheses in addition
to study the objectives
• A hypotheses is a prediction of a relationship between one or
more factors and the problem under study that can be tested
• A hypotheses represents a declarative statement of the
relations between two or more variables
12. Scope and limitation of study
• A limitation identifies potential weakness of the study
• It is not possible to include all aspects of a particular
problem
• State what is not included
• Specify the boundaries of your research
13. Methodology
This is the HEART of research proposal
The following aspects should be discussed while writing this:
• Design of the study
• Population and sampling
• Research instruments
• Pilot study
• Instrument reliability and validity
• Method of data collection
• Ethical issues
• Financial details
