Concept paper: how to write one?

A comprehensive guide (2020)

by Patricia Santos

Have you been required to submit a concept paper prior to your research paper, and you are now
wondering how to write a concept paper? You are not alone. As a student pursuing any course at the
tertiary level, it is inevitable that before you complete your course, you will be required to do a
research paper to show that you can apply what you have been studying in your area of specialization
to a real-life situation. It is one of the most essential parts of the course requirements. Before your
research paper, you will be required to come up with a concept paper that gives an outline of your
research idea. Here is an article on how to write a concept paper.

A researc h paper is usually done at the very last year or semester and is vital for the satisfactory
completion of your course. You as the student are required to come up with a topic of research that
you find relevant and essential to potentially solve an existing problem or answer a controversial
question in your area of study or industry in question.

Before doing your research or writing your research paper, you will need to draft a catchy summary of
what the research is about and how it contributes to the world of academia, and especially with
regards to the particular industry in question. This summary is what is known as a concept paper. The
concept paper will be read by your lecturer or supervisor who will be tasked to determine the
suitability of the researc h project you want to undertake. Based on their analysis and your prowess in
convincing them that it is a worthy and helpful research project, they will either give you the go-ahead
to carry on with the project, suggest similar alternative topics you can focus on, or tell you to come up
with another project altoget her. This article details how to writ e a concept paper, but first, let us look at
what a concept paper is.

Concept paper definition

A concept paper is a document which summarizes what your project is about, why it is important, and
how you intend to carry it out. It consists of the topic under research, the hypothesis that you seek to
approve or disprove, research questions, data required, and methods of obtaining it. It is sometimes
known as a proposal or an abstract. The latter two are usually more detailed than a concept paper but
often serve the same purpose, that is, to convince the party evaluating it that the research project is
wort hwhile.

Depending on the research you are carrying out, your concept paper can range from 2-3 pages for a
small research project to up to 20 pages for massive research projects. As for the formatting, the
spacing should be double, the font size should be 12, and the font style should preferably be Times
New Roman. If you refer to any sources while drafting your concept paper, it is important that y ou cite
them at the end of your document or whenever the citation may be necessary for the process of
concept paper writing.

1. Come up with a research topic that genuinely interests you

The research topic should span areas that interest you as an indi vidual and are still relevant to your
area of study or course. How do you come up with a research topic?

How to come up with a research topic

As you studied throughout your junior classes, you may have encountered certain conc epts that
awok e your curiosity. These may give you ideas of what your research could be about. Alternatively,
while randomly reading a news paper, watching TV, reading books, and so on, you may have come
across ideas or concepts that aroused your interests. These can serve as research topics you may
consider pursuing. Pers onal ex periences can also be good starting points when you are searching for
a topic to write about.

List all the ideas you can remember or think of that you would be interested in doing a research on.
Afterward, choos e the area that interests you most in the list you made as the one in which you will
carry out your research. Ensure it is a topic that is academically relevant and researchable.
2. Write down the research questions you need to research on depending on the idea you have
chosen

You can come up with as many questions as possible. The more the questions, the longer your
research paper will be, as it will seek to answer to each of them. The questions can range from:
 Exploratory questions, where you want to find out more about the topic under study,
 Explanatory question, where your aim is to explore the relationship or lack thereof between
two or more variables, and
 Descriptive questions such as determining the avera ges, means, and modes of a variable or
variables in the topic under study.

3. Develop a research hypothe si s from each of the research questions that you have listed

A hypothesis, also known as a thesis or theses in plural, is a tentative, usually informed or educat ed
guess about a certain scenario. It is referred to as ‘an educat ed or informed guess’ as it is based on
some prior knowledge about the topic either by some pre-known theory, or a previous research you
may have carried out. The hypothesis is what you will either prove or disprove when the research is
done and therefore, be able to draw your conclusion.

4. Identify the kind of data you need to answer these hypothetical questions and how you will
gather the data

 Depending on the type of research you are carrying out, data that you may need may include
actual numbers, averages, and so on. Data can eit her be primary or secondary, qualitative or
quantitative.
 Primary dat a is first-hand information obtained from the ground, for example, by carrying out
interviews and site visits.
 Secondary data is second-hand information obtained from reading books, watching news,
videos, the internet, and other already documented material.
 Qualitative data is based on subjective factors such as people’s opinions, while quantitative
data is based on actual numbers and is, therefore, more objective.

5. Identify how you will analyze, interpret, and present the data

Come up wit h conclusive and tangible evidence to prove or disprove all the hypotheses you had
stated earlier. Methods of data analysis include the us e of statistical analysis such as mean, totals,
income, or the general relationship bet ween variables which can be enhanced by the use of graphical
methods where possible.

Having developed all the above, you are now ready to come up with your concept paper, which will
detail eac h of the steps outlined. The following is a guideline on how to structure your ideas for the
perfect concept paper.

How to structure your concept paper

Here are the major elements of a concept paper format:

1. The title page

You should begin wit h a title that fully summarizes what the project you are carrying out is about.
A void being wordy and stick to the main point.

2. Introduction and statement of the problem

This serves as the most important part of the concept paper. You must be seeking to add value and
convince the reader that you are doing so. For example, your research should seek to solve an
existing problem or provide furt her insights into a scarcely researched topic. The problem should be
clear. Why would you want to investigate the topic under study, and how your research will be helpful
in achieving this? Herein, you need to provide the evidence that the research you need to carry out is
necessary in that it has not been carried out before or has not been adequately done. Here are some
questions that may help you nail this element:
  What is the problem?
 Why do you feel that it is important?
 How does your study relate to or add to research that has already been done?

3. Value of the study

Outline specific groups of people who the study may benefit and how it will benefit them.

4. A preliminary literature review

You need to back up your passion for the topic under researc h with solid literature that supports the
topic, for example, literature that supports the fact that further research needs to be carried out in that
area. You need to show that there exists an information gap which your research seek s to fill. The
wider the variety of literature review you have carried out, the more solid and convincing your concept
paper will be.

5. State the research goals or objective s

This is a broad statement or statements of what the research seeks to achieve. It should start with ‘to’
and answer the questions who, what, when, which, or how.

6. Write down all the research questions

These are important as they will direct you on every research area, for example, the type of data to
collect and how to analyze it. Make sure you have exhausted all the questions for the research to be
complete.

7. The research hypothe si s

The research hypotheses stem from the research topic or the research questions and are, therefore,
easy to draft. They are a statement of the situation you anticipate based on some prior knowledge you
have, even before you carry out the res earch. The res earch seeks to find out if these hypotheses are
true or not. There should be a positive and a negative hypothesis for each statement given. A positive
hypothesis agrees with the statement in question while a negative hypot hesis opposes it. At the end
of the research paper, you will either accept or reject your positive hypothesis based on your findings.

8. State the methodology you intend to use

The research methodology states the ‘how’ of carrying out the research. It details the research
design, that is, what kind of res earc h you intend to carry out. You can either carry out:
 An exploratory design that seeks to expound on the area of study that you have an idea in, in
order to understand it better.
 An explanatory design that seeks to carry out an in-depth study on a certain idea that was not
tackled in-depth. It mostly requires the use of qualitative met hods of dat a collection.
 A descriptive research that seeks to find out the relations hip between two variables of data
you need. It uses analyses methods such as mean and mode.

9. A timeline for completion of each element of the research project

Undertaking a research can take a very long time if not well planned for, and it is, therefore, import ant
to lay out just how much time you may need to complete each element of the research project and
ultimately the whole project. In this section, you need to set a time frame that is realistic.

10. Outline citations

Always remember to give credit to any sources you may have sourced your information from. This can
be done within the document or at the end of the conc ept paper.
Concept paper example

Below is an example of a concept paper how to write. It will give you a detailed picture of what to
include in your concept paper and ease the process of coming up with your own.

THE ROLE THAT QUALITY PLAYS IN THE PERFORMANCE OF FOOD PRODUCING FI RMS IN
PAKISTANI

Introduction

Of late, there have been so many cases of food -related illnesses that are being directly associated
with the low quality of food products being released to the market by the many food processing firms.
It is clear that the quality of products that these firms are producing is below the industry mark.
Surprisingly, these food firms which are already losing their reputation still seem to be blossoming.
There is a general perception that quality affects the performance of firms and this ironic trend,
therefore, begs the question as to just how vital quality is in the production process.

Statement of the problem

This study seeks to answer the question on just how much the quality considerations of a firm affect
its performance in terms of factors such as the ability to make more sales, maintain profit, as well as
remain in the market. Is quality that much a factor as we all imagine it to be? If it is, why are these
firms still doing so well, and if it is not what other factors are causing these firms to continue to
prosper? Have we lost the quality battle by offering sub-standard products to our people, and should
we reconsider our quality restrictions? It has been widely agreed that quality is a factor that firms need
to consider in order to compete in the global market (Paiva, 2013). Is this however the scenario on the
ground and does quality play such a great rol e in the performanc e of food producing firms?

Value of the study

The findings for the study will be helpful to the following parties:
 Quality regulatory bodies that will be able to determine the quality gap that exists and take
necessary action.
 Researchers who will identify further areas of study as will be outlined in this research and
hence lead to an increase in the body of knowledge.

Definition of variables

What is quality?

In this study, we will define quality as the ability of a product t o perform suitably as per expectations
(Reid & Sanders 2012). The study shall focus on the four main quality components including Quality
planning, cont rol, assurance, and improvement, and how each affects the performance of a firm when
well implemented.

What is performance?

In this study, we will define performanc e as the ability to meet and /or exceed set standards.
Examples of performance standards include sales levels, brand image, reduced rework rat es, and
customer ret ention rates.

A brief Literature Review

Many documented texts agree that there is a relations hip bet ween quality considerations and the
performance of firms. According to Garvin 1984, quality is based on innate excellence, recognizable
on through experience. Abbot describes it as a measurable variable, and in another study, quality is
subjective and individual based (Maio 2007). According to Sower 2010, quality refers to the
conformance to prior set specifications. The final argument is that quality is based on cost and pric es
(Jones 2014). The above scholars argue that quality is essential in the performance of a firm. The
literature reviews however fall short as they fail to answer a few questions which this study paper will
seek to outline. Thes e are:
 To what extent quality actually affects performance, and
 Which approach firms use to measure quality and how these approaches affect their
performance.

Research objective s

This res earc h paper will be guided by the following objectives;

1. To find out the systems that food producing firms in the count ry have put in place to
guarantee quality of their products.
2. To determine the extent to whic h these quality systems affect their performance.

Research hypothe si s

H0. Adherence to quality management system is integral to the performance of food producing firms.

H1. Adherence to quality management systems is not integral to the performance of food proc essing
firms.

Research methodology

Research design

This will be a descriptive study analyzing different firms, the kinds of quality systems they have in
place, and the relationship bet ween these quality systems and the performance of the firms in
question.

Population of study

The study will involve a sample of 35 food producing firms based in the capit al, irrespective of their
size or age.

Data collection

Data used will be primary data collected by use of questionnaires to be filled by personnel in the
Operations Department of the various firms or other relevant department. The ques tions will be broad
and detailed, seeking to draw information on the types of quality systems that the firms have put in
place. For this study, we will focus on the four main quality components including Quality planning,
quality control, quality assuranc e, and quality improvement. Details of their performanc e in terms of
factors such as sales revenues will als o be sought. Data on performanc e will also be sourced from
secondary sources such as company financial statements and sales rec ords, some of which ar e
available online.

Data analyses and interpret ation

The data of the two variables collected, Quality, (X), and Performanc e, (Y), will be used to draw up a
regression analysis to determine the strength as well as the nature of the relationship between the
two variables. A conclusion will then be drawn from the resulting findings.

Timeline

The project is expected to be completed in 13 weeks with the following as the timeline for each part of
the project:
 Introduction and literature review: 3 weeks
 Research methodology: 5 weeks
 Data analysis, data interpret ation, and presentation: 2 weeks
 Summary, conclusion, and recommendations: 2 weeks
 Polishing up the work for submission: 1 week
Citations

 American Society for Quality. (2015, January 13).

 Quality Assurance. Quality Engineering . Besterfield Dale .H, D... (2011).
 Total Quality Management (Revised ed.).
 Delhi, CRC Noida, India: Pearson. Carton, R. B. (2006).
 Measuring Organizational performance: Metrics for entrepreneurship and strategic
management res earch. Nort hampt on, Massachusetts, United States of America: Edwards
Elgar Publishing. Ciotti, G. (2013, May 22nd).
 Help Scout. Retrieved February 23rd, 2015, from Help scout website:
http://www.helpscout.net/blog/customer-satisfaction/ Crosby, P. B. (1995).
 Quality Without Tears:The art of Hassle Free Management. (J. H. David E.Fogarty, Ed.) Town
Penn Plaza, New York, United States of America :McGraw - Hill. David J Ketchen, J. c.
(2004).
 Improving Firm Performance by matching strategic Decision-Making processes to competitive
Dynamics. The Academy of Management Executive, 18 (4), 29-43. Et.al, J. G. (2005).
 Research in social Stratification and Mobility (Vol. 2). (K. T. Leicht, Ed.) Amsterdam,
Netherlands: Elsevier. Frank M. Gryna, B. G. (2005).
 Juran, Quality and a century of Improvement (15th ed.). (K. S. Stephens, Ed.) Milwaukee,
Winsconsin, United States of America: ASQ Press

After following the above outline, you can be sure to submit a convincing concept paper for your
research project to be approved. Finally, remember that the concept paper is based on facts and your
personal opinions are not allowed. Ensure that your topic is researchable through any academic
means such as the use of libraries, interviews, internet, and the like. The research must add value
and be useful in the academic fraternity and not be casual. It must have a question or questions that
are very specific and answerable by carrying out the research. It should have at least one hypothesis,
and the data you need must obtainable in a cost-effective way. Of importance is to provide proper
citation for all your work. I trust that you are now well versed with how to write a concept paper that
you will be proud of.

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