Research Methodology Lecture No 5.

WRITING OF PROPOSAL

Introduction
The format of typical research reports are similar in many ways. And in a proposal the
first three chapters are identical to that of the final report except in that, the proposal is
written in future tense. In a proposal a phrase may read “the researcher will measure
temperature” while in the final report the phrase will be “the researcher measured
temperature”.

Formal Engineering reports are normally written in the third person and past tense. A
typical proposal consists of the following sections and details:

(i)Title Page:
Normally this contains the title of the report, the authors name and institutional details.
The title should adequately characterize the study that was conducted. It must be
informative and specific, concise and understandable. Avoid padding with phrases like
“A study of ----“which only lengthen the title but does not convey more useful
information. All nouns are capitalized in the title.

(ii)Introduction:
Introduces the topic that you will be exploring and should give the reader a clear
understanding of your reasons for doing the study.

It is designed to inform the reader of the relevance of your research and includes a short
history or relevant background that leads to a statement of the problem that is being
addressed. Specific, measurable, achievable and realistic objectives of the study are found
in this section.

(iii)Literature Review:
This section provides an update on the status of scientific knowledge on which your study
will build on or from where it will diverge. Build a critique of the literature review
specifying gaps thus justifying your proposed study.

(iv)Methodology:
Briefly but accurately explains how you performed your research in a logically organized
manner.
Should be sufficiently detailed to allow the reader to duplicate the important aspects of
your methods.
It is quite common for the methods section to contain labeled subsections dealing with
apparatus, materials and specific procedures used.
It establishes the credibility of your methodology or the lack of it. Commercially
available pieces of apparatus may be described in terms of their commercial labels while
specially constructed apparatus needs to be descried in greater details.
(v)Work Plan/Schedule of Activities.
This should indicate the duration of planned activities in a logical sequence
(vi)Budget:
Provide an itemized budget corresponding to proposed activities and equipment and
expendable supplies to be purchased

(vii)References:
The number system uses square brackets to surround a number inserted in the text that
corresponds to a reference in the listing at the end of the report. The references are listed
in the order in which the citation appears in the text NOT in alphabetical order.
Depending on the citation type, the following information should be included:
 Book
(#) Author, A.B., Author2, C.D. and Author3, E.F., Title of Book, City: Publisher,
Year.
 Journal article
(#) Author, A.B., Author2, C.D. and Author3, E.F., “Title of Article”, Journal
name, vol. #, no. #, pp. #-#, Month, Year.
 Conference article
(#) Author, A.B., Author2, C.D. and Author3, E.F., “Title of Article”, Name of
conference, pp. #-#, Full date of conference, City, Country, Year.
 Website
(#) Author, A.B., Author2, C.D. and Author3, E.F., “Title of Article”, Full website
address directly to article, Viewed on Date.
 Patent
(#) Inventor, A.B., Inventor2, C.D. and Inventor3, E.F., “Title of Invention”’
Patent no. #, Month Day, Year.

The author-date system cites the authors last name and documents publication year in the
text.

References to all citations are listed at the end of the report in alphabetical order
according to the last name of the first author. The format for the different works cited is
very similar to that for the number system. The primary differences are that (1) the
reference list is not numbered, and (2) the reference used is in alphabetical order. The
required elements for the different types of referenced works appear below:

 Book
Author, A.B., Author2, C.D. and Author3, E.F., Title of Book, City: Publisher,
Year.
 Journal article
Author, A.B., Author2, C.D. and Author3, E.F., “Title of Article”, Journal name,
vol. #, no. #, pp. #-#, Month, Year.
 Conference article
Author, A.B., Author2, C.D. and Author3, E.F., “Title of Article”, Name of
conference, pp. #-#, Full date of conference, City, Country, Year.
 Website
 Author, A.B., Author2, C.D. and Author3, E.F., “Title of Article”, Full website
address directly to article, Viewed on Date.
 Patent
Inventor, A.B., Inventor2, C.D. and Inventor3, E.F., “Title of Invention”’ Patent
no. #, Month Day, Year.

(viii)Appendices:
The appendices should be clearly labeled and placed after the reference section. The
labeling system should be,
Appendix A(A1, A2 -----), Appendix B(B1, B2), etc. And should be listed in the table of
contents

Class Exercise
Proposal writing by class as a group on “Improvement of Boiler Energy Efficiency”