CONCEPT NOTE FORMAT- PREPARED BY JANE MWENECHANYA

A concept note is a brief outline of the project you have in your mind. A concept
include: A title page, an introduction, Justification, proposed objectives and a brief
on materials and methodology. Ideally, it should not be more than 3 pages.

Aim of a concept note

It enables your lecturer/supervisor to decide whether your research idea is worth for
further research

Writing a concept note will assist you in clarifying your ideas, defining your research
topic and presenting the material in a logical and coherent manner.

Remember: All research starts with a problem. If there is no problem, there is no

research.

Caution!

Keep in mind that the reader/your supervisor doesn’t know anything about your
topic. Explain clearly! Tell the reader what the study is all about.

Concept Format

1. Demonstrate concisely in the Introduction:

(i) What? (broad definition of research issue/problem)
(ii) What is the topic and what is the problem?

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 2. problem statement and justification
(i) Why? (overview justification of proposed study) -justification, brief
literature review of related studies. Make sure you use literature.
(ii)Why is it important to solve the problem?
(iii) This section provides the purpose for the research. It introduces
the problem under investigation, addresses why the researcher wants to
investigate this problem, and how the research findings may help
address the problem.

3. Aim and objectives

i. What is the aim of your research?
ii. The aim spells out precisely what you want to research on.
iii. Use scientific action verbs such as to explore/ identify/ examine/
investigate/ audit/ describe/ evaluate/ compare/ assess and
similar words. These reflect scientific/ mental and not physical
activities.

4. Location/study area

Where? (Location of research problem and brief description of the study area,
and justification of the choice of the study area.

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 5. Research Methodology
(i) How? (general explanation of research methodology) – How are you
going to solve the problem?
(ii)The type of data you will collect and how you will collect it
(iii) The research methodology you will use to capture this data,
including any specific measurement or analysis equipment and
software you will use, and a consideration of statistical tests to help
interpret the data. If your research requires the use of questionnaires,
how will these be prepared?
(iv) In what sort of time frame would you plan to collect this data?

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