Chapter 3

 Process in Research Proposal

Development

 Part I. Formatting
 Part II. Research Proposal Writing
 Part III. Reference Citation Style
 Style and Formatting
Part I. Formatting
 A. Font
 B. Margins
 C. Headings and Subheading
 D. Line Spacing and Paragraph Formatting
 E. Page Number and Set Up
 F. Other Style and formatting Issues

2
 Style Cont..
 Part II. Research Proposal Writing
 A. Cover/Title Page up to References

 Part III. Reference Citation Style

 A. In –Text Citation
 B. References List in Reference Chapter

3
 Style and Formatting
Scientific writing requires consistency in style and format in
research proposals
Certain rules are followed consistently throughout the documents.
 A. Fonts:
Times New Roman font is required throughout the documents.
No variation in the type of font used throughout the research proposal
The cover page /title page of the research proposal is presented in
14 point font size.
 All of the narrative in the research proposals is in 12 point font size.

4
 Style Cont…
B. Margins
A margin of 3.0 cm on the left is for binding.
 A margin of 2.5 cm each on the right, top and bottom
of the page is required.
The same margins should be applied to all pages
including those of the figures and tables.

5
 Style Cont…
C. Headings and Subheadings
Each of the titles of the preliminary sections and the chapters of the narrative
should be written in bold upper case letters and be centered.
 The chapter headings of the narrative must be numbered with Arabic numerals
starting from 1 for the Introduction and ending with 9 or 10 for the Appendix.
 TheArabic numerals shall be followed by a period, a space and the title of the
chapter without the word “Chapter.”
 Note that the titles of the preliminary sections are not numbered.
The second level headings, i.e. subheadings, are numbered consecutively with
Arabic numerals in an outline numbering system
(e.g., for subheadings of Chapter 1, 1.1., 1.2., etc.;
For subheading of Chapter 2, 2.1., 2.2., etc.;
6
 Style Cont..
D. Line Spacing and Paragraph Format
The line spacing for all of the narrative is 1.5 although single
line spacing is to be applied to captions of tables and figures
E. Page Numbering and Set Up
Each component of the preliminary section, each chapter of
the narrative, the References chapter and the Appendix must
start on a new page

7
 Style Cont…
F. Other Style and Formatting Issues
Scientific names in any part of the research proposal, should be written
in italic font with the genus name starting with a capital letter
• All measurements should be given in metric or Standard International
(S.I.) units.
• Only the Ethiopian Birr (ETB) shall be used for budget currency
discussions.
• Correct grammatical rules should be followed.
• Use of personal pronouns such as I, you and we should be avoided.
• Colloquial language (slang) should be avoided.
• Technical jargon should be minimized

8
 Style Cont..
The structure of a sentence is important in scientific writing.
•

For example, do not begin a sentence by “And”.

Never starts a sentence with numerals such as 10, 33, 145, etc. or with an
abbreviation such as contracted scientific name. Write out abbreviations if they appear at the
beginning of a sentence. (ASTU)

• Give attention to English mechanics.

To avoid common mistakes, a parenthesis should be preceded and followed by one space, and a
comma should be followed by a space, etc.

• There should be no misspelled words in a proposal. Nor should there be any

grammatical errors.

Students are strongly encouraged to use the “Spelling and Grammar” check in the Microsoft Word to
avoid any such language problem.

9
Part II. Research Proposal Writing

Introduction
 Before an attempt is made to start with a research

project, a research proposal should be compiled.

 For beginner researcher, this is usually among the

most difficult parts.

 Proposal development is important aspect of

research project so as to give logic and structure
to the research envisaged.
Research Proposal Writing Cont…

Identifying a Research Topic

 Defining the problem is the first step and one of the most
difficult in research undertaking.
 There is a tendency for the beginner in research to ask questions
that are usually diffuse or vague.

 Criteria for selecting a research topic:

 Relevance/Significance
 Avoidance of duplication
 Urgency of data needed (timeliness)

 Feasibility of study
 Applicability of results

 Interest to the researcher

 Ethical acceptability
 Components of a Research Proposal

The research proposal submitted by a senior student is expected to have the following
sections.
Each of these sections should start on a new page and all section titles should be
capitalized.
General structure of the Research Proposal
1. Title page/Cover page
2. Acronyms and abbreviation
3. Table of Content
 List of tables(optional)

List of figures (optional)

4. Summary/Abstract
5. Introduction/Background (Arabic no. Starts)
6. Statement of the problem
7. Objective/Aim of the study
8. Hypotheses /Questions (Optional)
9. Conceptual framework (Optional)
10. Literature review
11. Materials and Methods/ Materials and Procedures
o Study area
o Study design
o Study subjects
o Eligibility Criteria (if any)
o Sample size
o Sampling methods
o Method of data collection
o Description of variables
o Data quality assurance
o Operational definitions
o Plan of data analysis
 12. Work plan
13. Budget
14. References
15. Appendices/Annexes (optional)

Main Components or (Chapters)

1. Cover Page (not a chapter)
2. Introduction/Background
3. Literature Review
4. Materials and Methods
5. Plan Activates
6. Budget
7. References
 Cover Page/Title Page
1. Cover Page
 The cover page should be informative and consist of the name of
Adama Science and Technology University
 The title of the research proposal, the academic degree sought, the

name of the college, school or department, program of study and

the advisors.
 The month and year followed by the location are the last items on

the cover page.

 Titles should never contain abbreviations.

 The title page has no page number and it is not counted

in any page numbering.

Acronyms and abbreviation

 2.Acronyms and Abbreviation

 List in alphabetical order the abbreviations or acronyms

followed by their descriptions in full.

 In the narrative, each abbreviation other than S.I. units and each
acronym should be defined in full when they are first used and
then followed by their abbreviation or acronym in parentheses.

 Standard (S.I.) units do not need to be listed. Abbreviations and

symbols such as i.e. and etc. should not be italicized

16
 Table Contents
 3.Table Contents
 All of the headings and entries in the table of

contents should correspond exactly in

wording, font and case with the headings or
entries as they appear in the text of the
proposal.
 Do not use “title” and “page” at the top of the

page in the table of contents

17
 Summary/Abstract
4. Summary /Abstract (Optional)
 The summary should include the background of the research
proposal topic, objectives of the study and the methods to be used
in the research project.
 It should be concise and less than one page in length .
 Do not put references, Figures, or Tables in the abstract.

 The abstract is a concise summary of the material

presented in the proposal.

 Summary appears at the front of the proposal, it is

written at last.
Introduction/Background
5. Introduction (it starts from no. 1)
 The introduction is the first chapter that is numbered for a research
proposal.
 It provides pertinent background information on the research project and

should be as brief as possible. Ideally, it should not exceed four pages in

length.
 The introduction includes:

a) Brief background and clear statement of the problem, nature,

symptoms, and extent of the problem and variables influencing the

problem
, Thus leading to a clear set of research objectives.
 Introduction Cont…
b) Objectives that specify the goals of the research, research
information to be gathered,
Research questions to be answered or research hypotheses developed
and to be tested.
 The objectives of a research project summarize what is to
be achieved by the study.
 Objectives should be closely related to the statement of
the problem
.

20
Objectives should be
Simple (not complex)


 Specific (not vague)

 Stated in advance (not after the research is done)
 Stated using “action verbs” that are specific enough to be
measured.
Commonly, research objectives are classified into:

General Objectives

Specific Objectives.

 It is important to ascertain that the general objective is closely

related to the statement of the problem.
 Introduction Cont…
General Objective
 What exactly will be studied?
 General statements specifying the desired outcomes of the proposed
project
 Specific Objectives ;should originate from the general
objective and may be stated in action-oriented such as:
 to determine
 to find out
 to assess
 to measure
 to express
Make sure that the objectives are SMART
22
Objectives … Cont’d
 Statement of the Problem
6.Statement of the Problem
 Most research proposals may be considered as

response to a certain problem.

 A problem might be defined as the issue that

exists in the literature, theory, or practice that

leads to a need for the study.
 Effective problem statements answer the
question “Why does this research need to be
conducted.”
 Literature Review
 7. Literature Review
 The literature review is chapter two.
 It should be a critical analysis of relevant existing
knowledge on the proposed research topic.
 It includes the strengths, the limitations and gaps of
previous studies.
 The literature review should be relevant with recent citations
on the topic.
 Citations within the past five years are ideal and generally
considered current.
The Stages of a Literature Review
Relevant materials will probably comprise a range of
media:
Books (monographs, text books, reference books)
Articles from journals, whether print or electronic
Newspaper articles
Historical records
Commercial reports and statistical information
Government reports and statistical information
Theses and Dissertations
Other types of information which may be relevant to

your particular discipline.

 Material and Methods
 8. Materials and Methods.
 Chapter three, it describes precisely what will be done and
how it will be done
 What data will be recorded
 The proposed tools or instruments to be used in data
collection and the methods of analyzing the data.
 In this chapter, the student should give clear, specific,
appropriate and credible procedures that will be followed
to attain the proposed objectives of the study. The
research design planned for use should be clearly stated,
the objectives set should be described.
The student should consider affordability, time issues, feasibility of the
study and availability of equipment and supplies.
 The student should also address the methods of data collection, data

quality control and methods of data analysis.

Materials and methods, which may also be titled “methods”, should include:
1. Definition of terms (optional)
2. Definition of variables (optional)

3. Description of the study area or experimental site

4. Study period when data will be collected

5. Study design or experimental design

6. Description of population
This includes inclusive and exclusive criteria, the source population, the study
population and sample population (optional).
 Materials and Methods …cont’d
Sampling methods, including sample size calculation and sampling methods (optional).

Data collection.
This includes questionnaires, use of observation, focus group discussions, in-depth interviews,
laboratory analyses and similar methods.
The description should outline the data to be collected in the study, the methods of measurement and
the units of measurement.

Data analysis.
The student should decide how the data generated will be analyzed.
Descriptions of the data analytical methods, techniques, tools and statistical tests that will be used
should be provided.
Software planned for use in statistical analysis may also be mentioned.
 Work Plan/ Plan of Activity
 9. Work Plan
 This chapter focuses on the budgeting of time for the

implementation of the research project.

 The student assigns time frames for the completion of

various activities of the proposed research.

The plan of activities can be presented in the form of a

table.
Only major activities for accomplishing the research and
corresponding time frames should be included in the table.
 . The Gantt Chart indicates: the tasks to be
performed, who is responsible for each task and
the time each task is expected to take.
 A 12-Month Research Project Plan

Activity Months
Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Literature search x x x x x x x x x x x x

Develop proposal x

Research designing x x

Pilot study x

Field work data x x x

collection
Data analysis x

Report write up x x

Report circulation x x
for comments

Dissemination x x x
workshop
11. Logistics/Budget Requirement
 The Budget section will show how much it will cost to
answer the question.
 When drawing up a budget, be realistic.
 Do no attempt to be too frugal to demonstrate how
cheaply you can run the project.
 At the same time, do not be too expensive so as not to
deter the fund providers.
 Budget items need to be explicitly stated
 Cost for every budget item should be quantitatively
shown.
 Their might be a need for budget justification of
certain costs whose requirement is not obvious.
 Logistics/Budget Requirement
 Thesteps in presentation of budget should
proceed in the following manner.
 Study the sequences of research activities or work
plan.
 Estimate the cost of each activity.
 Group similar expenditure items together.
 Allow for inflation.
 Present a detailed periodic budget.
 Present a budget summary covering all years of the
project.
Direct costs:
 Personnel Indirect costs:
 Consumable • Overhead costs for
supplies institutions or
 Equipments associations
 Travel • General administrative
 Communication cost
 Publication • Operational and
maintenance
 References Citation Style (APA Style Guide)
Reference Citation is categorized into two ways
A. In-Text Citations
B. List in References Chapter
A. In-Text Citations
For in-text citations, there are two possible ways of in-text citation:
Author-centered citation

Subject-centered citation

In the author-centered citation, only the year of publication is placed in parenthesis

and a comma is not required after the author’s name.
In the subject-centered citation, the author’s last name followed by a comma, a space,
and the year of publication are written in parenthesis usually at the end of the sentence.
Recognizing country tradition, Ethiopian authors’ names should be presented in full as
they appear in the publication.
 References … Cont’d
Single Author

Author-centered citation: Armadeep (2009)

Subject-centered citation: (Armadeep, 2009)
Two Authors

Author- centered citation: Smith and Brown (2010)

Subject- centered citation: (Smith and Brown, 2010)

ForEthiopian Names
Author-centered citation: Ayantu Bekele and Alemu Gebre (2010)
Subject-centered citation: (Ayantu Bekele and Alemu Gebre, 2010)

Three or more Authors

Author-centered citation: Rashid et al . (2008)
Subject-centered citation: (Rashid et al., 2008)
 References Cont’…
Citation of Two or More Works
When citing two or more works, the subject centered citation is common.
It is required to order the works chronologically by the year of publication
and separate them by a semi-colon.

Same Author and Same Year Published Works

When citing two or more works by the same author published in the same
year, use lower case letters (a, b, c) to distinguish the different works.
Author-centered citation: Almaz Abebe (2010a)
Subject-centered citation: (Almaz Abebe, 2010a)

38
 References … Cont’d
Personal Communications
When citing interviews, phone conversations, letters or email
messages, include the communicator’s name (who ideally should be
an authority in the field) and that it was personal communication.
Do not include personal communications in the references chapter
of the research proposal.
Personal communications should be used sparingly if at all.

(Kebede Chala, personal communication)

39
 References … Cont’d
Organizational Author
When citing the work of an organization as author, use the acronym of the
organization.
 WHO (2010)

Unknown Authors
When the work has no named author, cite it as “Anonymous” as below.
Author-centered citation: Anonymous (2011)


Undated Works
When the works are not dated, cite the year of publication as “n.d.”
Author-center citation: Anonymous (n.d.)

40
 References … Cont’d

B. References List (Chapter) in References Chapter

The reference list should start on a new page.

The list should be in alphabetical order by the last names of the first
authors.

Following the same tradition as in in-text citation, note that for Ethiopian
names, you are to write the full name of the author with his or her first
name first.

For example, Yabsira Gebre would be placed in alphabetical order under

the letter “Y” in the references chapter listing.
41
 References … Cont’d
Observe the proper use of spacing, periods, semi-colons, colons,
backstrokes (/), the parenthesis, and italicizing in the reference
listings.
These are all important to the proper presentation of the references.

The titles of books and journals should be italicized.

No abbreviations of journal titles should be used in listing such
publications.

42
 References … Cont’d
Citation of Print Sources
 Journal Article:

◦ Author (s)
◦ Year
◦ Title of journal article
◦ Name of journal (italics)
◦ Volume, number of the journal
◦ Pages range in journal article
 Single Author.
Chen, H.J. 2008. The endogenous probability of migration and economic
growth. Economic Modeling 25 (6): pp1111-1115.
Kebede Yemane 2008. Cigarette smoking and khat chewing among university
instructors in Ethiopia. East African Medical Journal 16 (1): pp 9-17. ?
 References … Cont’d

Two or More Authors:

Strauss, H. M., Hughes, J. and Schmieder, P. 2005. Heteronuclear

solution-stata NMR studies of the chromophore in cyanobacterial

phytochrome Cph1. Biochemistry 44: 8244-8250.


Wästfelt, A., Tsegaye Tegenu, Nielsen, M.N. and Malmberg, B.

2011. Qualitative satellite image analysis: Mapping spatial
distribution of farming types in Ethiopia. Applied Geography 32
(2): 465-476. ?

44
 For a Book give:
 The author
 The year of publication
 The title, and the edition number if there is one
 The name of the publisher
 The page numbers for your reference

Robertson, J. 2008. Coaching Educational Leadership: Building

Leadership Capacity through Partnership. London, England: Sage
Publications
Cristofaro, E., Mattu, G., and Wuhrmann, J. J. (1984).
Sugars in Nutrition, Academic Press, New York, pp. 313.
.
 References … Cont’d

Chapter in Edited Book

Atelay Alem and Dereje Kebede. 2005. Gender and health in Ethiopia. pp. 196-216 In :
Yemane Berhane, Damen Haile Mariam and Kloos, H. (eds.),
Epidemiology and Ecology of Health and Disease in Ethiopia. Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia: Shama Books.

Abu-Elteen, K.H. and Hamad, M. 2007. Determination of the virulence

factors of Candida albicans and related yeast species . pp. 69-91 In: K.
Kavanagh (ed.), Medical Mycology: Cellular and Molecular Techniques.
Chichester, West Sussex, England: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

46
 References … Cont’d

Paper in Conference Proceedings

Tessema Megenasa. 2008. Keynote Address. pp. 11- 19
In : Abraham Tadesse (ed.), Proceedings of the 14 the
Annual Conference of the Plant Protection Society of
Ethiopia, 19-22 December 2008. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia:
Plant Protection Society of Ethiopia

47
 References … Cont’d

Theses and Dissertations

Tamire Zewde. 2007. Garlic White Rot ( Sclerotium cepivorum Berk.) in Shewa:
Significance, Variability and Management Options. Published Doctoral
Dissertation, Doctoral Thesis No. 2007:03., Haramaya University, Ethiopia.

Harrison, J. 2008. Results or Process? Alternate Approaches to the Performance Measure

of New Zealand Secondary Schools, Doctoral Dissertation, University of Auckland,
Auckland, New Zealand.

Yemane Belay. 2007. Reproductive Health Needs and Service Utilization of Addis Ababa
University Students. MPH Thesis, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

48
 References … Cont’d

Technical Reports


Costar, W., Deeney, T., Haltiwanger, J. and Haley, S.

2008. School Function Assessment Technical Report.
Pearson Education, Inc., Boston, MA, USA.


HAPCO (HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office). 2007.

Accelerated Access to HIV/AIDS Prevention, Care and
Treatment in Ethiopia: A Road Map for
2007-2008. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Ministry of Health.

49
 References … Cont’d

 Citations of Internet Publications

 The internet is a powerful tool in conducting literature reviews and identifying
and selecting the most current citations and references.
 Students should give attention to ensure that internet citations are both complete

and correct.
 The student should make every effort to provide the required information to

allow the reader to visit the web site cited should he or she wish to read the
primary source of the information.

 URL addresses are always in parenthesis. The date that the student accessed the
publication should be stated.
 Included below are the major types of on-line citations

50
 References … Cont’d

Non- Periodical Web Document

WHO (World Health Organization). 2002. Adolescent-friendly
health services: an agenda for change. (http://www.who.int/child-
adolescent-health) Accessed on June 1, 2010.


Web Document with No Author’s Name or Date of Publication

Anonymous (n.d.) Census data revisited, Harvard Psychology of
Population website, (http://harvard.edu/data/index.php.) Accessed
on March 9, 20

51
 References … Cont’d

Summery of Electronic Sources

Electronic sources/internet sources:
◦ Start using website- http//www.------
accessed date & year
Citation in the text:
◦ At the beginning. E.g. Author (2000)
stated that---------.
◦ At the middle. E.g. --- (Kebede, 2005)
---.
◦ At the end. E.g. ------- (Kebede, 2005).
Electronic Book
Biersteker, P.J., Spiro, P.J., Sprira, M. and Raffo, V.

2007. International Law and International Relations .

(http://www.4shared.com/gate/OKYHLz/Interation

al_law_and_internat.html) Accessed on June 15, 2011.

53
 13. Appendices/Annexes (optional)

Appendices: Include in the appendices of your proposal any additional

information you think might be helpful to a proposal reviewer. For
example, include:

Questionnaire & other data collection forms

Dummy tables.
Biographical data on the principal investigator
The consent form (if any)

Note “ Every reference in your main text must appear in the list at the end of
your proposal, and every reference in the list must be mentioned in your
main text”!!!.