Technical Writing and

Research Methodology
Part three: Writing the Research Proposal

by: Kuleni Diro (MSc)

 Research proposal
• A research proposal is a plan of future research and an explanation of
how it will be achieved.
• 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.
• The quality of your research proposal depends not only on the quality
of your proposed project, but also on the quality of your proposal
writing.
Purpose of the research proposal
1. To inform the reader nature of your proposed research.
• What is the problem?
• What is its extent?
2. To convince the reader, especially supervisors and reviewers, about the
value of your proposed research.
• Is this proposal worth the time and money?
• Will it make a difference to the world?
3. To demonstrate your expertise and competency in a particular area of
study.
• Do you have the qualifications to conduct this research?
• Have you informed yourself of the existing theory and data relevant to your
topic?
Cont.
4. To plan the research and provide a step-by-step guide to the tasks
necessary for its completion.
• What are the key stages of the work?
• How do the various components fit together?
5. To request support from individuals and agencies who provide
supervision, oversight or funding.
• What kinds of support does the project need?
6. To contract with the agencies and individuals involved, (e.g.
supervisors, foundations and participants).
• How will tasks be assigned and resources expended?
What it should contain?

• What do you want to do?

• Why do you want to do it?
• Why is it important?
• Who has done similar work?
• How are you going to do it?
• How long will it take?
• How much it cost to implement the project ?
Elements of a research proposal
• Title page
• Executive summary
• Tables of content
• List of table
• List of figure
• Acronym and nomenclature
• Introduction
• Problem statement
• Literature review
• Objectives
• limitations
• Methodology
• Time schedule
• Budget
• References
• Appendix (if any)
Title page
• The title of your research proposal should state your topic exactly in the
smallest possible number of words.
• Titles should almost never contain abbreviations.
• The title page has no page number and it is not counted in any page
numbering.
• First impressions are strong impressions: make your title an attention
grabber.
• Put your name, the name of your department/faculty, the name of your
advisor (s) and date.
 Abstract/Executive Summary
• A well written summary provides a succinct (briefly and clearly expressed) overview
of the research proposal. The summary should clearly indicate why your
proposed research is important, what your project aims to address, and how
the project will be undertaken.
Questions an abstract should answer:
1. What will you do?
2. Why did you do this study?
3. How will you do it?
4. What do you expect to find?
 Introduction
• The main purpose of the introduction is to provide the necessary
background or context for your research problem.
It comprises of :
Background of the study/case area,
Problem statement,
Hypothesis or research question, and
Objective of the study
Conceptual framework,
Introduction as a Background of the Study:
 Reviews the previous work to reveal what is known of the subject
 Present a concise explanation on the development, trend and current state of
the theme of the study
 Start by providing a global outline of the subject and move to regional and
specific to country, local or institution situation
 Statement of the problem
• Is a concise description of an issue to be addressed or a condition to be
improved upon.
• Reflects the gap and justifies that the issue is worth researching .
The significant content of the justification is that;
No work has been carried out to try to solve the stated problem, or that
Little work has been carried out to try to solve the stated problem, or that
Some work has been done but gaps still exit; hence the need to conduct the
study
Objectives of the study
The objectives of a research project summarize what is to be achieved by the study.
• should be closely related to the statement of the problem
1. General objectives states what is expected to be achieved by the study in
general terms
2. Specific objectives
• These are a breakdown of the general objectives
• Systematically address the various aspects of the problem
SMART Objectives
• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable/attainable
• Realistic
• Time bound
Significance of the study
You will write about:
• the effect of your study,
• how it will change the things or
• the benefits it will bring,
• how it will be helpful,
• to whom and why it is helpful
Scope and Limitation
The limitation is: Where you list your materials, place where you will do it, any
problems that might limit your work
• All research has limitations and thus certain work that will not be performed
The scope: is what you intend to cover in your study
• is where you set the boundaries and you list some things explicitly that you are not
doing
Literature review
The purpose of a literature review is to:
• Provide foundation of knowledge on topic
• Identify areas of prior scholarship to prevent duplication and give credit to
other researchers
• Identify inconstancies: gaps in research, conflicts in previous studies, open
questions left from other research
• Identify need for additional research (justifying your research)
• Identify the relationship of works in context of its contribution to the topic
and to other works
• Place your own research within the context of existing literature making a
case for why further study is needed.
Cont.
Research Design and Methodology
• The research design is intended to provide an appropriate framework for a
study.
• This section of your research proposal answers the “how” questions since it
provides your work plan and describes the activities necessary for the
completion of your research.
It has to include such subsections as:
Study design,
data type, source and method of data collection
model specification (if any),
data collection instrument and procedure,
instrument validity and reliability, and
data analysis techniques
 Work plan/Schedule

• Your schedule should include the major phases of the project, their timetables,
• A timetable explains how the researcher expects to carry out the project and
when each of the important phases will be completed
• It is a plan in terms of numbers of weeks or months and expected completion
dates.
• Usually gat chart is used for work schedule
Cont.
For example, major phases included in schedule may be
Exploratory interviews
Final research proposal
Questionnaire revision
Field interviews
Editing and coding
Data analysis
Report generation
Each of these phases should have an estimated time schedule and people
assigned to the work
Cost Budget
• Funding will be necessary and an itemized list of items needed to carry out
the methodology is listed in some detail.
There are items like:
Field expenses for data collection
Component cost
Manufacturing cost (including labor cost)
Pay for consultants where they are necessary
Travel and all such items needed to be detailed
A sum of money for contingencies.
 Referencing or Citation
• The term ‘reference’ refers to those consulted materials that are actually cited in-
text
• Referencing helps to avoid Plagiarism which is wrongful appropriation of
others’ idea, thoughts, expression, close imitation as if it were your own original
work.
• Most citation style guides fall into two commonly used systems:
• 1. Author-date system (e.g. Harvard);
• 2. Numeric-system (e.g. Vancouver, IEEE, MLA)
Harvard style
Example
"The author has discussed the implications of these proposals on the National Health
Service in another paper (Loft, 1991). Other writers have commented on related
issues, notably Lane (1992, 1994) and Lewis (1995, p.54)."
Names and dates are enclosed in parentheses unless the author's name is part of the
sentence. If two papers are cited by the same author, and both are published in the
same year, the first should be referenced as (Loft 1997a), then (Loft 1997b), and so
on.
The full citation is listed at the end of the article, which is arranged in alphabetical
order by author. Journal names are given in full and are italicized, as are book names.
References would be cited as follows:
Annas, G.J. (1997a), 'New drugs for acute respiratory distress syndrome', New
England Journal of Medicine, vol. 337, no. 6, pp. 435-439.
Grinspoon, L. & Bakalar, J.B. (1993), Marijuana: the forbidden medicine, Yale
University Press, London.
Vancouver style

Example
"The author has discussed the implications of these proposals on the National
Health Service in another paper (1). Other writers have commented on related
issues, notably Lane (2,3) and Lewis (4). "
References in the Vancouver style would be cited in numerical order as
below.
(1) Annas GJ. New drugs for acute respiratory distress syndrome. N Engl J
Med. 1997;337:435-9.
(2) Grinspoon L, Bakalar JB. Marijuana: the forbidden medicine. London:
Yale University Press; 1993.
(3) Feinberg TE, Farah MJ, editors. Behavioural neurology and
neuropsychology. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 1997
 Research presentation skill
• Part of planning a presentation means that you
must ask yourself why, not what
.
• The “what” part will be answered when you
begin to organize your thoughts.

• In the beginning, you should concern yourself

with why you are giving a presentation to a
particular audience.

• The answer to this question should help you

plan your presentation.
Cont.
According to various studies, we can effectively recall:
20% of what we hear;
30% of what we see;
50% of what we hear and see;
70% of what we do.
Attention grabbers
Body language = 50%
Vocal interest = 38%
Verbal content = 7%
Preparation of presentation: 10 Tips for planning successful
slides and visuals
1. Use slides sparingly:
one of the biggest problems in technical presentations is the overuse of slides. A
useful rule of thumb is one slide for every two minutes of presentation time.
2. Make slides pictorial:
Graphs, pictures of equipment, flow charts, etc., all give the viewer an insight
that would otherwise require many words or columns of numbers.
3. Present one key point per slide:
Keep the focus of the slide simple and clear. Presenting more than one main idea
per slide can seriously detract from the impact.
Cont.
4. Make text and numbers legible:
Can the audience read everything? If not, be prepared to provide additional
explanation in handout material or highlight the area of the chart where you
want the audience to focus.
5. Use color carefully:
Use no more than three colors per slide to avoid a cluttered look. The colors
used should contrast with each other to provide maximum visibility
6. Make visuals big enough to see:
Walk to the last raw where people will be sitting and make sure
that everything on the slide can be seen clearly
 Cont.
7. Graph data:
Whenever possible avoid tabular data in favor of graphs. Graphs allow the viewer
to picture the information and data in a way that numbers alone can’t.
 Cont.
8. Avoid unnecessary slides:
If something can be stated simply and orally, there is no need for a slide.
9. Use builds and animation very sparingly:
They can interfere with content of your message.
10. Make pictures and diagrams easy to see:
Too often pictures and diagrams are difficult to see from a distance. The best way
to ascertain this is to view it from the back of the room. Make sure that inside the
diagrams are legible from the back row also.
Additional Tips:
Do not speak until you have eye contact with your audience!
Look at the screen momentarily to recall the points you want to make and
then turn to the audience and deliver it
If you must write something on the flip chart, overhead, or whiteboard, stop
talking while you write
While Delivering your presentation:
Do not:
 Keep hands in your pockets
 Keep hands behind your back
 Keep your arms crossed
 Wring your hands nervously