Lecture 6 : Research

Proposal Writing and

Literature review
T.TARUGARIRA
This module gives you a solid foundation
for carrying out and compiling your final
research project before graduation as well
as prepare you for any other research
work that you may wish to undertake
outside your current academic studies..”

T.TARUGARIRA
 Aims
At the end of this lecture, students should be able to;
Define what a research proposal

Know the elements that make up a research proposal

Know how long a research proposal should be.

State the significance of a literature review.

Finaly you should be able to compile a comprehensive research proposal.

What (Exactly) Is A Research
Proposal?
Now that you are nearing the end of your diploma program and your project is on the horizon, you’re
going to need to craft a convincing research proposal.

You are probably unsure exactly what the research proposal is all about.

Well, let’s find out more about a research proposal..

A research proposal is a simply a structured, formal document that explains what you plan to

research (i.e. your research topic), why it’s worth researching (i.e. your justification),
and how you plan to investigate it (i.e. your practical approach). 
Purpose of a research/project
proposal
The purpose of the research proposal is to convince your research supervisor, committee , college or
university that your research is suitable (for the requirements of the diploma/degree program) and
manageable (given the time and resource constraints you will face).
The most important word here is “convince” – in other words, your research proposal needs to sell
your research idea (to whoever is going to approve it).
If it doesn’t convince them (of its suitability and manageability), you’ll need to revise and resubmit.

This will cost you valuable time, which will either delay the start of your research or eat into its time
allowance (which is bad news).
 Overview: 8 Research Proposal Killers

 The research topic is too broad (or just poorly articulated).

 The research aims, objectives and questions don’t align.

The research topic is not well justified.

The study has a weak theoretical foundation.

The research design is not well articulated well enough.

Poor writing and sloppy presentation.

Poor project planning and risk management.

Not following the college or university’s specific criteria.

These killers usually lead to rejection of a research proposal and therefore calls for a proposal resubmission.
What goes into a research proposal?

As we mentioned earlier, a good dissertation or thesis proposal needs to cover the “what”, the “why” and the “how” of the research.
Let’s look at each of these in a little more detail:

WHAT – Your research topic

Your proposal needs to clearly articulate your research topic. This needs to be specific and unambiguous. Your research topic should
make it clear exactly what you plan to research and in what context. Here’s an example:

Topic: An investigation into the factors which impact female Generation Y consumer’s likelihood to promote a specific makeup
brand to their peers: a British context

As you can see, this topic is extremely clear. From this one line we can see exactly:

• What’s being investigated – factors that make people promote a brand of makeup

• Who it involves – female Gen Y consumers

• In what context – the United Kingdom

So, make sure that your research proposal provides a detailed explanation of your research topic. It should go without saying, but
don’t start writing your proposal until you have a crystal-clear topic in mind, or you’ll end up waffling away a few thousand words.
HOW – Your methodology

It’s all good and well to have a great topic that’s original and important, but you’re not going to
convince anyone to approve it without discussing the practicalities – in other words:

• How will you undertake your research?

• Is your research design appropriate for your topic?

• Is your plan manageable given your constraints (time, money, expertise)?

While it’s generally not expected that you’ll have a fully fleshed out research strategy at the proposal
stage, you will need to provide a high-level view of your research methodology and some key design
decisions.
Here are some important questions you’ll need to address in your proposal:
• Will you take a qualitative or quantitative approach?
• Will your design be cross-sectional or longitudinal?
• How will you collect your data (interviews, surveys, etc)?
• How will you analyse your data (e.g. statistical analysis, qualitative data
analysis, etc)?
So, make sure you give some thought to the practicalities of your research
and have at least a basic understanding of research methodologies before
you start writing up your proposal. The video below provides a good
introduction to methodology.
How long is a research proposal?

This varies tremendously, depending on the university, the field of study (e.g., social sciences vs natural
sciences), and the level of the study (e.g. undergraduate, Masters or PhD) – so it’s always best to check
with your college/ university what their specific requirements are before you start planning your
proposal.

As a rough guide, a formal research proposal at Masters-level often ranges between 2000-3000 words,
while a PhD-level proposal can be far more detailed, ranging from 5000-8000 words.

In some cases, a rough outline of the topic is all that’s needed, while in other cases, universities expect a
very detailed proposal that essentially forms the first three chapters of the dissertation or thesis/write-up.

The takeaway – be sure to check with your institution before you start writing.
How is a research proposal structured?

There are five “essential ingredients” that typically make up the structure of a research proposal:

1. A descriptive title or title page

2. A rich introduction and background to the proposed research

3. A discussion of the scope of the research

4. An initial literature review covering the key research in the area

5. A discussion of the proposed research design (methodology)

IMPORTANT REMINDER
As you write up your research proposal, remember the all-
important core purpose: to convince. Your research proposal
needs to sell your research idea in terms of suitability and
viability. So, focus on crafting a convincing narrative and
you’ll have won half the battle.
Literature review
This aspect or element of your project/research proposal and final project write-up is critical and will
be discussed in detail.

So what is a literature review?

It’s a summary and analysis of related literature (secondary data analysis), which provide background
of the research.

Researchers examine theories put forward by other experts and authors and analyses their model and
make opinions.
Components of a literature review
Literature review contains;

a) Conceptual view of experts (books etc.)

b) Comparisons of the views from experts (research works of other researchers)

c) Nature of issues being researched on.

WHERE TO FIND RESEARCH LITERATURE

Periodicals/Publications such as newspapers, popular magazines, TV and radio broadcasts, Internet,

encyclopedias.
Scholarly journal is a type of periodical filled with peer-reviewed reports of research studies. Citations
(details of a scholarly publication’s location that helps people to find it quickly) may be necessary.
Books e.g. textbooks, short story.

Dissertations / Thesis (original research produced by students doing degrees etc.).

Government documents.

Policy Reports and presented papers

CONDUCTING A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

Literature review should be conducted systematically for it to achieve its purpose. The following steps may be
followed.

a) Define and refine a problem

b) Design a search strategy or plan

c) Locate research reports (published articles)

d) Evaluating research articles;

This is done to determine relevance of articles. Evaluation of articles includes evaluating the title, reading the abstract.
Good abstract summarizes critical information, gives purpose of study, methods used, highlights major findings

NB A good literature review is selective, comprehensive, critical and current.

e) Decide what to record about an article, book or other sources
 This is governed by hypothesis being tested, major concepts measured, the main findings, basic
design of the research.
 It’s advisable to record too much than too little. Photocopying relevant articles or reports may save
time than recording notes.
 Disadvantages of photocopying
 Can be expensive for a large literature search.
 Should obey copyright laws.
 May end up photocopying entire article and forget citation information.
 Organising entire articles can be cumbersome especially for several different parts of a single
article.
 May result in re-reading the entire article later.
f) Organize notes
The organizing scheme depends on the purpose of the review and type of review:
 Context review implies organizing recent reports around a specific research question
 Historical review – organises by major theme and date of publication
 Integrative review- organises around core common findings and the main hypothesis
 Methodological review- organise studies by the topic and within a topic by the design or method
used
 Theoretical review implies organising studies by the theories and major thinkers.

• NB: When reviewing the literature relating to your research project, you should include recent
information. This by no means implies that older information is not relevant, but the review
should be up to date.
• When information is reported from a source, it must be adequately referenced. It is important
that whenever you cite others, you make available sufficient information to enable the reader
to look up such work for his/herself.
Referencing
Referencing is an important part of academic work. It puts your work in context, demonstrates the
breadth and depth of your research, and acknowledges other people’s work. You should reference
whenever you use someone else’s idea.
Whenever you read something useful, make notes or an index indicating the authors’ names, the name
of the book or article, the journal in which the latter was published, together with its volume and issue
number, the date of publication (including the month of an issue, or the date of a newspaper article),
the name of the publisher and the date of publication.

 The page or pages of an article should also be noted, e.g. pp. 34–48
Why reference?

Referencing correctly:

 helps you to avoid plagiarism by making it clear which ideas are your own
and which are someone else’s.
 shows your understanding of the topic.
 gives supporting evidence for your ideas, arguments and opinions.
 allows others to identify the sources you have used.
When to reference

Whenever you use an idea from someone else's work, for example from a
journal article, textbook or website, you should cite the original author to make it
clear where that idea came from.
This is the case regardless of whether you have paraphrased, summarized or
directly quoted their work. This is a key part of good practice in academic
writing.
Summary
From the discussion above, we can draw the following lessons;

A research proposal should be unambiguous and convincing.

A research proposal answers the what, why and how you want carry out a research.

When we borrow ideas from other researchers or authors, we must always acknowledge their works to
avoid plagiarism.

NB Plagiarism is presenting someone else's work or ideas as your own, with or without their
consent, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgement. All published and
unpublished material, whether in manuscript, printed or electronic form, is covered under this
definition.