Writing your research proposal

1. Writing your research proposal Steps and contents

2. Purposes of the research proposal • Organizing our ideas. It will help us in organizing our ideas in a coherent manner. the idea will be consistence with the problem, questions, objectives, importance, hypothesis, and analysis.

3. Purposes • Convincing your audience that the work you intend to do is achievable in the given timescale. • If you do not convince them (tutor, attendees) then you will have saved yourself a great deal of time and frustration (blocking). • In this case you need to change the idea and chose another .

4. The content of the research proposal • Title : This title may be your first attempt. You may change the title as your work progresses (this is before considering the title from the tutor). The title should closely mirror/ reflect the content of your proposal. (with full consistency with all sub titles in the proposal.

5. Contents • Background/ introduction: You will show that the research you intend to do worth the effort. You may start from general to specific by referring to the literature. You may express the research problem that needs solving.

6. Background/ introduction • Does your research build on past research? • Are you using existing data? • Extending existing theory? • Making new background assumptions? • Testing competing theories? • Using methods from previous studies?

7. Cont. • Improving on past methods? • Replicating previous research? • Elaborating on past findings? • Following up on mixed or confusing results? • Exploring unexpected results? • Challenging past research?

8. Cont. • Inheriting a problem from an earlier study? • Looking at a new subgroup or population? • Expanding the scope of the studies? • Building on the past in some other way? • Or NOT Building on the past? • Start a new methods for analysing data?

9. Content • Research question / problem The background should lead smoothly to the research problem and objectives. You should have one research problem.

10. Research question / problem • It might be a text, paragraph. • Or it might be a single question. • Or it might include a sub-questions also • We might right introductory paragraph before righting the research question

11. Content 4. Research objectives Be careful to write the research objectives precisely and can be observed.

12. 5. Research importance • For the researcher • Or for the community • Or for the university • Or what ever.

13. Content 6. Hypothesis You may write it in the following forms: • Question form. • Correlation • Differences between populations. • Testing the hyp. • Null hyp. • Alternative hyp.

14. Hypothesis • The hypothesis should not be duplicated with the research questions. • They might be alternatives. • Either hypothesis or questions.

15. Content • Method: You will mention how you will perform your research. You will justify your choice of method. This include two elements: • Research design: identify research sample, population, • Data collection: primary data, secondary data.

16. Content • Methods for data analysis • Borders of the study and timescale • Previous studies. • Analyzing research studies. • Research gab. • The addition of your research • Research structure. • References: