1. Notes on Research Proposals

2. Components of the Research Proposal
Problem Description/Statement
Research Objectives
Importance/Benefits of the Study
Literature Review
Research Design / Data Analysis
Deliverables
Schedule
[Facilities and Special Resources]
References
Budget (Appendix)

3. Problem Statement
Review the discussion from Week 2 on problem statements.

4. Purpose of the Problem Statement
Represents the reasons/motivation behind your proposal (based on the specific domain of study).
It specifies the conditions you want to change or the gaps in existing knowledge you intend to fill (this is the specification of the research problem).
Should be supported by evidence.
Specifies your hypothesis that suggests a solution to the problem.
Shows your familiarity with prior research on the topic and why it needs to be extended.
Even if the problem is obvious, your reviewers want to know how clearly you can state it.

5. Guidelines for writing a good abstract/problem statement
All should have the following elements in this order:
State the general case / problem
Describe what others have done
What’s missing / where is the gap in knowledge?
Describe the proposed solution or research objectives/questions
Specify one or more specific hypotheses
Should include specific metrics/measurements
Discuss how their validation addresses the research questions
Specific results (or research design, if it is a proposal)

6. Purpose of the Research Objectives Section
Specify the outcome of your project, the end product(s)
Keep you objectives
Specific: indicate precisely what you intend to change through your project
Measurable –what you accept as proof of project success
Logical – how each objective contributes to systematically to achieving your overall goal

7. Research Objectives Flows naturally from the problem statement
state your hypotheses clearly
give the reader a concrete, achievable goal
Verify the consistency of the proposal
check to see that each objective is discussed in the research design, data analysis and results sections

8. Literature Review Recent or historically significant research studies
Always refer to the original source
Discuss how the literature applies, show the weaknesses in the design, discuss how you would avoid similar problems
How is your idea different/better?

9. Importance/Benefits of the Study
Importance of the doing the study now
What are the potential impacts on
Research in the area
Applications of the research if successful
Broader impact (in other areas, on the society, in education, etc.)
If you find this difficult to write, then most likely you have not understood the problem

10. Research Design What you are going to do in technical terms.
May contain many subsections
Be specific about what research methodology you will use and why
Provide details of your proposed solutions to the problem and sub-problems
Provide information for tasks such as sample selection, data collection, instrumentation, validation, procedures, ethical requirements

11. Schedule & Deliverables
Include the major phases of the project
exploratory studies, data analysis, report generation
Critical Path Method (CPM) of scheduling may help
Deliverables:
Measurement instruments
Algorithms
Computer programs / prototypes
Comparative evaluation
Other technical reports

12. Budget and Resources Itemized Budget Provide a Budget Narrative
Access to special systems or computers
Infrastructure needs
Costs of surveys, user studies, etc.
Cost of travel if related to research design
Provide a Budget Narrative
This part is usually an appendix.

13. Proposal Characteristics
Straightforward document
No extraneous or irreverent material
Don’t tell us why you became interested in the topic
The first words you write are the most important ones
Not a literary production
Clear, sharp and precise
economy of words; no rambling sentences
Clearly organized
Outlined with proper use of headings and subheadings

14. Suggested Organization
Title, Abstract, Keywords (problem statement)
Introduction and Overview
Background information; problem description in context
Hypotheses and objectives
Assumptions and delimitations
Importance and benefits
Related Work/Literature Review
Research Design and Methodology
Plan of Work and Outcomes (deliverables, schedule)
Conclusions and Future Work
References
Budget (appendix)

15. Weaknesses in Research Proposals
Research Problem
unfocused
unimportant (done before!)
more complex
limited relevance

16. Weaknesses in Research Proposals
Research Design
so vague it prevents evaluation
inappropriate or impossible data
procedures inappropriate for problem
Threats to validity
Lack of reliable measures
lacking controls

17. Purpose of the Research Design
Describes your project activities in detail
Indicates how your objective will be accomplished
Description should include the sequence, flow, and interrelationship of activities
It should discuss the risks of your method, and indicate why your success is probable
Relate what is unique about your approach.
Much more on this later ….

18. Writing Tips for Research Design
Begin with your objectives
Describe the precise steps you will follow to carry out each objective, including what will be done, and who will do it.
Keep asking and answering the “What’s next?” question.
Once you have determined the sequence of events, cast the major milestones into a time-and-task chart

19. Scientific Writing Prosaic Clear, accurate, but not dull
Economy – every sentence necessary but not to the point of over condensing
Ego less – you are writing for the readers not yourself

20. Scientific Tone Objective and accurate To inform not entertain
Do not over qualify – modify every claim with caveats and cautions
Never use idioms like “crop up”, “loose track”, “it turned out that”, etc.
Use examples if they aid in clarification

21. Scientific Motivation
Brief summaries at the beginning and end of each section
The connection between one paragraph and the next should be obvious
Make sure your reader has sufficient knowledge to understand what follows

22. Other Writing Issues
The upper hand – inclusion of offhanded remarks like “ …this is a straightforward application …”
Obfuscation – aim is to give an impression of having done something without actually claiming to have done it
Analogies – only worthwhile if it significantly reduces the work of understanding, most of the time bad analogies lead the reader astray

23. Writing Issues
Straw men – indefensible hypothesis posed for the sole purpose of being demolished
“it can be argued that databases do not require indexes”
Also use to contrast a new idea with some impossibly bad alternative, to put the new idea in a favorable light

24. Unsubstantiated Claims
Example:
Most user prefer the graphical style of interface.
We believe that ….
Example
Another possibility would be a disk-based method, but this approach is unlikely to be successful.
Another …, but our experience suggests that …

25. References and Citation
Up-to-date
Relevant (no padding)
Original source
First order: books and journal articles
Second order: conference article
Third order: technical report
No private communications or forums ( material cannot be accessed or verified) if you must leave as a footnote not in the bibliography
Do not cite support for common knowledge

26. Reference and Citation
Carefully relate your new work to existing work, show how your work builds on previous knowledge, and how it differs from other relevant results.
References – demonstrate the claims of new, knowledge of the research area, pointers to background reading

27. Citation Style References should not be anonymous
Other work [6] -> Marsden [6] has …
In self-references, readers should know that you are using yourself to support your argument not independent authorities
Avoid unnecessary discussion of references, Several authors …., we cite …

28. Citation style
Ordinal-number style, name-and-date style, superscripted ordinal numbers, and strings.
Use anyone, but use one!
Entries ordered
By appearance of citation
alphabetically

29. Quotation Text from another source
If short – enclosed in double quotes
If long – set aside in an indented block
Long quotations, full material, algorithms, figures may require permission from the publisher and from the author of the original
Use of quotes for other reasons is not recommended

30. Acknowledgements Anyone who made a contribution
Advice, proofreading, technical support, funding resources
Don’t list your family, unless they really contributed to the scientific contents

31. Ethics Don’t Present opinions as fact Distort truths Plagiarize
Imply that previously published results are original
Papers available on the internet – authors put out an informal publication and becomes accepted as a formal. It is expected that the informal version will be removed