1. Our Research Proposal

2. Components of the Research Proposal
Problem Description
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
Convince the “sponsor” to continue reading the proposal
know the dilemma, its significance and why something should be done to change the current status quo

4. 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
checking to see that each objective is discussed in the research design, data analysis and results sections

5. 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?

6. Importance/Benefits of the Study
Importance of the doing the study now
What are the potential impact on
Research in the area
Applications
Larger community
If you find this difficult to write, then most likely you have not understood the problem

7. 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

8. Schedule Include the major phases of the project
exploratory studies, data analysis, report generation
Critical Path Method (CPM) of scheduling may help

9. Deliverables Measurement instruments Algorithms
Computer programs / prototypes
Comparative evaluation
Other technical reports

10. Budget and Resources Access to special systems or computers
specialized computer algorithms
Itemized Budget
Budget Narrative
This part is usually an appendix.

11. 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

12. 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)

13. Strengthening Your Proposal
After all the review is done
Review checklist for features detracting from proposal effectiveness page 127 in you Practical Research Planning and Design

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

15. Weaknesses in Research Proposals
Research Design
so vague it prevents evaluation
inappropriate or impossible data
procedures inappropriate for problem
lacking controls

16. A Sample Research Proposal
Read (and study) the sample proposal, pages , in Practical Research
Fill in the critique on page 298 for this proposal.
Since it was made for the REPORT, simply change the tense for most questions.
Is the sample size adequate? -> Will the sample size be adequate
For questions which clearly need the final report skip (step 9, the first question)

17. Guide to Writing the Research Proposal

18. Purpose of the Problem Statement
Your statement of the problem
Represents the reason behind your proposal
It specifies the condition(s) you want to change
Supported by evidence
Show your familiarity with prior research on the topic
Even if the problem is obvious, your reviewers want to know how clearly you can state it

19. 5 Key Questions to Answer in Your Problem Statement
Does your problem statement:
Demonstrate a precise understanding of the problem you are attempting to solve?
Clearly convey the focus of your project early in the narrative?
Indicate the relationship of your project to a larger set of problems and justify why your particular focus has been chosen?
Demonstrate that your problem is feasible to solve?
Make others what to read it further?

20. 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

21. 5 Key Questions to Answer for Purpose and Objectives
Does this section
Clearly describe your project’s objective, hypotheses and/or research question?
Bury them in a morass of narrative?
Demonstrate that your objectives are important, significant and timely?
Include objectives that comprehensively describe the intended outcomes of the project?
State objectives, hypothesis or questions in a way they can be evaluated or tested later

22. Writing Tips for Objectives Section
Don’t confuse your objectives (ends) with you methods (means).
A good objective emphasizes what will be done, whereas a method will explain why or how it will be done.
Include goals (ultimate) and objectives (immediate)

23. 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.

24. Data Analysis Data Analysis is essentially a four step process
Identify precisely what will be evaluated. If you wrote measurable objectives, you already know.
Determine the methods used to evaluate each objective. More precisely, you will need to describe the information you will need and how you propose to collect it.
3. Specify the analyses you plan to make and the data you need to collect. Your design may be simply to observe behavior of a particular population or something more complex like a rigorous experimental and multiple control group design.
4. Summarize the resulting data analyses and indicate its use. Consider mock data tables that show what your resulting data might look like.

25. Key Questions to Answer for Research Design/Data Analysis
Does the research design and data analysis section
Describe why analysis is needed in the project?
Clearly identify the purpose of your analysis?
Demonstrate that an appropriate analysis procedure is included for each project objective
Provide a general organizational plan or model?
Demonstrate what information will be needed to complete the analysis, the potential sources and the instruments that will be used to collect it.

26. 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

27. Additional Considerations

28. 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

29. 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

30. 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

31. 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

32. 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

33. 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 …

34. 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

35. 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

36. 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 …

37. 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

38. 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

39. 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

40. 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