A Sample Proposal With Comment SLSMLS

A Sample Research Proposal with Comments
Sample proposal text
1. Introduction
Every constructi on project is unique and has its own operatin g
Comment
Provi de a brief and meanin gfu l title
to
your project
Background or introduction
section
provides a description of the basic
facts and importance of the
environment and sets of technical requirements. As a result, the execution
research
area - What is your research area,
of a construction project is subject to numerous constraints that limit the
the
commencemen t or progressi on of field operati on s, which invariab ly have
motivation of research, and how
signi fican t negative impact on overall project perform ance. By definiti on,
important is it for the industry
constraints refer to any condition, such as temporal/spatial limitations and
practice/knowledge advancement?
safety/quality concerns, which may prevent a project to achieve its goals.

Successful executio n and control of a construction project relies on effective
identi ficat ion and manag emen t of constrain ts throu gh master plann ing and
short-term look-ahead scheduling. While the master schedule provides a
global view of a project and the overall execution strategy, a look-ahead
schedule offers a detail account of operational constraints and a detailed
plan showin g work to be done withi n a relatively short time windo w.
Ideally, these detailed schedules should reflect actual field conditions and
provide field personnel with operation instructions free of constraints and
conflicts (Hinze 2008). This look-ahead scheduli ng and constrain t analysis
proced ure is also a critical componen t of the last-planner metho do log y
proposed by Ballard (2000 ). This research project will provide an overview
of state-of-art schedule constraint analysis practice during look-ahead
scheduling. In addition, it will propose a conceptual framework for
managing constraints.
2. Problem Statement
Problem statement provides a clear

and concise description of the
The importance of developing a constraint-free and reliable work
issues
plan has long been recognized by the industry. However, numerous
that need to be addressed - What is

the specific problem in that
construction projects are still plagued by delays and cost overruns, which
research
area that you will address (e.g. lack
can frequen tly be traced to ineffective identi ficati on and treatmen t of
of
constraints. First, when a constraint is not properly identified during
understanding of a subject, low
scheduli ng, subsequen t conflicts in the field are inevitab le. Todays projects
performance )?
are becoming more and more technically complex and logistically

challen gi ng , which exposes construct io n operatio ns to even more complex
constrai nts. Second, the traditi onal schedu ling methods, bar charts and
Critical Path Method (CPM ) which are widely used as a basis for constraint
analysis, greatly limit our capabil ity in modelin g and resolv in g constrain ts
during look-ahead scheduling. These methods have long been blamed for
their limitatio ns in model ing and commu nicating constraints, includin g
inability to cope with non-time -related precedence constraints and difficulty
to evaluate and commu nicate inter-depen dencies at the field operatio n level
(e.g. Sriprasert and Dawoo d 2002; Chua and Shen 2001). In summary , there
is a need for a better understanding of constraints in construction and a
structured approach in identifying and modeling constraints to ensure a
constraint-free work plan. More specifically, the following research
questions need to be addressed:
1. What are the typical constraints found in various construction
projects?
2. How to classify these constrains for easier identification and
modeling?
3. What are the current industry practice as well as research
advancements in modeling and resolving constraints?
How to unify the constrai nt classificatio n knowled ge and various constrai nt
modeling efforts into a framework for total constraint management?
Objectives provide a list of goals

3. Objectives
The long term goal of the research is to develop a formalized
that
will be achieved throu gh the
proposed
constrain t management system. Constrain t management is defined herein as
research What are the
the process of identify in g, classifyi ng, modeling , and resolv ing constrain ts.
benefits/impact (e.g. better

understan d ing , impro ved
The objecti ve of the current study is to provi de a comprehensi ve review of
producti vit y
literatu res and industry practices in relatio n to constraint analysis and
) that will be generated if the
outline a concept ual framew ork for constrai nt managemen t. Particularly, the
research problem is answered?
study has the following sub-objectives:

1. To provide a comprehensive review of sources and characteristics
of constraints typically found in construction projects;
2. To develop a constraint classification method for easier constraint
identification and modeling;
3. To review current industry practices and researches in regards to
constraint modeling;
4. To outline a concep tual framew ork for total constraint managemen t.
The result of this study will be valuable to the industry practitio ners as well
as related software providers in developing better practice and tools for
constraint management and look-ahead scheduling.
Prelimi nary literature review :

4. Preliminary Literature Review
provide
A preliminary literature review shows that past studies are primarily
a summary of previous related

research on the research problem
focused on understand ing and modeling a particular type of constrain t, such
and
as technolo g ical, contractual, resource, spatial, and informatio n constraints.
their strength and weakness and a

justification of your research -
Limited progress has been made on classifying various constraints
What
according to their characteristics in a comprehensive manner. In terms of
is known/what have been done by
modeling and resolving constraints, various approaches have been
others? And, why your research is
recommend ed. For example, many CPM-b ased metho ds are applied to deal
still necessary?
with time-related constraints; knowledge-based systems were used to

automate work plan generation; network-based optimization algorithms
were developed to resolve constraints; and databases and visualization
techniques, such as 3D, 4D, and Virtual Reality (VR), are used to
communicate and visualize constraints. What is missing from the past
studies is a comprehensive and structured approach in managin g constrain ts
in construction projects.
Research methodology defines

5. Methodology
the
The primary research method for this study is literature review and
research methods and logic steps -
concep tu al modeli ng . Constraint identificatio n and classificat ion throu gh a
What to do and how to solve the
structured approach is the very first step toward a zero-constraint
problem and achieve proposed

objectives? Which research
environment. This study will first review various types of constraints in
methods
(e.g. survey, modelin g, case study
construction and their characteristics. Based on this understanding, a
classificat ion metho d will be developed to catego rize constrai nt factors for
will be used? Attach a project
the purpose of constraint identificati on and model ing. In the second stage of
schedule table, if necessary.
this study , existin g constrain t modeli ng metho ds will be identified based on

a comprehensive review of current industry practices and academic
researches. Finally, once the constraint classification and modeling
techniques are identified, a conceptual framework for total constraint
management will be outlined. This study will be conducted between
September 2010 and May 2011.
All factual material that is not
References
origin al
with you must be accompanied by
a
Ballard, G. (2000 ). Last planner system of producti on control. Ph.D.

Dissertation. Univ. of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
Chua, D. and Shen, L.
J. (2001). Constraint modeling and buffer
managemen t with integrated product ion scheduler. Proceedi ngs of

Intern ati on al Conferen ces on Lean Constru ction 2001 , Singap ore.
Hinze, J. W. (2008). Construction planning and scheduling, 3rd ed.
Pearson, NJ.
reference to its source. Please use

ASCE guideline on reference and
citation style.
Sriprasert, E. and Dawoo d, N (2002). Requ iremen ts identificatio n for 4D

constraint-based
construction
planning
and control system.
Proceedings of CIB W78 conference distributing knowledge in

building, Aarhus, Danmark.
Sri Lanka Society for Medical Laboratory Science (SLSMLS)

slsmls.org / [email protected]

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A Sample Research Proposal with Comments

Sample proposal text

environment and sets of technical requirements. As a result, the execution

of a construction project is subject to numerous constraints that limit the

commencemen t or progressi on of field operati on s, which invariab ly have

motivation of research, and how

important is it for the industry

constraints refer to any condition, such as temporal/spatial limitations and

safety/quality concerns, which may prevent a project to achieve its goals.

Problem statement provides a clear

The importance of developing a constraint-free and reliable work

plan has long been recognized by the industry. However, numerous

that need to be addressed - What is

can frequen tly be traced to ineffective identi ficati on and treatmen t of

constraints. First, when a constraint is not properly identified during

understanding of a subject, low

are becoming more and more technically complex and logistically

Objectives provide a list of goals

research What are the

benefits/impact (e.g. better

The objecti ve of the current study is to provi de a comprehensi ve review of

literatu res and industry practices in relatio n to constraint analysis and

) that will be generated if the

research problem is answered?

study has the following sub-objectives:

Prelimi nary literature review :

A preliminary literature review shows that past studies are primarily

a summary of previous related

focused on understand ing and modeling a particular type of constrain t, such

as technolo g ical, contractual, resource, spatial, and informatio n constraints.

their strength and weakness and a

Limited progress has been made on classifying various constraints

according to their characteristics in a comprehensive manner. In terms of

is known/what have been done by

modeling and resolving constraints, various approaches have been

others? And, why your research is

with time-related constraints; knowledge-based systems were used to

Research methodology defines

research methods and logic steps -

concep tu al modeli ng . Constraint identificatio n and classificat ion throu gh a

What to do and how to solve the

structured approach is the very first step toward a zero-constraint

problem and achieve proposed

environment. This study will first review various types of constraints in

construction and their characteristics. Based on this understanding, a

will be used? Attach a project

schedule table, if necessary.

this study , existin g constrain t modeli ng metho ds will be identified based on

Ballard, G. (2000 ). Last planner system of producti on control. Ph.D.

J. (2001). Constraint modeling and buffer

managemen t with integrated product ion scheduler. Proceedi ngs of

reference to its source. Please use

Sriprasert, E. and Dawoo d, N (2002). Requ iremen ts identificatio n for 4D

and control system.

Proceedings of CIB W78 conference distributing knowledge in

Sri Lanka Society for Medical Laboratory Science (SLSMLS)

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