Research Proposal

Introduction
 The introduction leads the reader from a general subject area to a
particular field of research. It establishes the context and
significance of the research being conducted by summarizing
current understanding and background information about the
topic, stating the purpose of the work in the form of the research
problem supported by a hypothesis or a set of questions, briefly
explaining the methodological approach used to examine the
research problem, highlighting the potential outcomes your study
can reveal, and outlining the remaining structure of the paper.
Introduction
 The introduction is the broad beginning of the paper that answers
three important questions for the reader:
 What is this?
 Why should I read it?
 What do you want me to think about / consider doing / react to?
 Introduction
Introduction is divided into 7 sections:
 Background of the study
 Problem Statement
 Research Objective
 Research Question
 Significance of the study
 Limitations and Delimitations
 Organization of the study
 Background of the study
 Background information expands upon the key points stated in the beginning of
your introduction but is not intended to be the main focus of the paper.
 Providing background information in the Introduction of a research paper serves as
a bridge that links the reader to the topic of your study.
 But precisely how long and in-depth this bridge should be is largely dependent
upon how much information you think the reader will need to know in order to fully
understand the topic being discussed and to appreciate why the issues you are
investigating are important.
 Background information identifies and describes the history and nature of a well-
defined research problem with reference to the existing literature.
 The background information should indicate the root of the problem being
studied, appropriate context of the problem in relation to theory, research,
and/or practice, its scope, and the extent to which previous studies have
successfully investigated the problem, noting, in particular, where gaps
exist that your study attempts to address.
 Background information can also include summaries of important, relevant
research studies.
 Research studies cited as part of the background information of your
introduction should not include very specific, lengthy explanations
 How to write Background of the Study
 The background study for a report includes:
 A general overview of the topic and introduce the pivoting ideas.
 Then you provide detailed, precise information about the dependent and the
independent variables.
To avoid plagiarism, cite your sources and resources
 Things to be taken care of:
 Is the research study unusual in a way that requires additional explanation, such
as,
1. your study uses a method of analysis never applied before;
2. your study investigates a very esoteric or complex research problem;
 Problem Statement
 A Problem Statement is the description of an issue currently exists which need
to be addressed. It provides the context for the research study and generates the
questions which the research aim to answer.
 This should include
 (a) a clear statement that the problem exists,
 (b) evidence that supports the existence of the problem,
 (c) evidence of an existing trend that has led to the problem,
 (d) a clear description of the setting,
 (e) probable causes related to the problem, and
 (f) a specific and feasible statement.


Why the Research Problem is Important

 It establishes the importance of the topic.

 It creates reader interest.
 It focuses the reader’s attention on how the study will add to the
literature.
Write a Problem Statement

 What?
 Why
 How
Determining Whether a Problem Should Be
Researched
 Will your study fill a gap or void in the existing literature?
 Will your study replicate a past study but examine different
participants and different research sites?
 Will your study extend past research or examine the topic more
thoroughly?
 Will your study give voice to people not heard, silenced, or rejected
in society?
 Will your study inform practice?
 How Research Problem can be Identified?
 The selection of a research problem can be derived from a thorough review of
literature.
 This may reveal where gaps exist in understanding a topic or where an issue has
been understudied.
 Also, authors frequently conclude their studies by noting implications for further
research; read the conclusion of pertinent studies because statements about further
research can be a valuable source for identifying new problems to investigate.
 The fact that a researcher has identified a topic worthy of further exploration
validates the fact it is worth pursuing.
 What Makes a Good Problem Statement?
 A good problem statement begins by introducing the broad area in which your
research is centered, gradually leading the reader to the more specific issues you
are investigating.
 In short It is important that the research problem that guides your study is not too
broad.
 A good research problem should incorporate the following features:
1. Compelling Topic
 Simple curiosity is not a good enough reason to pursue a research study because
it does not indicate significance.
 The problem that you choose to explore must be important to you, your readers,
and to a the larger academic and/or social community that could be impacted by
the results of your study.
 The problem chosen must be one that motivates you to address it.
 What Makes a Good Problem Statement?
2.Supports Multiple Perspectives
The problem must be phrased in a way that avoids dichotomies and instead supports the
generation and exploration of multiple perspectives.
3. Researchability
Do not try to investigate a complex research project which does not have enough prior
research.
There's nothing inherently wrong with original research, but you must
choose research problems that can be supported, in some way, by the resources
available to you.
 Research objective/Question
 After analyzing the problem, objective must be set.
 Research objective should be specific.
 It should reflect the purpose of the study.
 For example:
 To determine the impact of “A” on “B”
 Research Objective is then followed by research question.
 Research questions should be according to the problem and research objective.
 In general, however, there should be no more than four research questions
underpinning a single research problem.
 Research questions must begin with ‘WH’ words.
 Significance of the study
 Who will be benefitted by this study?
• Other researchers
• Practitioners
• Policy makers
• Special populations (e.g., parents)
 Which area or domain will be most benefitted by this study?
 Generalizability in regards to applicability and bringing results into general use.
 Contribution to the study.
 Limitations
 Limitations are influences that the researcher cannot control.
 They are the shortcomings, conditions or influences that cannot be controlled by
the researcher that place restrictions on your methodology and conclusions.
 Any limitations that might influence the results should be mentioned.
 Time constraints and lack of resources are not discussed.
Methodological Limitations Possible Limitations of the Researcher
 Sample size  Access
 Lack of available and/or  Cultural and other type of bias
reliable data  Fluency in a language
 Measure used to collect the
data
Delimitations
 Delimitations are choices made by the researcher which should be
mentioned. They describe the boundaries that you have set for the study.
 Delimitations refer to those characteristics that limit the scope and define the
conceptual boundaries of your research
 This is the place to explain:
• the literature you will not review (and why not).
• the population you are not studying (and why not).
• the methodological procedures you will not use (and why you will not use
them).
Organization of the Study

 The rest of the paper is as follows. Literature review is reported in

section 2. Section 3 discusses the methodology. Section 4 explains
the results and its discussion and conclusion, policy implications
and limitations of the study are described in section 5.