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Proposal development and
research design
What is a research proposal?
• A research proposal is a document
written by a researcher that provides a
detailed description of the proposed
program.
• It is like an outline of the entire research
process that gives a reader a summary of
the information discussed in a project.
The purpose of the proposal
• All research proposals must address the
following questions:
1. What you plan to accomplish
2. Why you want to do it
3. How you are going to do it.
Criteria of a good research
proposal
• The quality of the research proposal
depends not only on the quality of your
proposed project, but also on the quality of
your proposal writing
Criteria of a good research
proposal
• A good research proposal is
based on scientific facts and on
the art of clear communication
• A PhD proposal must make an
original contribution to
knowledge in a particular field
Criteria of a good research
proposal
• Avoid plagiarism
Plagiarism is presenting
someone else’s ideas or
words as though they were
your own.
• Paraphrase and quote
If you use a direct quotation from an original
source, give the author(s) credit for
her/his/their words as follows. Include the
page number(s) of the quotation to enable
your readers to find it.
“Cognitive therapy is more effective than
psychoanalysis in the treatments of phobias”
(Jones & Smith, 2002, p. 44).
If you paraphrase from a source (i.e., translate it into your
own words), give the author(s) credit for their ideas as
follows.
Phobias can be treated more successfully by cognitive
therapy than psychoanalysis (Jones & Smith, 2002).
OR
According to Jones and Smith (2002), phobias
can be treated more successfully by cognitive
therapy than psychoanalysis.
The structure of the research
proposal
• Title or the cover page
• Table of contents
• Abstract
• Background
• Research question/ Aim
• Research methods or Methodology
• Timetable/ Plan
• References
Background
• Why is your study important?
• Describe the significance of the
research question or problem
• Answer the “so what?” question
Literature review
• What is the state of the science/art on this
problem? Are there gaps in the literature?
How will your study fill those gaps?
– Synthesize recent literature (within the past 5
years)
Purpose
• Identify simply what you plan to do in your study
• The purpose can be framed as a research question
or an aim
Materials and Methods
• This section of your proposal has
multiple parts
– Design
– Sample/Sample size
– Setting
– Protocol
– Analysis Plan
• Detailed enough so that the
reviewers could conduct the
study
Data Analysis
• Describe your analysis plan
– What statistical tests will you use?
– Be sure your statistics are appropriate for your
study design
APA-Style References
in the Reference Section
of Your Paper
What questions are answered
in an APA-style reference that
will enable a reader to perform
a successful search?
• Who wrote this document?
• When was it written?
• What was its title?
• Where was it published?
• Who published it?
References
• http://www.ais.up.ac.za/health/blocks/block2/researchproposal.pdf
•
http://www.ed.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.58205!/fileManager/HowToWriteProposal.pdf
•
https://weisenfeldj.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/module-6-paraphrasing-vsplagiarism/