Unit-3: The Research Proposal

• Introduction
• Types of Research Proposal
• Sections of a Research Proposal
• Sources of Research Funding
• Evaluating the Research Proposal

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 The Research Proposal
What is research proposal?
 A written statement of the research design that
includes a statement explaining the purpose of
the study.
 Detailed outline of procedures associated with a
particular research methodology.
 It includes information on cost and deadlines.

 The proposal must communicate exactly what

information, how and where it will be obtained
through the study. Questionnaires and other
supporting documents should be attached for
reference.
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 The Research Proposal
• A research proposal is intended to convince others
that you have a worthwhile research project and that
you have the competence and the work-plan to
complete it.
• Generally, a research proposal should contain all the
key elements involved in the research process and
include sufficient information for the readers to
evaluate the proposed study.
• Regardless of your research area and the methodology
you choose, all research proposals must address the
following questions: What you plan to accomplish, why
you want to do it and how you are going to do it.

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 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

• A specific structure of the business research

proposal depends on the institutional and
organizational requirements and may vary
from institutions to institutions.
• However, the variability does not usually
affect the basic structural model, which
includes six major components:

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 The Structure of Business Research
Proposal:
Though the exact format of the proposal is variable,
most research proposals contain the following.

A. Title of the research

B. Background to the study
C. Statement of the problem
D. Objectives of the study
E. Hypothesis
F. Significance of the study
G. Literature review/Theoretical framework
H. Methodology
I. References
J. A budget break down
K. Plan of action or work plan

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 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:
• The Title: The title of the business research proposal is informative
and concise. It gives the readers enough information to attract their
attention and to trigger their curiosity.
• The background of study/Introduction:
A research proposal should provide relevant
background for the proposed study. Specifically, the
proposal should precisely define the problem at hand.
This section should be used to put the work into
context, what has been done before, and how will the
proposed work adds to it. The introduction situates the
research subject within a larger business context. The introduction
section identifies the problem that needs to be resolved as a result
of the research and outlines the proposed activities and describes
the expected outcomes.

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 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

Statement of the problem:

 A clear, concise statement of the problem to be
solved by the proposed research, usually in few
sentences.
 The problem provides the context for the
research study and typically generates
questions which the research hopes to answer.
The problem statement should “hook”
(attracts) the reader and establish a persuasive
context for what follows. The problem
statement should close with question.

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 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

Objectives of the study:

• Statement(s) identifying the purpose of the
research. The objective(s) should be phrased
in positive terms (e.g., to develop, to
determine, to measure, rather than broad
generalities, such as, to investigate, to study)

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 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

Hypothesis:
• is proposed explanation on observable
phenomenon. A hypothesis is a logical supposition,
a reasonable guess and educated conjecture. It
provides a tentative explanation for a phenomenon
under investigation. A useful hypothesis is testable
statement which may include a prediction.
• States on expected relationships or difference
between two variables.
• A good hypothesis is stated clearly and concisely,
express the relationship between two variables and
defines those variables in measurable form
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 The Structure of Business Research
Proposal:
Significance of the study:
• It briefly includes the findings of the literature search (also
known as literature review) related to the research to be
conducted.
• There should be well justification for conducting and
choosing your topic and research problem in such a way
that either there has been no other research on the
problem with the same approach or that the proposed
research project will extend, modify or refine prior
research.
• Thus the proposed research should be related to past
research accomplishments and how it builds upon rather
than duplicating any previous research.

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 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

Literature Review
• The review of related literature should provide
an overview of the topic and present references
related to what is known about the topic.
• The literature sets a context for the topic and
identifies prior research that can support the
significance of the study. The literature review
also provides a basis of identifying hypothesis.
• Literature review provides justification for the
future research as well as for the effort that the
writer has already contributed to studying the
subject area

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 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

• The goal of the Literature review is to demonstrate that the

researcher has extensive knowledge of the field and of the
specific problem; and that s/he has studied both the works
of recognized authorities and the new trends in the theory.
Moreover, the writer should be an experienced practician
capable of applying theory to real-life contexts. However,
more importantly, the Literature review has to prove that
there is a gap in either theory or business practice; the
proposed research will eliminate this gap.
• Sometimes the literature review is incorporated into the
introduction section. However, most of the time a separate
section is preferred, which allows a more thorough review
of the literature.

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 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

Importance of Literature Review 

• Gives credits to those who have laid the groundwork for your research.
• Demonstrates your knowledge of the research problem.
• Demonstrates your understanding of the theoretical and research issues
related to your research question.
• Shows your ability to critically evaluate relevant literature information.
• Indicates your ability to integrate and synthesize the existing literature.
• Provides new theoretical insights or develops a new model as the
conceptual framework for your research.
• Convinces your reader that your proposed research will make a significant
and substantial contribution to the literature (i.e., resolving an important
theoretical issue or filling a major gap in the literature).

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 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

Most of the time literature reviews suffer from the

following problems:
• Lacking organization and structure
• Lacking focus, unity and coherence
• Being repetitive and verbose
• Failing to cite influential papers
• Failing to keep up with recent developments
• Failing to critically evaluate cited papers
• Citing irrelevant or trivial references
• Depending too much on secondary sources
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 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

Research Methods
• The methods section is an outline of all the activities that the researcher
is planning to perform in the pursuit of his/her research goals.
• The methods section includes a descriptions of the research participants,
measuring instruments, procedures and data analysis.
• The key to a successful research is to identify appropriate data collection
techniques, to gather relevant and usable data. Surveys, face-to-face
interviews, focus groups are the three methods of collecting primary data.
• Secondary data can be gathered from annual and market reports,
financial and legal documentation, organizational structure-charts,
executive publications and speeches, and so on. The focus of this section
is on the details: the timeframe for each activity, the list of participants,
the scripts for the interviews, the materials, and so on. The more detailed
is the description of the methods of the data collection and analysis the
more thoughtful the research sounds to the reader

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 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

The method section typically consists of the following

sections:
• Design -Is it a questionnaire study or a laboratory
experiment? What kinds of design do you choose?
• Subjects or participants - Who will take part in your
study? What kind of sampling procedure do you use?
• Instruments - What kind of measuring instruments or
questionnaires do you use? Why do you choose them?
Are they valid and reliable?
• Procedure - How do you plan to carry out your study?
What activities are involved? How long does it take?
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 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

In short the methods section should clearly outlines-

• What will be the research methodology e.g. survey or secondary
data analysis or observation?
• Who are the population for the study?
• What would be sample size?
• How this sample would be selected – applying probability or non-
probability method?
• What instrument would be used to collect data or how the data
would be collected from the sample?
• How the data would be analyzed? What statistical tool would be
used to analyze and interpret data? (Proposed method of data
analysis).
• Research Period Provide detail work plan mentioning the activities
and time schedule in a bar chart. For example: Gantt Chart

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 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

• References
• Research Period or Work Plan: Provide detail
work plan mentioning the activities and time
schedule. Preferably in Gantt Chart
• Budget

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 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

S.No Phase name Period

1 Topic identification Sept 01– October 01/2010
2 Literature review October 05—December 05/2010
3 Development of instruments December 10– January 10/2011
4 Data Collection January 15– May 15/2011
5 Data Analysis May 20– July 20/2011
6 Report writing July 22– September 01/2011

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 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

Financial plan/Cost of Research

 Remuneration / fees for employed research associates / assistants
(where applicable).
 Cost for support services (field workers, laborers, conveyance etc.).
 Cost of consumable materials with break up.
 Construction of pilot study with break up (if necessary).
 Cost of experimental work (if necessary).
 Cost of report preparation, binding etc.
 Others
Bibliography: Bibliography will contain all research materials including
books, magazines, Periodicals, websites, and scientific papers which
you have referred.

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 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

Common Mistakes in Proposal Writing

• Failure to provide the proper context to frame the research question.
• Failure to delimit the boundary conditions for your research.
• Failure to cite landmark studies.
• Failure to accurately present the theoretical and empirical contributions
by other researchers.
• Failure to stay focused on the research question.
• Failure to develop a coherent and persuasive argument for the proposed
research.
• Too much detail on minor issues, but not enough detail on major issues.
• Too much rambling — going "all over the map" without a clear sense of
direction. (The best proposals move forward with ease and grace like a
seamless river.)
• Too many citation lapses and incorrect references.
• Too long or too short.
• Failing to follow the appropriate referencing style (APA or Harvard style.

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 The Structure of Business Research Proposal:

Guideline for Technical evaluation of Research proposal

• Appropriateness and clarity of conceptual/theoretical
framework
• Logical relationship between the conceptual/theoretical
framework and the problem of the study.
• clarity and adequacy of research method
• Realistic work Plan/Activities
• itemized financial breakdown of the total project cost.

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 Assignment-I
• Identify feasible research topic and develop
Research Proposal based on the outline
discussed in this unit.
( Date of Submission May 25/2012 E.C
(Date of presentation to be scheduled)

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