Our Research Proposal

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)

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

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

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?

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

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

Schedule

• Include the major phases of the project

• exploratory studies, data analysis, report generation

• Critical Path Method (CPM) of scheduling may help

Deliverables

• Measurement instruments

• Algorithms

• Computer programs / prototypes

• Comparative evaluation

• Other technical reports

Budget and Resources

• Access to special systems or computers

• specialized computer algorithms

• Itemized Budget

• Budget Narrative

• This part is usually an appendix.

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

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)

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

Weaknesses in Research Proposals

• Research Problem–unfocused

–unimportant (done before!)

–more complex

–limited relevance

Weaknesses in Research Proposals

• Research Design–so vague it prevents evaluation–inappropriate or impossible data–procedures inappropriate for

problem–lacking controls

A Sample Research Proposal

• Read (and study) the sample proposal, pages 129-132, 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)

Guide to Writing the Research Proposal

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

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?

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

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

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)

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.

Data Analysis

Data Analysis is essentially a four step process1. Identify precisely what will be evaluated. If you wrote measurable

objectives, you already know.

2. 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.

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.

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

Additional Considerations

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

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

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

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

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

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 …

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

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

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 …

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

Quotation

Text from another sourceIf short – enclosed in double quotesIf long – set aside in an indented blockLong 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

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

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