RESEARCH PROPOSAL STRUCTURE

1. Abstract/ Executive Summary

a. This is the place to provide an overview and ‘road map” not just of the study itself, but also
of the argument (the logic behind the proposed research) of your proposal.

2. Introduction:

a. It indicates the importance and urgency of the project. This section usually consists of four
sub-sections:
i. Introduction: the proposal should start with the introductory statement about the broad
concept upon which the proposal is based. It needs to be concise, but adequate in
leading to the problem statement.
ii. Needs: it should be relatively brief but should indicate why the project is important
and to whom it is important.
iii. Rationale: it should include the proposals guiding philosophy; however the
proposed project will help to fill a gap in existing knowledge or will solve some
urgent problems. The proposed study builds expands or highlights areas that have
been previously neglected or approached inadequately.
iv. Purpose: it needs to point to the overall goal of the proposed project.
3. Conceptual framework:
This is often called “Preliminary literature review”. This section has two key functions:
1. It needs to show your proposed research fits into what is already known (its relationship to
existing theory and research) and how it makes a contribution to our understanding of your
topic (its intellectual goals)
2. It needs to explain the theoretical framework that informs your study.
Insofar as your personal experience and knowledge form an important part of your conceptual framework.

4. Research questions:
The statement of research questions is central to your proposal. It should clarify two key questions:
● How your questions relate to prior research and theory, to your own experience and
exploratory research, and to your goals.
● How these questions form a coherent whole, rather than being a random collection of queries
about your topic. Generally a small number of clearly focused questions is far better than a
large number of questions that attempt to “cover the water front” on your topic.
5. Research Propositions/ Hypothesis
A hypothesis is formulated after the problem has been stated and the literature study has been concluded.
It is formulated when the researcher is totally aware of the theoretical and empirical background to the
problem.
A hypothesis is a preliminary or tentative explanation or postulate by the researcher of what the researcher
considers the outcome of an investigation will be. It is an informed/educated guess.
It indicates the expectations of the researcher regarding certain variables. It is the most specific way in
which an answer to a problem can be stated.

6. Research methods:
You do need to explain and justify the particular methodological decisions you have made; for every
decision, it should be clear why this is a reasonable choice. The method section normally has several parts:
● Research design in the typological sense. what kind of a study is this. this is not always necessary in
qualitative study, but it sometimes be helpful to describe and justify the overall approach..
● Site and participant selection. It is important to describe and explain why you have decided to study
these particular settings.
● Data collection. here you need to explain that how you will get the information you need to answer
your research questions. this include the kind of interviews, observations, or other methods you plan
to use, how you will conduct these, and why you have chosen these methods. for both selection and
data collection practical considerations are often important.
 ● Data analysis. data will be analyzed through analytical techniques and be clear about how these
analyses will enable you to answer your research questions.

7. Preliminary results:
Here you can discuss what you have learned so far about the practicality of your methods or tentative
answers to your research questions. this is valuable in justifying the feasibility of your study and clarifying
our methods, and data analyses strategies.

8. Conclusion:
Remind your readers of the goals of the study and what it will contribute, and discuss its potential relvance
and implications for the broader fields that situated in.

9. References:
Detail of reference actually cited.