This document outlines the contents that should be included in a research proposal. It discusses including an introduction section that provides background on the topic and identifies gaps in existing research. The problem statement should specify the research questions and rationale for the study. Objectives and hypotheses (if applicable) should be clearly stated. The study design, setting, measurement procedures, ethical considerations, sampling approach, and data analysis plan are also important to explain. The proposal provides guidance on how to structure each of these sections to obtain necessary approval and feedback before beginning a research project.

1. Business Research Methods
(BRM )
Chapter # 9
Writing a research proposal
Lecturer: Noorullah Nabizai

2. Chapter Outline:
• The Research Proposal
• Contents of a Research Proposal
• Introduction
• The Problem
• Objectives of the Study
• Hypothesis to be Tested
• Study Design
• The Setting
• Measurement Procedures
• Ethical Issues
• Sampling
• Analysis of the Data
• Structure of the Report
• Work Schedule
• The Structure of Research Report
• The Witten report
• The purpose of the written report
• The audience for the written report
• Characteristics of a well-written report
• Contents of the research report
• Integral parts of the report
• The title page
• The executive summary or abstract
• Table of content
• List of tables figures and other material
• Preface
• The authorization letter
• The introductory section
• The body of report
• The final part of the report
• Reference
• Appendix

3. • The research proposal
• A research proposal is an overall plan, scheme, structure and strategy
designed to obtain answers to the research questions or problems
that constitute your research project.
• A research proposal should outline the various tasks you plan to
undertake to fulfill your research objectives, test or obtain answers to
your research project. It should also state your reasons for
undertaking the study. So broadly a research proposal’s main function
is to detail the operational plan for obtaining answers to your
research questions.

4. • A research supervisor, reviewers the following information about your
study:
• What you are proposing to do;
• How you plan to proceed;
• Why you selected to proposed strategy;

5. • Contents of a research proposal
• A research proposal should contain the following information about your study:
• i. An introduction, including a brief literature review;
• ii. Theoretical framework that underpins (highlights) your study;
• iii. Conceptual framework which constitutes the basis of your study;
• iv. Objective or research questions of your study;
• v. Hypothesis to be tested, if applicable;
• vi. Study design that you are proposing to adopt;
• vii. Setting for your study;
• viii. Research instruments you are planning to use;
• ix. Sampling design and sample size;
• x. Ethical issues involved and how you propose to deal with them;
• xi. Data processing procedures;
• xii. Proposed chapters of the report;
• xiii. Problems and limitations of the study;
• xvi. Proposed time frame for the project;

6. • Introduction
• The proposal should start with an introduction to include some of the information listed
below. Remember some of the contents suggested in this section may not be relevant to
certain studies; in writing this section, the literature review is of central importance. The
following information will be discussed in this section:
• An overview of the main area under study;
• A historical perspective pertinent to the study area;
• Philosophical or ideological issues relating to the topic;
• Major theories, if any;
• The main issues, problems in the subject area under study;
• Important theoretical and practical issues relating to central problem under study;
• The main findings relating to the core issue(s)

7. • Example
• Suppose that you are conducting a study to investigate the impact of
immigration on the family. The introduction should include a brief
description of the following:
• The origins of migratory movements in the world.
• General theories developed to explain migratory behavior.
• The reasons for migration.
• The current trends in migration (national and state).
• The impact of migration on family on family roles and relationship (e.g. on
husband and wife, on children and parents etc.).
• Occupational mobility.

8. • The problem
• Having provided a broad introduction to the area under study, now focus on issues relating to its
central theme, identifying some of the gaps in the existing body of knowledge. Identify some of
the main unanswered questions. Here some of the main research questions that you would like to
answer through your study should also be raised, and a rational for each should be provided. This
section should:
• Identify the issues that are the basis of your study;
• Specify the various aspects/perspectives on these issues;
• Identify the gaps in the existing body of knowledge;
• Raise some of the main research questions that you want to answer through your study;
• Identify what knowledge is available concerning your questions, specifying the differences of
opinion in the literature regarding these questions if differences exist;
• Develop a rationale for your study with particular reference to how your study will fill the
identified gaps.
•

9. • Example
• What settlement process does a family go through after immigration?
• What adjustments do immigrants have to make?
• What types of change can occur in family member’s attitude?
• What is the possible impact of settlement on family roles and relationships?
• In terms of impact, what specific questions do you want to answer through the
study? What does the literature say about these questions? What are the
different viewpoints on these issues? What are your own ideas about these
questions?
• What do you think is the relevance of the findings of your study to the existing
body of knowledge and to your profession?
• How will the findings add to the body of knowledge and be useful to profession in
your field?

10. • Objectives of the study
• In this section include a statement of both your study’s main and sub objectives, your main
objective indicates the central thrust of your study whereas the sub objectives identify the
specific issues you propose to examine.
• The objectives of the study should be clearly stated and specific in nature.
•
• Main objective: To ascertain the impact of immigration on the family.
• Sub objectives:
• To determine the impact of immigration on husband/wife roles as perceived by immigrants.
• To find out the impact of immigration on marital relations.
• To ascertain perceived changes in parental expectations of children’s academic and professional
achievement.
• To determine perceived changes of attitude towards marriage in the study population.

11. • Hypothesis to be tested
• A hypothesis is a statement of your assumptions about the prevalence of a
phenomenon or about a relationship between two variables between two
variables that you plan to test within the framework of the study. If you are
going to test hypothesis, list them in this section.
• Example
• H1= in most cases there will be a change in husband/wife roles after
• immigration.
• H2= in a majority of cases there will be a change in parents, expectations
• of their children.
• Hi= etc.

12. Study design
• Describe the study design you plan to use to answer your research questions. (For example, say
weather it is a case study, descriptive, cross-sectional, before-and-after, experimental or non-
experimental design). Identify the strength and weaknesses of your study design.
• Your study design should include the information about the following:
• Who makes up the study population?
• Can each element of study population be identified? If yes, how?
• Will a sample or total population be studied?
• How will you get in touch with the selected sample?
• How well the data be collected (by questionnaire, interview or observation).
• In case of mailed questionnaire, to what address should the questionnaire be returned?
• Are you planning to send a reminder regarding the return of questionnaires?
• How well the confidentiality be preserved?
• How and where can the respondents contact you if they have queries?

13. The setting
• Briefly describe the organization, agency, or community in which you will conduct your study. If
the study is about a group of people, highlight some of the salient features of the group (e.g. its
history, size, composition and structure) and draw attention to any available relevant information.
• If your research concerns an agency, office or organization, include the following in your
description:
• The main services provided by the agency, office or organization;
• Its administrative structure;
• The types of clients served;
• Information about the issues that are central to your research.
• If you are studying a community, briefly describe some of the main features, such as:
• The size of the community;
• A brief social profile of the community (i.e. the composition of various groups within it);
• Issues of relevance to the central theme of the study.

14. • Measurement procedures
• This section should contain a discussion of your instrument. To start
with justify your choice of research tool, highlighting its strength and
pointing out its weaknesses. Then outline the major segments of your
research tool and its relevance to the main objectives of the study. If
you are using a standard instrument, briefly discuss the availability of
evidence on its reliability and validity. If you adapt or modify it in any
way, describe and explain the changes you made.

15. • Ethical Issues
• All academic institutions are particular about any ethical issues that
research may have. To deal with them, all institutions have some form
of policy on ethics. You need to be acquainted (aware) with your
institution’s policy. It is imperative that you identify any ethical issues,
and describer how you propose to deal with them in your proposal.
• You need to look at the ethical issues particularly from the viewpoint
of your respondents, and in case of any potential ‘harm’ you need to
detail the mechanism in place to deal with it.

16. • Sampling
• Under this section of the proposal include the following:
• The size of sampling population, and from where and how this
information will be obtained;
• The size of the sample you are planning to select, and your reasons
for choosing the size;
• An explanation of the sampling design you are planning to use in the
selection of the sample.

17. • Analysis of the data
• In general terms describe the strategy you intend to use for data
analysis. Specify whether the data will be analyzed manually or by
computer. For computer analysis, identify the program and the
statistical procedure you plan to perform on the data. Also identify
the main variables for cross tabulation.

18. • Example
• Frequency distribution in terms of
• Age
• Education
• Occupation
• Number of children
• Duration of immigration
• Etc.
• Cross-tabulation:
• Impact of husband/wife roles
• Age
• Number of children
• Education
• Occupation
• Etc.

19. • Structure of the report
• As clearly as possible, state how you intend to organize the final
report. In organizing your material for the report, the specific
objectives of your study are of immense help. Plan to develop your
chapters around the main themes of your study. The title of each
chapter should clearly communicate the main thrust of its contents.

20. • Example
• It is proposed that report will be divided into the following chapters.
•
• Chapter 1: Introduction
• Chapter 2: The socioeconomic-demographic characteristics of the study
• population
• Chapter 3: The impact on husband/wife roles
• Chapter 4: The impact on marital relations
• Chapter 5: The impact on expectations of children
• Chapter 6: The impact on attitudes towards marriage
• Chapter 7: Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations

21. • Work schedule
• The time for the completion of the research?
• The Structure of Research Report
• The written/prepared report can also be prepared in the following manner.
•
• A. The Witten report
• 1. The purpose of the written report
• 2. The audience for the written report
• 3. Characteristics of a well-written report
• (clarity, conciseness, smooth transition of information).
• 4. Contents of the research report

22. • Integral parts of the report
• 5. The title page
• It permits potential reader to obtain a first idea of your study and to
decide whether they want to read your report in its entirety.
• A descriptive title may inform potential readers about the contents of
the research, the methods that was used, the result of the research
report etc.

23. • The executive summary or abstract
• It comes after title page. It is a brief account of the entire
research study. It provide an overview of the important information,
the problem statement, sampling design, data collection methods
used, result of data analysis, conclusions, and recommendations with
suggestion for their implementation.
• It is the first probably the first part of your research report that is read
by the sponsors of your study, and will get an initial idea about your
study.

24. • Table of content
• It serves as a guide through your research report. The table of
contents usually lists the important headings and subheadings in the
report with page references.
• A separate list of tables and figures should also be listed in the table of
contents.
• 8. List of tables, figures and other material
• If the research report contains charts, figures, maps, tables, photographs
each series of these should be listed separately after the page of table of
contents. It should be given at the left hand margin of the page under the
appropriate column heading entitled “Charts”, “Figures”, “Maps”.
• It should be numbered according to their chapter and position in the
chapter. Like Figure 2.10 is the tenth figure in chapter two.

25. • Preface
• It includes like why the report has been written, reason for the selection of the
subject, difficulties encountered along the way, etc.
• It is customary to include a brief expression of the author’s appreciation of
help and guidance received in the research. Note that the preface is not the same
as an introduction, which is a part of the main body of the research report.
•
• 10. The authorization letter
• A copy of the letter of authorization from the supervisor /sponsor of the study
approving in the investigation and detailing its scope is sometimes attached at
the beginning of the research report.
• The authorization letter makes clear to the reader that the goals of the study
have the full blessing of the supervisor/ sponsor/ organization.

26. • The introductory section
• It starts with a short introduction providing background information
on why and how the study was initiated followed by the purpose of
the research project, and a section providing the statement of the
problem under investigation.
• It also provide the scope of the study, the research method and
managerial relevance of the study. Its last section provides an
overview of the structure and division of chapter in the research
report.
•

27. The body of report
• The central part of a research report usually has two large
sections: a theoretical part and an empirical part.
• The theoretical part contains an in-depth exploration and a
clear explication of the relevant literature.
• A literature review is more than just a summary of the literature. The
literature review can be concluded with a number of hypotheses,
which will be tested in the empirical (experimental) part of your
study. In case of experiments, the empirical part should therefore at-
the very least contain the components “participants, material and
methods”.

28. • The final part of the report
• The aim of this part of the research report is to interpret the results of
the research with regard to the research questions. It should includes
• i. The main findings of your research.
• ii. The implications of these findings regarding question.
• iii. Recommendation for implantation and a cost-benefit analysis of
the recommendation.
• iv. The limitation of your study and suggestions for future research
following up on your research project.

29. • Reference
• Immediately after the final part of the research report, starting
on a fresh page, al list of the references cited in the literature review
and in other places in the report will be given. The format of the
references has been discussed and illustrated in the appendix
sometimes till chapter 4. Foot notes, if any in the text, are referenced
either separately at the end of the report, or at the bottom of the
page where the footnotes occurs.

30. Appendix
• The appendix, which comes last, is the appropriate places
for the organization chart, newspaper clippings or other materials
that substantiate the text of the report, detailed exact narration of
interviews with members, and whatever might help the reader follow
the text.
• If there are several appendices, they should be referred as
Appendix A, Appendix B, and so on and appropriately labeled.

31. Reference Books and other sources for writing the
Hand Book.
• Research Methods for Business (6th Addition)
• (A Skill-Building Approach)
• By: Uma Sekaran and Roger Bougie
• Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship
• Eugen BURDUŞ
• The Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, Romania
• Managment study material created/ compiled by - Commander RK
Singh
• Google.com
• Wikipedia.com