Research techniques

1. Wajizigha Chulu (PhD)
Research Proposal

2.  Research is to see what everybody else has
seen, and to think about what nobody else has
thought about (Albert Szent Gyorgyi)
 Research is what I am doing when I do not know
what I am doing (Werner Von Braun)
 To steal ideas from one person, would be
plagiarism, to steal ideas from many is called
research (Nishan Panwar)

3. Thesis
 A proposal should have a single central idea
(thesis) running through it in all the chapters.
 A proposal is a research plan

4. Parts of the proposal
1. Background Information
2. Literature review
3. Method
4. Work plan
5. Budget
6. Reference

5. Parts of the thesis
1. Background Information
2. Literature review
3. Method
4. Findings
5. Discussion of the findings
6. Conclusions and implications for future research
7. Reference

6. Background Information
 The chapter
Gives the background to the study
Statement of the problem
Significance (rationale) of the study
Purpose of the study
Research questions or objectives
Limitations (or delimitations) of the study

7. Background to the Study
 Provides the context for the study
Provides context for the research problem to be
investigated

8. Statement of the problem
 A statement about:
an area of concern
a condition to be improved
a difficulty to be eliminated
a troubling question that exist in scholarly literature,
in theory or in practice
It points to the need for meaningful understanding

9. Statement of the problem (Cont.)
 Sources of the problem:
Deductions from theory
Interaction with practitioners
Personal experience
Relevant literature

10. Good Research Problem
 Is compelling topic
 Supports multiple perspectives
 Researchable

11. Purpose of the study
 Gives the reason why the study is being carried
out
 It is the guideline for the entire study

12. Study Objectives
 Summarizes what is to be achieved by the study
 Should be closely related to the purpose

13. Significance of the study
 Explains the importance of the study
 When people read through it, they should be able
to justify the use of time and resources

14. Limitations and Delimitations
 Limitations are those elements over which the
researcher has no control
 They are influences, shortcomings, or conditions
the researcher cannot control
 They could be about:
Your analysis
The nature of self – reporting
The instruments you are using
The sample
Time constraints

15. Limitations and Delimitations
 Delimitations are those elements the researcher
can control
 They are choices made by the researcher and
they describe the boundaries that the researcher
has set for the study
 Example: Teachers’ self-efficacy in other subjects
will not be considered in this study
 Consider:
The things that you are not doing (and why)
The literature you will not review (and why not)
The population you are not studying and (why not)
The methodological procedure you will not use (and
why you will not use them)

16. Literature Review
 “…If I have seen a
little further, it is by
standing on the
shoulders of the
giants”
(Isaac Newton, 1676)

17. Literature Review
 Is an account of what has been published on the
topic by accredited scholars and researchers
 It must do the following:
Be organized around and related directly to the
thesis or research questions you are developing.
Synthesize results into a summary of what is and
what is not known about the topic
Identify areas of controversy in the literature
Formulate questions that need further research

18. Method
 Includes”
Research design
Sampling
Instrumentation
Data collection methods
Data analysis methods

19. Work plan
 This is the time budget
 It lists activities to be carried out in order to do the
research
 Each activity listed has the number of days when
it will take place and (sometimes by whom)
 Sometimes, it is accompanied by a gant chart.

20. Financial Budget
 It’s a translation of the time budget
 It indicates the costs of carrying out the different
research activities.

21. Reference
 Follows the APA style
 Lists all documents that have been cited in the
proposal in an alphabetical order

22. Example: Journal Article
 Linn, R. L. (2000). Assessments and
accountability. Educational Researcher, 29(2), 4-
16.

23. Example: Book
 Hambletom, R. K., Swaminathan, H., & Rogers,
H. J. (1991). Fundamentals of item Response
theory. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

24. Example: Book Chapter
 Cocking, R. R., & Chipman, S. (1988).
Conceptual issues related to mathematics
achievement of language minority children. In R.
R. Cocking & J. P. Mestre (Eds.), Linguistic and
cultural influences on learning mathematics (pp.
17-46.) Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.