Proposal Writing

1.    Proposal Writing

·         A well-formulated proposal can form the basis for the first sections of the final project report, i.e., Introduction and Methods sections

o   You will need only to add more detail.

10.1 Basic Research Proposal

·         For University 3^rd year project, M.Sc. or Ph.D.

Title

·         Should be written very concisely

·         Should mention the main independent and dependent variables

·         Mentions study area or study sites

·         One should be able to have a good impression of your main objective from reading the title

·         Avoid repetition of words

·         E.g. The effect of UV light on a specific plastic

·         E.g. The effect of phosphate on nitrogen fixation by blue-green algae

·         E.g. A comparison of marble deposits in Mbeya and Dodoma

1.  INTRODUCTION

1.1 General Introduction

·         Gives very general background information about the research topic

·         Explains the overall research topic in broad terms

·         Background information about the variables to be included in the study

1.2 Statement of the Research Problem 

·         Describes the research topic in more specific terms.

·         Clearly defines the research problem to be investigated

·         Briefly states what is already known about the topic

·         States what is yet to be investigated.

·         Concludes by stating the aim or general objective of the study, i.e., specifically what you are going to investigate about the problem

1.3 Objectives

·         States the specific objectives of the study

·         The specific research questions are usually stated in the form of specific objectives.

·         May be 2-6 objectives

·         Sometimes you may have

o   An overall general or development objective, and

o   2-6 specific objectives

·         Must mention all the independent and dependent variables

·         E.g., Question: Does UV light affect the strength of a certain type of plastic?

·         Objective: To determine the effect of ultraviolet light on the strength of a certain type of plastic

·         There must be (at least) 2 possible outcomes

·         Objectives must be unambiguous.

·         Form the focal point of the whole research plan

o   The hypotheses are formulated based on the objectives.

o   The objectives determine the data to be collected

o   Determine what literature to review

·         Usually formulate these first, before writing anything else.

1.4 Significance of the Study

·         Explain why the study is important

·         What will be the benefits of the study to society or to the environment

·         What further research will this study lead to

1.5 Literature Review

·         Gives details about what is already know about the overall research topic

·         Presents the findings of other researchers that are relevant to your study. 

·         Does not have to relate very directly to your specific problem, but can broadly review the literature about the general topic.

·         Can later be published as a review paper

·         You must write these findings in your own words,

·         Cite the author and year of publication in parentheses [e.g. (Clark, 1991) or (Clark and Roberts, 2003) or (Hanson et al., 1993)]. 

·         Should be divided in subsections

·         Can be considerable flexibility in the subsections

·         Subsections depend upon the topic

·         E.g., UV light, Increase in UV light through ozone depletion, the plastic being investigate (giving its properties and any previous studies done on the effect of UV light on this plastic

·         E.g. Properties of marble, economic importance of marble in Tanzania, Distribution of marble deposits in Tanzania (what is already known).

·         E.G. The BGA, Nitrogen fixation, Effects of phosphate on nitrogen fixation

·         Study Area (not Study Site)

§  Only included if yours is a field study

§  The last section of the literature review

§  Describes the general area around the sites where the study will be conducted

§  Location (may define the boundaries), climate, geography, environment, geo-physical conditions, biological conditions

§  Map

§  E.G., if you are doing a study in the Dar es Salaam harbour, the study area in the whole Dar es Salaam area.

1.6 Hypotheses

·         The hypotheses should be stated concisely based on your objectives

·         Stated according to what you predict, based on the literature review.

·         Normally, state what you expect to conclude from your research, i.e., directional, alternative hypotheses.

·         Sometimes you may wish to state them as null hypotheses, if it is difficult to predict the outcome. 

·         Come directly from the objectives

·         Two type of hypotheses:

o   Difference between groups, treatments

o   Relationship between variables

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

·         Study sites

o   Precisely describes the location and conditions of your sites

o   Map

·         Very precisely describes the research design

·         Explains the techniques to be used

·         If it is a standard technique there is no need to explain it in detail

o   Just cite reference

·         If it is a new technique, describe it in detail

·         Often the Methods Section of the proposal goes into the final report almost without change.

·         Someone should be able to read your methods section and know how to repeat the same experiment

·         Data analysis

o   States the exact analysis that you will do

o   States the statistical test that you will apply to test each hypothesis

LITERATURE CITED (OR REFERENCES)

            All literature cited in the text must be given in alphabetical order by author(s).  Following the authors' names, the year of publication, title of the paper, title of the journal, volume number and page numbers should be given. In the case of a book, the publisher and city should be given as well as the total number of pages in the book.

Budget and financial arrangements

- who your sponsors are

Workplan (Timeframe)

10.2 Other Components of Proposals

·         Justification (Rationale for the study)

·         Beneficiaries of the study

·         Collaboration with other research projects

·         Expected outputs

·         Indicators

o   State indicators for measuring whether the outputs were attained

·         Research team to be involved