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PART 2 FOCUSING YOUR RESEARCH EFFORT

PART 2 FOCUSING YOUR RESEARCH EFFORT. Writing the Research Proposal Research is never a solo flight, an individual excursion It is not a “do-it-in-a-corner”

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PART 2

FOCUSING YOUR RESEARCH EFFORT

Writing the Research Proposal

• Research is never a solo flight, an individual excursion• It is not a “do-it-in-a-corner” activity • It involves many people and requires access to and use of

resources far beyond one’s own• For that reason, it must be carefully planned, laid out, inspected,

and, in nearly every instance, approved by others• The graduate student conducting research for a thesis or

dissertation must get the approval of an academic committee• A researcher seeking grant funding must get approval from the

university or the organisation for which he or she works, and the project must be deemed worthy of funding by the grant-awarding agency, for example, MOSTI, IGS, etc.

Researcher and Architect: Planners in Common

• A proposal is as essential to successful research as an architect’s plans are to the construction of a building

• Planning is the essence of their art - same orientation• An architect plans the structural concepts of buildings,

whereas a researcher plans the structural concepts of the solutions to problems

• Proposal ~ architect’s drawing• No one would start building a structure by rushing out

to dig a hole for the foundation without knowing in detail how the building will look when it is finished

Researcher and Architect: Planners in Common

• Before one turns a shovelful of earth, many questions must be addressed, many decisions made

• What kind of building is desired? Is it a personal residence? If so, how many storey? Split-level?

• Piping? Electrical wire? Phone line? Computer cable?• Before start digging, further planning is necessary

such as seek permission, get a building permit, follow building restrictions and codes, etc.

• A permit provides a means of ensuring that new buildings meet these codes

• The point is this: Permission is essential to the plan• This principle holds true both in planning a building

and in proposing research

Proposed Research Project

• Show the viability and the plan in the research proposal

• The problem and its subproblems are clearly stated• Hypotheses or questions are articulated• All necessary terms are defined• Delimitations are carefully spelled out• The reason for conducting the study - why it’s

important - is explained• Every anticipated detail of acquiring, organising,

analysing, and interpreting the data is specified

The Proposal

• The researcher sets forth the resources at hand for carrying out the research: his or her qualifications (and those of any assistants), the availability of the data, the means by which the data will be secured, any needed equipment and facilities, and any other aspects of the total research process that merit explanation

• Nothing is overlooked• All questions that may arise in the minds of those who review the

proposal are anticipated and answered• Any unresolved matter is a weakness in the proposal and may seriously

affect its approval• Sometimes young researchers think the proposal is merely a necessary

formality and thus do not give it the serious consideration it deserves• No matter whether you are seeking funding for a project from a grant

foundation or seeking approval for a thesis or dissertation from a university faculty committee, a clear, well-written proposal is essential

• Nothing is a substitute for an explicit setting forth of both problem and procedure

Characteristics of a Proposal

• Research demands that those who undertake it be able to think clearly, without confusion

• The mind that produces confusion can never be disciplined to regard facts objectively and construe (interpret) them logically

• The perceived qualifications as a researcher, more often than not, rest squarely upon the quality of the proposal submitted

A Proposal is a Straightforward Document

• A proposal should not be cluttered with extraneous and irrelevant material

• It opens with a straightforward statement of the problem to be researched

• It needs no explanatory props – no introduction, prologue (introduction to a play, poem,etc.), or statement telling why the researcher became interested in the problem or feels a burning desire to research it

• Such information may be interesting, but none of it is necessary or appropriate

• Those who will review your proposal are not interested in such autobiographical excursions

• These, indeed, suggest that you cannot separate essentials from irrelevancies and so will neither enhance your stature as a researcher nor recommend you as one who can think in a clear and focused manner

• Whatever does not contribute directly to the delineation of the problem and its solution must be eliminated

• Anything else is a distraction• Journalists are taught – or if not taught, soon learn – that the first

words they write are the most important ones• You capture or lose your reader with the first sentence

A Proposal is a Straightforward Document

A Proposal is a Straightforward Document

• Keep in mind the meaning of proposal • The word suggests looking forward, to what the

researcher plans to do in the future – not history• If a writer intends to make an analytical comparison of

the past and present social and economic conditions of minority groups, he or she might begin, “This study will analyse the social and economic status of certain minority groups today in comparison with their similar status five decades ago for the purpose of …”

• This is a no-nonsense beginning, and it indicates that the writer knows what a proposal should be

• Employ future tense, for example, “The study will analyse …”

A Proposal is Not a Literary Production

• The purpose of a proposal is simply to communicate clearly, not a work of art in an architect’s drawing or a creative, “literary” production in a proposal

• Just as an architect’s drawings present a plan for construction with an economy of line and precision of measurement, a proposal describes a future research project with an economy of words and precision of expression

• The language must be clear, sharp, and precise• The proposal provides a chance to show with what ultimate

clarity and detail the researcher can state a problem, delineate the treatment of the data, and establish the logical validity of a conclusion

• Writing a superb proposal calls for skills of expression just as demanding as those needed for forging an unforgettable sentence

A Proposal is Clearly Organised

• Proposals are written in conventional process style, and thoughts are expressed in simple paragraph form

• The organisation of the thoughts is outlined by the proper use of headings and subheadings

• Organisation and outline are essential• They hint at an orderly and disciplined mind – one of

the highest tributes to a researcher’s qualifications• No indented outline – it is not conventional - hint a

brevity (shortness) hint a superficiality (on the surface only, not thorough or deep) suggest undesirable quality of researchers

A Proposal is Clearly Organised

• In professional writing, headings and subheadings are the single most commonly used strategy to express the writer’s overall organisational scheme

• You should communicate the outline of your thoughts to your own readers in the same fashion

You must use different formats to indicate the different levels of headings you use

• The most important headings are in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS and centred on the page. These are headings of the largest units of writing; for instance, they may be the titles of the various chapters in a proposal or research report

• The next important headings are in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS and left justified on the page

• The next headings are in Capital and Lowercase Letters• Paragraph• Seldom encountered least important headings, numbered

Formatting Headings and Subheadings

4. THE REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE4.1UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF REVIEW

4.1.1 The Purpose of the Review 4.1.2 How to Begin

4.1.2.1Go to the indexes and abstracts4.1.2.2Database access4.1.2.3Go to the library

4.1.3 How to Write the Section4.1.3.1Get the proper4.1.3.2Have a plan

Example of Structural Outline

Example of Structural Outline

4.2 POINTS OF DEPARTURE

4.2.1 Abstract

4.2.2 Indexes

4.3 FOR FURTHER READING

• Proposals follow a simple, logical train of thought• Although there are conceivably many ways to arrange the

various topics within a proposal, most proposals use similar formats, especially in quantitative studies

• Refer to handout• One rule governs the writing of proposals and final

documents: The arrangement of the material should be presented in such a manner that it forms for the reader a clear, progressive presentation

• It keeps items together that belong together – for example, the problem and its resultant subproblems, the subproblems and their corresponding hypotheses

• Refer to handout on ways to write a convincing proposal

Content and Organisation of a Research Proposal

• Frustrating experience if proposal rejected by graduate committee

• Success begins long before activity begins – the planning

• How data will be interpreted – will determine success or failure

• Example: “ … to analyse the attitudes of professional employees towards certain aspects of management policy and to evaluate the relationship between these attitudes and the responsibility of management to articulate such policy for its employees.”

• Refer to handout

Success Begins with Initial Proposal

1. Be systematic in describing the treatment of the data- logical sequence to solve each subproblem

2. State clearly the data you need to resolve the subproblem

3. State precisely where the data are located 4. State fully and unequivocally (having a completely

clear meaning) how you intend to interpret the data – any other person can do the research without your presence and every contingency (event that may or may not occur) should be anticipated

Guidelines – Interpretation of Data

5. Every step in the interpretation of the data should be fully spelled out- Don’t cut corners, don’t assume others know what they mean- It is a time–consuming process a. Ask yourself continually just what it is that you are doing –

Make clear distinction between ARRAYING (large impressive series of things) and INTERPRETING the data b. Insist that your statistics have a defensible rationale – Why

mean, sd, %, what do they mean?

c. At what specific point does the manipulation of the data cease and your own thinking begin?

Guidelines – Interpretation of Data

6. Be sure that the data support conclusions - unfounded enthusiasm (great interest or admiration) - extravagant (unreasonable, unnecessary) claim or enthusiastic conclusion - much research contains unfounded conclusions unsupported by the data - based on shaky statistical procedures or exploitation of facts

Guidelines – Interpretation of Data

• Refer to handout• Fundamental shortcoming in individual who wrote the

proposal- in ability to think analytically and clearly- insufficient knowledge of the existing research- lack of competence to carry out study- inability to see the global concept of the research- in terms of ramification (result or consequence (of

sth.) that makes it more complicated) and requirement

Greatest Weaknesses in Funding Proposal

• Demonstration of outstanding qualification – scholarship (knowledge of an academic subject)- think clearly and logically- express thought concisely and cogently

(convincing)- discriminate between what is significant and what is

consequential (following as a result)- handle abstract thought- analyse data objectively and accurately- interpret result confidently and conservatively

(cautious moderate)

Greatest Weaknesses in Funding Proposal

• Judith Margolin• “Most of the applicants simply had not done their

homework properly. All too often their proposals were not worthy, inadequately prepared, or thoughtlessly submitted to inappropriate funders”.

Shortcomings of Many Proposals