SIMAD University

Chapter one Introduction

Ali Yassin Sheikh

Background, Objectives, Questions, Hypothesis, Significant, Scope and Limitations Sections: Outline

• Background Section– Format and Design– Sources of Information

• Research Objectives , Questions and Hypotheses• Significant Section• Scope and Limitations Sections• Some Illustrations• Conclusion

Background Section• Introduction:– It is the initial section of a proposal:• It is a set of statements relevant to the theme being

studies that attracts the reader to the work• Introduces the status and theoretical and conceptual

framework of the study• Provides evidence and conditions of the existing

situation to make the reader feel the urgency of the problem and the need to study it• Represents the history and the character of the

problem, or issues at hand

Background Section, Cont…

• Format and Design:– It has four main dimensions:1. The historical – describes the relationship between

the variables in the study. It provides brief history of the issue being investigated starting with the global history and narrowing down to historical issue in the area of under study.

2. The theoretical – describes the theory(s) on which the study will be based. It provides evidence towards the relationship between the variables in the study and the theory to be used.

Background Section, Cont…

• Format and Design:– It has four main dimensions:3. The conceptual – provides the definitions of terms

in the topic. There are three main definitions that a researcher should provide in this section:

a) Literal definition (exact or primary meaning of the variables from the literature)

b) Working definition(is the literal of the term adopt by the researcher/ must justify why you adopted out of others)

c) Operational definition (measures and characteristics of the variable)

Background Section, Cont…

• Format and Design:– It has four main dimensions:

4. The contextual – describes the problems in each operation of the variables in the context of the study:

Provide one literal definition Describe the issue, effects, principles, relationship

of the variables. Expose the Gap

Background Section, Cont…

• Sources of Information:– Articles– Books– Databases– Dictionaries– Encyclopaedia– Country profiles

Research Objectives , Questions and Hypotheses

• Purpose (General objective or Aim):– It describes the general intension and indentifies

the goal of the study. It elaborates the title of the study. Establishes the direction of the research.

• Specific Objectives, Questions and Hypotheses:– Objectives and Questions state the intentions of

the study. While hypotheses suggest a relationship or difference between the variables in the study.

Research Objectives , Questions and Hypotheses, Cont…

• Specific Objectives, Questions and Hypotheses:– Three basic characteristics of a good research objectives:

• SMART• Clearly indicate the target population• Clearly indicate the variables to be investigated

– Hypotheses – is a proposal about a solution to a problem using null or alternative format:• Be testable• Be clear and precise• Indicate both dependent and independent variables• Be based on theory

Significant Sectionof the Research

• Significant section – established why the proposed research matters, making an important contribution of a new knowledge.

• It answers why this research is important.• It raises interest and provides the context for

organizing and understanding background research.• It refers to the relevance of the study in terms of

academic contributions and practical use that might be made of the findings.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

• It is also known as delimitations.• It is a description of the boundary of the study

in terms of:– Content– Methodology– Geographical– Theoretical coverage– And time

• Purpose– The purpose is a single statement or paragraph that explains

what the study intends to accomplish. A few typical statements are:

The goal of this study is to... ... overcome the difficulty with ... ... discover what ... ... understand the causes or effects of ... ... refine our current understanding of ... ... provide a new interpretation of ... ... understand what makes ___ successful or unsuccessful

Some Illustrations

Some Illustrations, Cont…

• Objectives– The objectives of the research project are to:• Examine the factors responsible for the low support for

the Internal Audit Activity by managers of public institutions.• Identify specific actions required to secure support of

managers for the Internal Audit Activity.• Establish the relationship between quality of service

and support of managers for Internal Audit.

Some Illustrations, Cont… • Research Questions and/or Hypotheses and/or

Null Hypotheses– Chapter I lists the research questions (although it is

equally acceptable to present the hypotheses or null hypotheses). An example would be:

The research questions for this study will be:

1. What are the attitudes of... 2. Is there a significant difference between... 3. Is there a significant relationship between...

Some Illustrations, Cont…

• Research Questions:– What account for the low support for

Internal Audit by public sector managers?– What actions are necessary to get the support of

management of internal auditing in the public sector?

– Is there a link between the quality of service the Internal Auditor provides for his organisation and the attitude of managers towards the Internal Audit function?

Some Illustrations, Cont… • Hypotheses:– H1: The extent and quality of CSR disclosure in

annual reports is positively associated with firm size.

– H2: The extent and quality of CSR disclosure in annual reports is positively associated with a company’s profitability.

– H3: The extent and quality of CSR disclosure of companies is positively related to the award.

Some Illustrations • Significance of the Study– This section creates a perspective for looking at the

problem. It points out how your study relates to the larger issues and uses a persuasive rationale to justify the reason for your study. It makes the purpose worth pursuing. The significance of the study answers the questions:

Why is your study important? To whom is it important? What benefit(s) will occur if your study is done?

Conclusion• Strictly follow SU Research Manual Guide:– Format and design– Number of pages required for writing background

section– Use hypotheses only when your study intends to

test a relationship or difference among variables– Very careful when operationalizing your variables,

use the prior literature for help.