Research proposal and report writing

Research proposal and report writing

Field research should be preceded by a research proposal and finalized by report writing. Writing of a report must be carefully done in three major sections which are the preliminary pages, the main text and appendices.

A research proposal

A research proposal is a document written by a researcher that gives detailed explanations on how a researcher plans to do the research.

It is a plan suggesting what the researcher intends to do, means of doing it, and proposes resources to accomplish the plan. It is a descriptive plan of action, which is to be followed in carrying out a particular research. It is like an outline of the whole research process that gives a reader the summary of the information discussed in the plan. Preparation of research proposal is needed since it facilitates the planning of different research operations, hence making the research as efficient as possible, yielding adequate information with minimal expenditure.

In fact, the research proposal is the conceptual structure within which research is conducted; it comprises of the plan for the collection, organization and analysis of data. A good research proposal quickly and easily answers the following questions:

1. What do you want to do?
2. How much will it cost?
3. How long will it take?
4. What difference will it make to your school, society or nation?
5. What has already been done in the topic of your interest?
6. How do you plan to do it?
7. Will the results be evaluated?
8. How will the results be communicated?

The questions will be answered in different ways depending on the nature of the proposed plan. Most proposals are between ten and twenty pages in length. The proposal should not be longer than 2500 words without list of references.

Importance of a research proposal

1. Guides the research process — A research proposal helps students plan their work step by step. It shows what to study, how to collect information, and how to analyze it.
2. Defines the research topic — Writing a proposal helps students focus on one clear topic. For example, instead of studying all crops, they can focus on how maize grows in different soils.
3. Explains the purpose — A research proposal shows why the research is important. For example, it can explain how the study will help solve a problem in their community.
4. Helps organize ideas — A proposal helps students organize their thoughts. They can decide what to do first, second, and last during the research process.
5. Encourages resource planning — The proposal helps students plan for the materials and time needed. For example, they might need questionnaires, notebooks, or transport to visit certain areas.
6. Provides a roadmap — A proposal acts as a guide to keep the research on track. Students can refer to it to ensure they don't miss any important steps.
7. Helps get feedback — Teachers or supervisors can review the proposal and give advice. This ensures that students improve their research plan before starting.
8. Improves writing skills — Writing a proposal helps students learn how to explain their ideas clearly and logically, which is a useful skill for school and future work.
9. Supports critical thinking — Proposals encourage students to think about why their research is important and how it can benefit their community or country.
10. Prepares for future studies — Learning how to write a research proposal prepares students for higher education and professional work, where research is often required.

The format of a research proposal

The research proposal has a format which is the general pattern of the organization and arrangement of the study. This involves the following parts; preliminary pages which include

1. the title of the study
2. the name of the researcher
3. year of the study
4. abstract
5. table of contents and list of tables
6. the main body of the research proposal and the appendices.

Basically, the main body of a research proposal is made up of the following:

1. Title of the proposal — It should be short and precise ranging between 10-15 words written in such a way that it gives a very quick picture on what the proposal is about. When writing the title there should be a consideration that, it draws attention, creates interest and desire to the reader to go through the entire document.
2. Abstract — This section offers an overview of the entire research proposal ranging from the title to the methodology. The abstract has to be short but, capturing all important issues.
3. Background to the research problem — In this part, a researcher provides background information on the topic of interest and arguments starting from global, regional to local levels. It is under this part a researcher highlights on what is already known in the field, what is not known, and what the researcher wishes to be known in the proposed study
4. Statement of the research problem — This refers to the statement on what is the issue that need a researcher's attention and its magnitude. The origin of the research problem may come as a result of reviewing literatures, own life experiences, discussions with colleagues or experts in the same field and others.
5. Research objectives — In this section a researcher should have the general and specific objective. The general objective articulate what the researcher intends to achieve while specific objectives show how the main objective will be attained.
6. Research questions or hypotheses — In this section the researcher prefers to use either research questions or hypotheses, depending on the nature of the problem and the field of study. For example, questions are very common in social sciences while hypotheses are widely used in natural sciences.
7. Significance of the study — In this section, a researcher explain why a particular research work is needed. Basically, it offers justification of conducting the proposed research and the impact it will develop. Moreover, it clarifies possible contributions to knowledge and highlights on how other researchers will benefit from it.
8. Scope of the study — This section narrows down specific issues which will be addressed in a particular research work. Given the challenges in time and finances, it is practically not possible to study everything but focusing on one issue at a time.
9. Limitations of study — In this section it is important to highlight on the challenges that the researcher is likely to encounter. They are basically potential weaknesses to the study that are out of the researcher's control associated with choice of research design, statistical models, funding and other factors. Generally, limitations affect the study design, results and conclusions. Thus, the researcher should explain how each limitation will be managed without affecting the quality of the study.
10. Delimitation of the study — It addresses how the study will be narrowed down in scope. The purpose of this section is not to respond to the question that, 'why I did this?' but focusing on the question 'why I didn't do it like this?' in other words, it provides reasons for rejecting a certain course of actions in the research process. As such delimitation are in the researcher's control.
11. Review of the literature — This involves reviewing sources which are related to the subject matter stated in the title. It is a continuation of the information provided in background section but not repetition also it has several subheading. It includes both theoretical and empirical reviews. Through reviewing literature, research gap is identified; hence the researcher avoids repeating what has already been done by other researchers. Therefore, the researcher becomes familiar with the area of study chosen.
12. Research methodology — In this section, a researcher precisely gives reasons for the choice of the study area, define methods, tools, and techniques that will be used in selecting sample, data collection, data organization, data analysis, and results presentation. Additionally, the researcher indicates how the study will adhere to research ethics.
13. References — It refers to all documents which have been used in preparing a research proposal and are cited in the text. It includes published and unpublished sources such as reports, journal articles, books, book chapters, newspapers, conference proceedings and others.
14. Appendices — It consists of important supportive attachments such as:
    • Data collection tools that will be used in the field.
    • Time frame: This is the time that will be taken from writing of the proposal to data analysis and reporting.
    • Funding and sources of funds: This is the proposed budget and the breakdown which specifies how funds will be used to complete the work.