0:01 hello [Music]
0:20 [Music]
0:23 i'm lydia civilian oh and this lecture
0:25 is about writing a research proposal there
0:27 there
0:29 are four areas we are going to explore
0:32 first we define what research proposals
0:36 secondly how do you define your research
0:38 topic then how do you organize your
0:41 research proposal and finally how do you
0:45 like a good research proposal what [Music]
1:00 is a research proposal it is a statement
1:03 of intent and it is written for the
1:05 thesis and dissertation it
1:07 provides the reader with a very good
1:09 reason white research your research
1:12 should take place at this point it is
1:15 important to first distinguish between a
1:19 thesis and dissertation a thesis
1:22 or dissertation is a discourse a debate
1:26 or discussion on a particular topic more
1:28 specifically a thesis is the body of
1:30 work that is written to fulfill the
1:33 requirements of a master's degree while
1:36 the dissertation is written for the
1:38 doctoral degree both
1:40 the thesis and dissertation contain a
1:43 question that needs an answer but the
1:45 main difference between the two is that
1:48 a dissertation should make difficult
1:51 original contribution to the body of
1:53 knowledge in contrast master's thesis
1:56 answers a research problem or question
2:00 based on previous research or literature
2:03 now how do you choose your topic and
2:05 supervisor it is important that you
2:07 choose a topic you are passionate about
2:10 research on something you find
2:12 interesting for it will be a topic you
2:14 will be working with for a significant
2:17 period of time as for
2:20 the choice of supervisor select someone
2:22 for their expertise and ability to
2:25 relate to you of course you may not be
2:28 lucky enough to get a perfect match with
2:30 the postgraduate guidebook can help you
2:32 know the responsibilities expected of
2:48 [Music]
2:51 you have a definite topic in mind the
2:53 next step is organizing your research
2:56 proposal the basic sections in a
2:58 research proposal are the following title
3:00 title
3:02 of study introduction
3:05 significance of research the literature
3:07 review methodology
3:10 which includes the research design and
3:14 data analysis expected results ethical
3:16 statements time frame or type or plan
3:19 and budget and finally your primary
3:22 references let's
3:25 look at the title of your study your
3:27 title must give the reader a sense of
3:30 what you are examining in other words it
3:32 must clearly indicate your topic and
3:35 encapsulate what you are doing however
3:38 do not make it too general or too long
3:41 it should be no more than 15 words and
3:42 should be catching and
3:45 attention-grabbing the
3:48 introduction introduces the reader to
3:51 the topic in question and usually begins
3:53 with a brief historical overview of the
3:56 topic the introduction outlines the
3:59 general field of interest and shows how
4:02 your chosen topic fits within him this
4:04 section should indicate what you are
4:07 interested in the study the
4:09 significance of research discusses your
4:12 main aim and the significance of your
4:14 study there are two elements you should
4:17 present at this point first is the
4:20 purpose what is the purpose their
4:22 overall aim of your research this should
4:25 be clearly stated if there are
4:27 hypotheses they should also be stated you
4:29 you
4:31 should indicate what objectives you
4:34 expect to achieve through your study and
4:37 what specific research questions will be
4:40 addressed the
4:42 second element is a significance of your
4:45 research you should be able to show the
4:47 reader why your research is important
4:49 and what contribution will your study
4:51 make to the field of knowledge furthermore
4:52 furthermore
4:55 it is important to show what are the
4:57 wider implications or uses of your study
5:02 to the general body of knowledge a very
5:03 important section in the research
5:07 proposal is a literature review in most
5:09 instances this is written as a separate
5:12 chapter the literature review should
5:14 discuss the relationship of your
5:17 proposed research to other local and
5:19 international researchers in the field the
5:21 the
5:23 literature review serves four main
5:26 functions first it focuses on what has
5:29 been done before in other words you are
5:31 discussing what major research studies
5:34 have previously been done and then
5:36 highlighting how your study will fill
5:40 the current knowledge gap then
5:42 it outlines the instruments you will use
5:45 in your study and justifies why such
5:48 instruments are used over others thirdly
5:50 it is essential that the literature
5:53 review points out why it is necessary
5:55 sorry to conduct your research and
5:58 finally it sets the boundaries for your
6:00 studies these are also known as the
6:03 limitations the
6:05 section on methodology and research
6:09 design discusses in detail how you will
6:11 collect the data and conduct the
6:13 research that is the method you will use
6:16 you should also discuss what instruments
6:18 or tools will you use to gather data whether
6:20 whether
6:23 interviews surveys content analysis case
6:26 studies or meta-analysis we used all
6:28 these must be clearly detailed in this
6:31 section this may include quantitative
6:34 qualitative or action research you plan
6:37 to undertake remember
6:38 that the choice of method should
6:40 correlate with your research question or
6:44 questions in other words if the bulk of
6:46 your research involves interviews and
6:49 surveys the research method you use may
6:52 be of a qualitative and quantitative
6:55 nature if your research relies heavily
6:58 on analysis then your research method
7:01 would be more of a qualitative kind in
7:03 short you must be able to show the link
7:05 between your research question or
7:08 questions and the data gathering tools
7:11 you will use finally
7:14 if the study requires it include a
7:16 theoretical or conceptual framework that
7:19 you will employ the
7:22 data analysis should clearly specify how
7:23 you will present your results and
7:26 discuss any statistical tests you will
7:29 use this section discusses the methods
7:32 used to prove your hypotheses if there
7:35 are any one tip for this is to deal with
7:38 each hypothesis separately and mention
7:42 the analysis that will be conducted the
7:44 research proposal has a section that
7:46 discusses what you think will have been
7:48 based on your intuition and the
7:51 exploration and study you have done up
7:53 to this point this is the section on
7:57 expected results to some extent you
7:59 should already have some idea of
8:01 expected outcomes based on the research
8:04 conducted in the past this section
8:07 answers the questions what are the
8:09 possible outcomes of your work for
8:12 example are they positive negative or
8:14 there is no correlation between the
8:17 variables which one would lead to the
8:21 most fruitful research work and why what
8:23 are your key assumptions and what are
8:25 the limitations of working under these
8:28 assumptions you may use a pilot study or
8:30 fragments of other similar research to
8:34 forecast outcomes if
8:36 your research requires human
8:38 participants to be interviewed or
8:40 surveyed you will need to apply for
8:42 ethical approval from the University to
8:45 do this your supervisor should be able
8:47 to advise you on whether or not it will
8:51 be required for your research this
8:53 section should briefly discuss the ways
8:55 in which your study will protect
8:57 confidentiality anonymity
8:59 and the physical and mental well-being
9:03 of participants if animal subjects are
9:06 used you will need to get approval from
9:08 the appropriate Animal Ethics Committee
9:11 concerned the
9:13 section on time frame of study and
9:15 budget provides a timeline for your
9:19 research it lists the times and dates of
9:21 each step of your research process it
9:24 should be as specific as possible but
9:26 keep in mind that the timeline should
9:29 serve as a general guide only the
9:31 budget estimate of costs involved in
9:34 your study may not be to detail and
9:36 should list any cost that will be
9:39 incurred as well as indicate the source
9:42 of any funds finally
9:44 you should indicate the primary
9:47 references and appropriate tax you
9:50 initially cited in your proposal your
9:53 supervisor may also direct you towards
9:56 other essential texts never
9:58 underestimate the value of a good
10:01 references it should reflect both search
10:04 and research this indicates that your
10:07 research is an activity of finding out
10:21 [Music]
10:23 now turn to writing the research
10:25 proposal a well
10:28 structured proposal is a well written
10:30 proposal remember to keep your writing
10:35 clear concise and to the point at every
10:37 step of your writing consider the most
10:39 basic unit which is the paragraph organize
10:41 organize
10:44 your paragraph by following the t e in
10:47 formula t have a topic sentence and
10:50 controlling idea e explain
10:54 elaborate or define that idea and the
10:57 second e provide evidence examples or
11:00 illustrations avoid long paragraphs of
11:04 250 plus words remember another 14
11:08 formula one main idea - one paragraph furthermore
11:10 furthermore
11:14 keep your sentences simple one idea for
11:17 every sentence let's look at this
11:19 example research
11:21 proposals which are expressions of
11:23 intent that the research should indeed
11:26 take place are not only structured with
11:28 about ten elements contained therein
11:31 they are convincing as well as concise
11:34 rather than obscuring ideas amongst a
11:36 plethora of excessive words and
11:38 verbosity but
11:40 you have difficulty understanding the
11:43 sentence how about me writing it this
11:45 way research
11:48 proposals are expressions of intent that
11:50 the research should take place they are
11:53 not only structured with about 10 sub
11:55 elements they are convincing and concise
11:58 they should not obscure ideas with
12:02 excessive words and verbosity finally
12:05 we come to saving your work there are
12:07 only two things to remember save
12:09 frequently and print multiple copies and
12:13 save multiple companies the
12:16 proposal is more than a plan it provides
12:19 the supervisor and subsequently the
12:21 staff with the information on which they
12:25 can approve and or suggest modifications
12:27 to the research project a highly
12:31 explicit proposal provided the research
12:33 is properly conducted and clearly
12:35 documented ensures a higher possibility
12:40 of the final thesis being accepted in a
12:42 good thesis the following elements can
12:44 be traced back to the proposal a
12:47 distinct contribution to knowledge evidence
12:48 evidence
12:51 of the discovery of new knowledge or the
12:52 exercise of independent judgment literary
12:54 literary
12:57 presentation original work of merit
13:00 worthy of publication evidence of
13:02 competence and independent research understanding
13:04 understanding
13:06 of concepts issues techniques and
13:09 methodology and finally critical use of
13:13 published work and source materials so
13:16 what have we covered we have looked at
13:19 what a research proposal is we have
13:22 looked at how to define your topic how
13:24 to organize a research proposal and
13:29 finally writing a research proposal good
13:43 you [Music]
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