3 OUMH1203 TOPIC 8 WRITING AND PRESENTING PROPOSALS

3 OUMH1203 TOPIC 8 WRITING AND PRESENTING PROPOSALS. 
1. Define what a research proposal is;
2. List the questions that should be addressed by a research proposal;
3. Outline the steps for writing a good research proposal; and
4. Explain other types of research proposals. 

INTRODUCTION
For any student writing a research paper, coming up with a good proposal is the
most important step. The quality of the proposal can be the deciding factor in
getting a proposal accepted or rejected. Unfortunately, not many students realise
what writing a research proposal entails; nor do they fully understand its
importance and significance. A badly-written proposal can doom a project even
if it somehow gets through the thesis supervisory committee. On the other hand,
a well-written proposal not only promises success for the project but also speaks
volumes about your potential as a researcher. This topic aims to provide you
with some basic skills in trying to write good research proposals. It explains what
a research proposal is, the questions it should address and the steps for writing a
good research proposal. You will also be introduced to general guidelines for
writing other types of proposals. 

8.1  WHAT IS A RESEARCH PROPOSAL?
A research proposal is intended to convince others that you have a research
project worth doing and that you have the skills and competency to successfully
complete it. Generally, it should contain information about all the key elements
involved in the research. Regardless of the topic and the methodology, all
research proposals should address the following questions (please refer to
Figure 8.1): 

Figure 8.1: Questions to be addressed by research proposals. 

(a) What are You Studying?
 Your research proposal should identify the subject or topic of research. You
need to inform the supervisory committee of your intent ñ what is it that
you wish to study. 

(b) Who is It For?
 You need to identify the stakeholders involved in the research project ñ
who is funding the project, possible sponsors, etc.
(c) What Do You Wish to Do?
 Outline clearly what you intend to do once approval is given.
(d) What Do You Hope to Accomplish?
 This relates to the significance of your research project. What are your goals
in carrying out this research? How will the research findings contribute to
the field of knowledge in general, or benefit stakeholders and the nation?
(e) Why Do You Want to Do It?
 Explain your reasons for doing the study, including possible benefits
accruing from doing it.
(f) How are You Going to Do It?
 Describe the procedures and methods you would use to gather data and
data analysis, including the tests to be carried out.
In a nutshell, you need to convince your reader and the supervisory committee
that you have an important research idea, a good grasp of the relevant literature
and major issues, and a sound methodology.

8.3  ELEMENTS OF A RESEARCH PROPOSAL
You need to have a clear plan about your research proposal from the outset of
your project. Be very clear about the main elements you wish to put into your
proposal even though it is possible, indeed probable, that there may be changes
required at some later date. Figure 8.2 summarises the main elements that should
be found in a good research proposal. 





Figure 8.2: Elements of a research proposal 

Basically, your research proposal should have:
(a) A cover page, with the subject heading, your name as the writer, the degree you are working for, and the name of the institution conferring it.

(b) A problem statement, i.e. the idea or research area that you propose to investigate.

(c) Limitations of study. You need to define the limits of your research project in terms of scope, sampling, questions asked and methods employed.

(d) A literature review of important works already carried out in the field so as to give your readers a 'state-of-the-art' perspective.

(e) A detailed research plan, with an outline of appropriate research methods.

(f) A time line for the various stages of the research.

(g) A statement on the type and availability of resources you intend to use for
your research. 

If there are major changes to the research proposal later, they need to be
submitted to the appropriate parties (in this case, your tutor, lecturer or dean)
for approval. You must always remember that time spent on organising or
re-organising a proposal is never time wasted as it enhances the project and helps
avoid problems with examiners. 

ACTIVITY 8.1
Have you ever written a research proposal? If you have, share your
experience with your friends at the next tutorial session. 

8.3  WRITING A RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Bear in mind that your research proposal should fit in with the needs, goals and
objectives of the organisation/institution/clients commissioning the research. To
do this, you need to consider the following as presented in the next paragraphs:

8.3.1 Stakeholders and their Concerns
Writing and implementing a proposal is hard work. Often, a research is the
fulfilment of one s dreams and desires, and the researcher requires a great deal of
passion and dedication to see a proposal through to completion.

However, although passion is well and good, it is not enough. In the proposal
writing endeavour, the backing and support of the supervisor or institution one
works at is almost always necessary. 

Think of the process from the researcher 's point of view. As a researcher, you
are going to invest your resources into achieving some goals in an area of study
that interests you. You are going to enter into a contract with your tutor or
supervisor. You would want assurances that the supervisor or whoever you are
dealing with would be able to help you fulfil that contract.

In short, a research project involves several parties besides you (the proposal
writer) ñ the people who will supervise the project (your tutor or supervisor), the
people in the institution you are working for, and the people in the organisation
where the research is being carried out. All these people will affect the success of
your research project, so you need to consider their concerns.

8.3.2 Critical Factors in Proposal Evaluation
When writing a research proposal, it is important to have a clear-cut evaluation
process that can help you to clarify goals, define objectives and refine procedures
during the initial proposal development stage.

Evaluation serves a number of useful purposes:
(a) It clarifies the objectives of the research project;

(b) It enhances understanding of the steps and processes required by the project;

(c) It provides people with information that will help them make decisions
about the project; and

(d) It helps to measure if, and how, goals and objectives can be met.
Overall, the evaluation assists everyone in understanding whether the project is
feasible and if not, then why and what may hinder its success.
As you assess your project proposal, ask yourself the following questions:

(a) What do you hope to learn from an evaluation of your project proposal?

(b) What does Ñsuccessâ mean in terms of the objectives developed for this project?

(c) What are its goals and objectives?

(d) Who is going to gather data for the evaluation and analyse the information?
Are you going to hire someone from within or outside?

(e) How are you going to change the project activities if needed?
(f) Who is the evaluation for and who will make use of the findings from the evaluation?

8.3.3 Putting a Proposal Together
This is the most important stage in the proposal writing process. The first
problem is to get the title right. Let us look at some probable titles:

(a)Weak title: Three Plays by A. Samad Said
 Better title: A Comparison of Female Characters in Three Plays by
A. Samad Said

(b)Weak title: Improving English Education in Primary Schools
 Better title: Innovative Instructional Materials to Improve English
Education in Primary Schools

(c)Weak title: New Perspectives in Learning
 Better title: New Perspectives in Learning: A Programme to Facilitate
the Retention and Graduation of Distance Learners at Open
University Malaysia. 

SELF-CHECK 8.1
Based on the examples above, why do you think some titles are considered "weak" and some "better"? 

Below are some tips to refine your research proposal:

(a) Keep filtering and redefining your title and content so that it becomes a doable project.

(b) Talk about your ideas to your friends or supervisor. Talking helps to clarify ideas.

(c) Write brief notes about your idea in one or two pages, especially on your area of interest.

(d) Read through your proposal and put it aside for a while, then come back to it and reread it; reflect on whether you have done a good job.

(e) Keep reading ñ spend time in the library, read through various texts and attend to your areas of interest. Take notes (remember to reference the texts).

(f) Mull over the write-up because you might find things you wish to change.

(g) Sort out the various sub-topics so that they are in order.

(h) Carry out referencing so that you acknowledge other people s work. 

ACTIVITY 8.2
What are some of the challenges you might encounter when writing proposals? List a few, and discuss with your friends at the next tutorial session. 

8.4  OTHER TYPES OF PROPOSALS
Bear in mind that there are other types of proposals besides research proposals. This section touches briefly on some of them. 

8.4.1 Formal and Informal Proposals
A formal proposal is usually submitted by or through an organisation such as a school, college, university, non-profit organisation or museum to an organisation such as a foundation, funding agency or corporation. For example, a non-profit organisation may write and submit a research proposal for a project to a funding agency which will then evaluate it and decide if the project should be funded.

Very often, a proposal begins with a person acting upon a genuine desire to fulfil a need and do something for the benefit of others. Motivated by deep personal convictions, people experiencing this strong desire recognise that in order to solve a pressing problem, they may need to conduct research. They then go all out to devote time and energy to satisfy this burning desire.
However, additional resources are often needed to achieve the desired goals. This can be in the form of funding, "support" from people including peers, and clearance for approval. 

A formal proposal is written in a business-like manner. It is straightforward, direct and precise. It informs readers about the purpose, aims and benefits accruing from the study. A formal proposal also means that you need to know exactly what you are going to do so that when you present it to the board or funding agency, you can tell them everything they may need to know about it from the significance of the project to research methodology and instrument.
On the other hand, an informal proposal, although written neatly and in a structured manner like a formal proposal, is usually done on a smaller scale and normally carries less weight than a formal proposal. 

In terms of preparation, both types of proposals require almost the same amount of time, but the informal proposal is not aimed at seeking funding or for an academic degree. It is done to come up with some findings from a small project that can be completed sooner than a bigger project of a formal proposal.

8.4.2 Business Proposals
In any business, proposal writing is a lengthy process and costs time and money.
It takes researchers a long time to create business proposal templates but once
this is done, you should be able to present a business proposal that is well laid
out, looks professional and is compelling. With the right proposal, you stand a
better chance of winning a contract.

According to June Campbell (2002), business proposals are developed for one of
two possible reasons:

(a) A business company has called for tenders or has invited you to submit a Request for Proposal (RFP). In this case, your goal is to be shortlisted, meaning that you will be one of three or four bidders called for interviews. Your proposal must stand out among possibly dozens of submissions.

(b) You have an idea, concept or project that you want to propose to someone with the goal of gaining support, funding or an alliance. In this case, there is no competitive bidding process. However, your proposal must make a favourable impression and must explain all aspects of your proposed concept clearly and quickly. A document that is vaguely written, difficult to understand or that presents more questions than answers is likely to be
discarded promptly. 

"Business in the nineties means fierce competition, aggressive marketing and strategic alliances. The extent to which a business succeeds or fails often depends on that business' ability to be awarded contracts or to attract other businesses into joint ventures or strategic alliances." June Campbell, 2002. 

SELF-CHECK 8.2
What are the differences between informal and formal proposals? 

Campbell further states that there are certain guidelines to producing a good, workable business proposal. Keep these guidelines in mind and you will be off to a good start. The guidelines are illustrated in Figure 8.3:

Figure 8.3: Guidelines for a good business proposal. 


8.4.3 Proposals for Feasibility Study


A feasibility study, which is another form of business proposal aims to give readers an overview of the primary issues related to a business idea. The purpose is to identify any "make or break" issues that may prevent your business from being successful. In other words, a feasibility study determines whether a business idea makes sense or not.

A feasibility study can also be considered a brief, formal analysis of a prospective business idea. The goal is to give the entrepreneur a clear evaluation of the potential for sales and profit from a particular idea. Feasibility studies, thus, focus on market size and shares, competing products or services, the pricing structure and the likely sales and profits of the prospective business.

As putting together a business plan is a significant investment of time and money, you need to make sure that there are no major blocks to your business idea before you make that investment. This is where market research proposals and feasibility studies come in. Such proposals usually focus on the following aspects: 

- Market issues;
- Organisational/technical issues; and
- Financial issues. 

(a) Market Issues
 Market analysis needs to be conducted because it is critical to the success of the business. If you cannot substantiate, through research, that there is adequate demand for your product or service, then your project is not feasible. And if the project is not feasible, you should, perhaps, cease pursuing the matter altogether.

 Your market analysis should answer these questions:
(i) What precisely constitutes the market?
(ii) Is the market growing, shrinking, or staying the same?
(iii) Is the market you have identified big enough to make it worth your
time investing in this business? 

Once these market issues have been addressed, you can look at the organisational and technological aspects. 

The purpose of market analysis is to thoroughly acquaint yourself with all aspects of your market so that you can formulate a plan to capture a share of it.
... Harold, J. McLaughlin, 2002 

(b) Organisational/Technical Issues
 Feasibility studies need to explore the organisational and technology needs of the proposed business. This includes looking into organisational structure and human resource as well as the equipment needed and costs involved. 

 Keep in mind that technology does not necessarily mean complex machinery; if your business simply needs a personal computer, printer and fax machine, then those are your technological needs.

(c) Financial Issues
 Once your analyses of marketing, organisational and technical issues have been completed, you can research key financial issues such as start-up costs (costs incurred at the start of a new business), operating costs (rent, utilities and wages), revenue projections, financing and profitability analysis. 

To sum up, your feasibility study proposal should:
(i) Map out a project s strengths and potential;
(ii) Analyse and predict the impact of expansion;
(iii) Highlight the pros and cons of your idea; and
(iv) Project profits and growth.

Figure 8.4 shows a sample table of content for a feasibility study proposal: 



Figure 8.4: Sample of feasibility study 

 A research proposal aims to convince others that you have a worthwhile
research project and that you have the competency and skills to successfully
complete it.

- Every proposal addresses certain key questions in research ñ what, for whom,
how, why, etc.
- A research proposal comprises key elements including an introduction, problem statement, research methodology, analysis, conclusion and bibliography

- Some research studies require you to find sponsors to fund the project.

- Proposals can be formal or informal. Informal proposals usually do not aim to get funding or an academic degree.

- Business or marketing research proposals need to be clearly written in order to help you win that contract.

- A feasibility study is another form of business proposal. It can be considered a brief formal analysis of a prospective business idea to determine whether it makes sense. 


Business proposal
Feasibility study
Formal proposal
Informal proposal
Research proposal 

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New York: The Foundation Centre.

Krathwohl, D. (1988). How to prepare a research proposal: Guidelines for
funding and dissertations in the social and behavioural sciences (3rd ed.).
Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.

Larson, V. (1986). How to write a winning proposal. San Diego, CA: Classic
House.

Meador, R. (1991). Guidelines for preparing proposals (2nd ed.). Chelsea, Mich:
Lewis Publishers.

Stewart, R. D., & Stewart, A. L. (1992). Proposal preparation (2nd ed.). NY: Wiley.

Weirsma, W. (2002). Research methods in education: An introduction. Boston:
Allyn and Bacon.