Order Description

A. Overview and rationale
Communicating the research proposal clearly is the first step towards the successful completion of any research. The exercise of writing a research proposal serves as an avenue for the application of principles gleaned from the lectures; and formalizes ideas, connections and directions that may eventually find full expression in the dissertations.

B. Task, Components and Outcomes
1. Components: the research proposal is to be presented in the following sequence of headings:
• Research problem
• Research objectives/questions
• Proposed conceptual framework
• Proposed research design
• Bibliography/references

2. Process: the tasks involved in coming up with the research proposal is best attempted in the sequence specified so as to achieve the listed outcomes:

Task Sequence Individual Written Proposal Components Process outcomes
1 Bibliography/references 10 journal articles and 2 books
2 Proposed research design
• Qualitative technique
• Quantitative tool

3 Proposed conceptual framework
• Guidelines/Best Practices
• Parent Theory

4 Research objectives/questions Hypotheses/ Propositions
5 Research problem
• Keywords/concepts
• Kind of research

C. Expectations and grading criteria
Individual written proposal (marked upon 100% and scaled to 30%) Proposal
Components Process outcomes Evaluative criteria Marks
1. Bibliography Authoritativeness 20%
Minimum of 15 entries Relevance for field
Academic journals
APA referencing
2.Research Design Appropriateness 25%
a.Qualitative techniques Relevance & feasibility
b.Quantitative tools Relevance & feasibility
c.Should be a detailed account of sampling respondents and data collection instrument
3.Theoretical Framework Coherence 25%
a.Best practices Recognition by industry/literature
b.Parent Theory Comprehensiveness
4.Research objectives and questions Scenarios and Issues 20%
a. Hypothesis Mutually-exclusive formulations
b. Propositions Mutually-exclusive formulations
5. Research Problems Boundaries 10%
a.Kind of research
• Distinct character

b.Keywords
• As informed by theory

c. Title
• Clarity

D. Formatting requirements and deadline
• Font size: Arial or Times New Roman (12pt), single-spaced and fully-justified.
• Length: the body of the text shall be 2000 words in length, not counting the length references section.
• Referencing: in-text citations must mirror the entries found in the reference and bibliography sections of the report. The referencing system used must conform to the APA style.
• Organization and submission: the individual written proposal (report) should be based on the template given in this Appendix.