How to develop a proposal for

a research study

Sri Noegrohati
F. Pharmacy Sanata Dharma Univ.
The importance of research proposal
• The development of a health project goes through a number of stages.
• Formulation of the research proposal is the major task in the process of developing
a research project. The proposal draws on all the preparatory steps of the
research process and pulls them together in a document describing the rationale
and the methodology proposed for research.
• The proposal is a basis for approval. After approval, the proposal is used as a
blueprint during implementation of the project.
• It should be noted that development of a research proposal is often a cyclical
process. It is a usual practice to go up and down on the developed proposal and make
the necessary revisions.
Problem identification
• A research problem is the problem or issue that leads to the need for a study
• Identify the most important health problems and carry out some research work
• Whether a problem requires research depends on three conditions:
1. There should be a perceived difference between what it is and what it should
be;
2. The reason(s) for this difference is unclear  develop a research question
3. There should be more than one possible and plausible answer to the question
• It is important to state and define the problem clearly, because
• It is the foundation for the development of research proposal (research
objectives, methodology, work plan, etc);
• It makes easier to find information and reports of similar studies to be able to
design the research
• Enables to justify that the proposed research should be undertaken
LITERATURE REVIEW
• Benefit of literature review
• Prevents duplicating work that has been done before.
• Increase knowledge on the problem to be studied and assist in refining the "statement of
the problem".
• more certain that this research is needed.
• Familiar with different research methods
• After collecting the required information, decide on how to discuss previous research findings
• from global to local
• from broader to focused
• from past to current
• Overall, the literature review should be adequate, relevant and critical. This review should
answer
• How much is known?
• What is not known?
• What should be done based on what is lacking?
Research question
• After an exhaustive literature review, summarize the findings, indicating the research
gap which supports the undertaking of your study  formulate the the research
question, then the objectives of the study
• Importance of the research question
• it narrows down a broad topic of interest into a specific area of study. These
questions influence factors, such as the research methodology, sample size,
data collection, and data analysis (Lipowski, 2008).
• Research questions, along with hypotheses, serve as a guiding framework for
research  select the best type of research to be done to obtain the best
answers.
• Common Types of Research Questions
• Quantitative research questions
• Qualitative research questions
• Mixed quantitative and qualitative research questions.
Quantitative research questions
• Quantitative research questions are precise, usually aiming to understand particular
processes that occur in a particular context and/or location  include the population to be
studied, dependent and independent variables, and the research design to be used,
• Quantitative research questions can be categorized into three types: descriptive, comparative,
and relationship.
a. Descriptive research questions: the question point to describe responses of a study’s
population to one or more variables or describe variables that the research will be
measured, Expl: Survey research Question: How often do you buy mobile apps Variable:
Number of mobile apps bought Population: Smartphone users
b. Comparative research questions: the question point to the outcome differences
between two or more groups for a variable. Expl: Question: What are the outcome
differences between a group treated with and without nutrient supplement or Pre- vs. post-
treatment, Variable: nutrient supplement treatment Population: elderly
c. Relationship research questions: the question point to explore and define trends and
interactions between two or more variables  often include both dependent and
independent variables. Expl Question: What is the relationship between caffeine
concentration and absorbance, Independent Variable: caffeine concentration, Dependent
Variable: absorbance, Population: energy drink.
Types of Research Questions cont’d
2. Qualitative research questions
• Qualitative research questions are usually adaptable, non-directional, and more
flexible  often more general and vaguely worded, As a result, studies
using these questions generally aim to “discover," “explain," or “explore or
describe phenomena“ usually trying to understand the experiences,
understandings, and meanings that people have about the concepts in our
research question
3. Mixed-methods studies
• Mixed-methods studies typically require a set of both quantitative and
qualitative research questions. Separate questions are appropriate when the
mixed-methods study focuses on the significance and differences in
quantitative and qualitative methods and not on the study’s integrative
component
Research objective
• Having decided what to study  formulate the research objectives. Objectives should be
closely related to the statement of the problem
• A research objective, is a sentence that summarizes the purpose of the research, it’s an
idea/phenomena to understand deeper by performing research.
• General objectives: aim of the study in general terms
• Specific objectives: measurable statements on the specific questions to be
answered. the specific objectives are related to the research problem situation. They
indicate the variable to be examined and measured.
• the research objectives should :
• Cover the different aspects of the problem and its contributing factors in a coherent way
and in a logical sequence
• clearly expressed in measurable terms
• realistic considering local conditions
• Meet the purpose of the study
• Use action verbs that are specific enough to be measured
Hypothesis
Based on the type of the study problem  develop problem that can be tested 
The second important step is formulate the hypothesis
• A hypothesis is a statement on predictions about what the research will find
of a relationship between one or more variables and the problem under
study. It is a tentative answer to research question that has not yet been
tested
• Hypotheses propose a relationship between two or more variables.
• An independent variable is something the researcher changes or controls.
• A dependent variable is something the researcher observes and measures
• to formulate a hypothesis
• it should be based on existing theories and knowledge.
• It also must be testable by scientific research methods  it can be
support or refute it
• hypotheses is needed before starting the experiment or data collection
Developing a hypothesis
• Step 1. Ask a question
• Start with a research question that you want to answer.
• Step 2. Do some preliminary research/Literature review
• Look for theories and previous studies to predict what your research will find
• The initial answer to the question should be based on what is already known about
the topic.
• identify possible variables to answer the research question and the relationships
between them
• Step 3. Formulate your hypothesis
• At this stage, you have a good idea of the expected results of the research. Write
your initial answer to the question in a clear, concise sentence and directly aim to
answer the research question.
• Step 4. Refine your hypothesis
• make sure your hypothesis is specific and testable. the hypothesis should
contain:
• The relevant variables.
• The specific group being studied
• The predicted outcome of the experiment or analysis
• Step 5. Phrase your hypothesis
• In term of simple prediction in if…then form. The first part of the sentence states
the independent variable and the second part states the dependent variable.
If a first-year student starts attending more lectures, then their exam scores will
improve.
• in terms of correlations or effects, directly state the predicted relationship
between variables.
The number of lectures attended by first-year students has a positive effect on
their exam scores.
• in terms of comparation between two groups, state what difference you expect to
find between them.
First-year students who attended most lectures will have better exam scores
than those who attended few lectures.
• Step 6. Write a null hypothesis
• If your research involves statistical hypothesis testing  write a null
hypothesis and Alternative hypothesis .
• The null hypothesis is the default position that there is no statistical
significance between the variables in the hypothesis.
• Alternative hypothesis defines is a statistically important relationship
between two variables., reflects that there will be an observed effect for our
experiment.
• The null hypothesis is written as H0, while the alternative hypothesis is H1 or Ha.
• H0: The number of lectures attended by first-year students has no effect on
their final exam scores.
• H1: The number of lectures attended by first-year students has a positive
effect on their final exam scores.
Quantitative Research Questions and
Hypotheses
• In quantitative studies, investigators use quantitative research questions and
hypotheses, and sometimes objectives, to shape and specifically focus the purpose
of the study.
• Quantitative research questions inquire about the relationships among
variables that the investigator seeks to know..
• Quantitative hypotheses, on the other hand, are predictions the researcher
makes about the expected outcomes of relationships among variables. They
are numeric estimates of population values based on data collected from samples
• Testing of hypotheses employs statistical procedures in which the investigator draws
inferences/deductions about the population from a study sample
• Hypotheses are used often in experiments or intervention trials in which
investigators compare groups.
• To eliminate redundancy, write only research questions or hypotheses—not both—
unless the hypotheses build on the research questions..
Mixed Methods Research Questions and
Hypotheses
• A strong mixed methods study should contain at least three research questions: the
qualitative question, the quantitative question or hypothesis, and a mixed methods
question.
• This mixed methods question represents what the researcher needs to know about the
integration or combination of the quantitative and qualitative data. This
configuration is necessary because mixed methods does not rely exclusively on either
qualitative or quantitative research but rely on both forms of inquiry.
• Researchers should consider what types of questions should be presented and when
and what information is most needed to convey the nature of the study: