Chapter 3

Planning Research - Preparing

Research Proposal
Preparing Research Proposal
• Research is a process whereby someone tries to find an
answer/a solution to a question/a problem.
• A researcher must explain the steps involved in this process
in as much detail as possible to achieve his objectives.
― Why it is needed
― Objectives
― Questions
― Methods
― Time needed
― Budget needed
― Topics to be covered, etc.
 A research will be successful only if it is carefully planned.
What is a research proposal?
– It is a document that describes the planned
research process in a sufficient detail.
 It is a plan to engage in a systematic inquiry about a
question/problem.
 Thus, it contains every necessary step.
– So, a research proposal is a researcher’s road map.
• This is why researchers and a military commanders can
be compared.
• Both must make careful preparations for their missions
to avoid failure.
What is expected of a research proposal?
•A complete research proposal must answer at least the following
questions.
― Is the research worth conducting?
• Why this research? (The “why?”)… value to add
― Is the researcher capable of carrying out the research?
Competence.
― How will the research be conducted? Methods
― How will the research be relevant? Answering the “so what”
question…significance
• Then, readers can have clear idea of why and how the study will be
conducted.
Research Topic- First Step

• Before a research proposal is Prevention of Crime

prepared, one must have a

topic to research. Prevention of
Corruption
• Without a topic, no proposal can
be prepared.
Prevention of
• So, topic selection is the first step Corruption in
in research. Ethiopia
Prevention
• Where can one get a research of
Corruption
topic from? in Jimma
Town
• From the things we see, hear, Preventi
on of
discover, … Corrupti
on in JU
• We can start from a crude idea and
then refine it.
Exercise (crude topics)
 Regulation of sexual harassment
 Divorce under the laws of Ethiopia
 Interpretation of Laws
 Law-making process
 Essential conditions of marriage
 Validity of marriage under Ethiopian laws
 The place of treaties in domestic legal system
 Validity requirement of juridical acts in Ethiopia
 Law on change of name
 The legal effect of interdiction
 The roles parents as guardians
• While refining a general idea to frame a topic, one can use the following
questions as guidelines to come up with a good research topic.

 Is there adequate information on the topic?

 About what aspects of the topic is there a shortage of info?
 Is there a debate about the topic?
 Why do you find this research topic interesting?
 Why should others be interested in the topic/research?
 How does your research topic relate to your academic discipline?,
etc.
Attributes of good research topic
A good research topic has the following attributes.
• The topic must be the one you are interested in.
• The topic must be one you have the necessary skill to handle.
• The topic must allow research within the available time.
• The topic must allow research within the resources you have.
• The topic must remain current when you finish the research.
• You must have access to data to do a research on the topic.
• Your topic must reveal that some kind of value will be added.
• The topic must go in line with your career goals, etc.
Contents of a Proposal - Second Step
• Once a research topic is selected, a proposal can be prepared.
 Background
 Review of Literature
 Problem Statement
 Objective of the Research
 Research Question/Hypothesis
 Significance of the Study
 Method/Methodology
 Limitations to the study
 Scope of the study
 Organization of the research
 Time and Resource needed
 Reference materials
1. Background / Introduction
– This part is a brief introduction which presents
background information about the problem in the form of
a discussion.
 It sets the stage for discussion of a specific problem.
 It also sets the stage for the entire study and puts your topic
in perspective.
 The introduction often includes spectacular/salient and
general statements about the need for the study.
 Hypothetical case
Corruption in XYZ Town: Causes, Impacts, and Remedies
Background
Corruption, which is basically about misusing one’s power, is a topical issue at the
moment. Every nation on the world, big or small, experiences some form of corruption.
However, it is generally agreed that it is very high in least developed countries. Ethiopia is
not an exception here. In fact, despite the continuous efforts made by the gov’t to combat
corruption such as criminalizing corrupt behaviors, Ethiopia is a country where corruption
rate is still one of the highest. Yet, when we consider the regional distribution of corruption
in Ethiopia, Oromia is least affected. Of course, this does not mean that the level of
corruption in all areas in Oromia is low. In fact, in some towns, the level of corruption is
higher. In this regard, one interesting town is XYZ where corruption rate is higher even
than the national rate. This necessitates a thorough investigation to identify why XYZ
town is so different from most other towns in Oromia when it comes to corruption.
2. Literature review
– Almost all researches require some sort of literature review.
– But the extent of the required review varies according to
the type of proposal.
• A PhD proposal for DLR requires exhaustive reviews of the relevant
literature, whereas action research does not require much review.
Why literature review?
• It informs readers that there is a gap in the existing literature or
knowledge that your research is going to fill that gap.
• It convinces readers that the researcher is familiar with the
literature in the area of his research.
• It convinces readers that the researcher is competent to conduct
investigations in the field of the research.
• It can help the research to refine research questions and
objectives.
Literature review
To date, many writers have written on corruption in Ethiopia in general and in some of
its regions in particular. For example, Alemu wrote on why corruption is so high in
Ethiopia.1 But his research is general and not particular to XYZ Town. Worku also
discussed the causes and impacts of corruption in Oromia.2 But worku’s work does
not address the unique factors applicable to XYZ town. Moreover, it does not consider
how corruption in Oromia could be tackled. Other researchers have also written
extensively on corruption in Ethiopia such as Yonas on Corruption in Amhara,3 Blen
on Corruption in Tigray,4 and Yodit on Corruption in the Gambela.5 Yet, as far as my
knowledge goes, none of those researchers has conducted a research on the current
topic/corruption in XYZ town.
 3. Problem Statement
• A research needs to have a problem statement.
 Problem statement refers to a statement that describes a question
or a problem that has triggered the research.
• So, in this section, a researcher must describe the question or problem
he wants to deal with.

– The description must focus on the following questions.

 What is the problem?
 Why does the problem need attention?
 Who is affected by the problem?
How large is the population affected?
How important, influential, or popular is this population?
Is the problem of current interest?
Is the problem likely to continue into the future?
Will more information about it have practical application?
Will more information about it have theoretical importance?
Would this study substantially revise or extend existing knowledge?
Would research findings lead to some useful change in best practice?
Etc.
Problem Statement
As stated before, the level of corruption in Oromia is relatively low. Nevertheless,
there are indications that corruption is rampant in XYZ town as compared to other
towns in the region. In fact, recently, there have been some radio programs1 and the
participants in the discussions on those programs stated that corruption is very high
and a serious obstacle to the development of the town. Moreover, the town’s
administration conducted a rapid assessment on the matter last year and the
assessment showed that in fact the problem could be as big as it is stated by some
people.2 However, the municipality has not yet conducted a comprehensive
research to identify why the problem is so serious and how it needs to be addressed.
Overall, what this shows is the need to conduct a serious investigation into the
causes and impacts of corruption in the town and identify possible solution to
effectively address it. The continuity of the problem will slow down the development
of the town and make its residents pay unnecessary prices.