MS Research Proposal Format, Study Guides, Projects, Research of Technical Writing

Download MS Research Proposal Format and more Study Guides, Projects, Research Technical Writing in PDF only on Docsity! RESEARCH PROPOSAL - PRESENTATION AND FORMAT GUIDELINES BOARD OF ADVANCED STUDIES AND RESEARCH RESEARCH PROPOSAL TEMPLATE FOR M.Sc/MS THESIS University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar, Pakistan Congratulations on fulfilling your requirements for the application of your research proposal. This phase should be completed in a timely manner to ensure that you can get on with your research and thesis writing. The research proposal is your opportunity to plan your research and present this plan to your department’s Project Research Evaluation Committee (PREC) members, to convince the PREC members and the university that the research has merit and should be supported. In order to have clear understanding of your research proposal it is essential that the proposal be written in plain language, brief, defining technical terms and not assuming any prior knowledge of the research committee. The proposal will proceed to the Board of Advanced Studies and Research (BOASAR) for consideration and approval. Sometimes revisions will be requested before the proposal can be finally approved. Do not be discouraged by this. Critical peer review is a normal part of the academic process and does not imply that you do not have the ability or your research will not be successful. It is simply a way of ensuring that the foundations for your research are as sound and strong as possible. Comments received from the committee needs to be reflected in amendments or redrafting as agreed with them. We aim to ensure that you complete your thesis with the minimum of amendments and the most positive assessment by examiners. Approval of your research proposal is the first step on the journey to achieving an excellent outcome from your research leading towards the award of degree in the relevant field. The Appropriate Length of a Research Proposal A good research proposal is as long as it takes, but a guide would be 1500‐2500 words. Remember that it is meant to be an accurate overview, not a thesis, so you need to provide enough detail for the reader to understand it. Follow 3C’s rule (i.e. Clear, Concise and Coherent). Finally, remember that a research proposal instantly reflects your potential competence to undertake graduate studies effectively. A proposal is ultimately about your ability to demonstrate that you are capable of M.Sc/MS study, so you should put time and effort into it. Instructions 1. All headings in Time New Romans (font size 14, bold, non-italic), subheading should be in Time New Romans (font size 13, bold, non-italic), and rest of the text in Time New Romans (font size 12, regular, non-italic). All text should be justified with line spacing 1.5. Page Size: A4 with margins 1 on all sides. 2. Only the proposals submitted according to the given framework and formatting will be entertained by the BOASAR office. Note At least one research publication/presentation from the proposed research (in a reputed national or international conference/journal) is mandatory to fulfil one of the requirements for the award of the degree. Print the project title and your Name here as a header on every page of the document PREC Member PREC Member PREC member PREC member 1. Summary Write a brief summary/abstract of your research proposal listing the background, problem statement, objectives, project plan and expected outcomes. The summary should be maximum two paragraphs and 300-400 words long. 2. Introduction Should be brief and to the point introduction of the research area. Give a brief contextual background to your study. Set the stage for your study. Briefly tell us why this study should be done. Use the proper referencing techniques preferably using EndNote or any other available referencing software. In the introduction, you should use evidence (facts, figures, and works by other authors) to convince us that your chosen research topic is: Relevant Not already over-researched Feasible (in terms of scope, resources and a time frame)) 3. The Problem Statement Clearly state the problem, arising from your background given above, which you have to solve in the proposed research. The problem statement is a concise description of the research question that needs to be addressed. The research problem is your compass for the rest of the steps to follow. 4. Aims and Objectives Aims and objectives are the foundation on which the entire project is constructed, so they need to be sturdy and durable. No paragraphs are generally required. Write aims and objectives using brief and crisp bullet (or numbered) statements. Make sure to include how the proposed research will be validated. Print the project title and your Name here as a header on every page of the document PREC Member PREC Member PREC member PREC member 5. Scope/Significance of the study Explain the benefits of the research in terms of novel contribution to the repository of knowledge that can be disseminated to the academic community and more broadly to address an important problem and its possible solution for a particular section of the community, such as industry. Answer the following questions: Why is this study being undertaken? What is the possible contribution of this study: scientific, policy, a program, practical contribution? 6. Literature Review A literature review is an account of what has been published on a topic by accredited scholars and researchers in peer reviewed Journal papers, books and may be from well-reputed conferences organized by renowned societies in the respective discipline of study. The purpose of the literature review is to identify what past research has been carried out and how it links to your research problem. For this purpose, search the relevant cutting-edge research papers through a proper database. The literature review also introduces the theoretical or experimental framework for the study. You will need to: • Identify theoretical/background literature relevant to the proposed area of research. • Analyze critically the major literature items you have identified. • Indicate any gap(s) within the literature, in the knowledge or approaches to the field. • Indicate how your research relates to and extends the existing literature, showing that your research topic has not been undertaken. Be specific in selection of your research literature. All the references are required to be cited in literature review section in square brackets e.g. Ali [1], for single author where Ali is his last name. Ajmal and Afzal [2] for two authors with their last names separated by ‘and’. Similarly, if the number of authors are more than three, then use Gul et. al. [3] where Gul is the last name of the first author. Follow the rule of Cite While You Write (CWYW) and do not let it to be completed at the end. All citations must be accompanied by their relevant completed references list at the end of the proposal. Use of any citation manager software will automatically accomplish the above formatting and autogenerated references list. Finish this section with a one-paragraph summary of the “knowledge” gap you have identified. Print the project title and your Name here as a header on every page of the document PREC Member PREC Member PREC member PREC member Please keep in mind that literature review is NOT a list of articles followed by a short summary of what they are about 7. Research Methodology The research methodology covers the methodology for collecting and analyzing information, and the experimental part of the research. The methodology section should identify what data is intended to be collected, how it is to be gathered and how it is to be analyzed. The proposed method(s) to be used for the study should be explained and justified. That is, you need to explain how and why the method is appropriate for the study, and how it is feasible. Any sampling techniques and justification of sample size should be described and justified where appropriate. This section should include the following: • Any theoretical Studies: Write about the theoretical studies required. • Experimental Set Up: Describe about the experimental setup for the proposal. • Method of Analysis: Discuss the method of analysis to be used for the proposed research. • Flow chart of how the methodology will be carried out. If possible, outline different phases of your study and how the completion of one phase leads logically into the next. This should match with your timeline defined in the Gantt Chart. For Tables use the following format: The Tables captions/titles should be above the table as shown below. The data in tables may not be a repetition of the Figures. Table 3: SPI values for drought classification (Reference if any) S. No. Classification SPI value 1 Extreme wet ≥ 2.00 2 Severe wet 1.50 to 1.99 3 Moderate wet 1.00 to 1.49 4 Mild wet 0.50 to 0.99 5 Normal 0.49 to −0.49 Print the project title and your Name here as a header on every page of the document PREC Member PREC Member PREC member PREC member Expenditure on only those items which become the property of the Department will be met by the University. To name some of them:- i. Books. Journals, photocopying charges from a book which is not available in our libraries (the book will be registered in the library stock and then issued to the scholar). ii. Equipment, material and other such things which the supervisor/Chairman/Secretary BOASAR, deem fit to be purchased by the University. iii. Expenses on preparation/printing of thesis will not be paid by the university. iv. Labor charges and any travelling allowance is are not permissible. v. Chairman/Postgraduate Advisor will ensure that the materials/equipment bought for the project shall be retained in the department. 11. Work Schedule Plan: c. Proposed starting date Print date here d. Expected date of completion Print date here Include a plan of expected progress in Gantt chart form. A sample is provided below: Activity 201? 201? October November ….. January …. …… Literature Collection Literature Review Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Thesis Write up Submission Print the project title and your Name here as a header on every page of the document PREC Member PREC Member PREC member PREC member 12. References: Only include references that are mentioned in this document. To have consistency in citation and references list, the citation can be made through available citation managers like EndNote, Mendeley, Zetero, ReadCube, Papers, and RefWorks. Using the references managers, will automatically generate the references list which avoids any inconvenience faced during manual entry of the same. Use the following format (or similar to this) for references. The one used here is from Endnote -Earth Sci Rev Example Journal Paper: Waseem, M., Ajmal, M. and Kim, T.-W., 2015. Development of a new composite drought index for multivariate drought assessment. Journal of Hydrology, 527: 30-37. Basharat, M., Ali, S.U. and Azhar, A.H., 2014. Spatial variation in irrigation demand and supply across canal commands in Punjab: a real integrated water resources management challenge. Water Policy, 16 (2): 397-421. Example Conference Paper: Raja, G. and Mirza, M.J., 2004. Performance comparison of advanced video coding H.264 standard with baseline H.263 and H.263+ standards. In Proc. 4th IEEE International Symposium on Communications & Information Technologies, ISCIT 04, Sapporo, Japan, 743–746. Example Book: Iain, E.G.R., 2003. Video Codec Design, Great Britain, John Wiley & Sons ISBN: xx- yyyy-zzzz. Example Web Link: MPEG Software Simulation Group, 2004. The MSSG homepage, available on-line at http://www.mpeg.org/MPEG/MSSG (Access Date 12-05-2019). Print the project title and your Name here as a header on every page of the document PREC Member PREC Member PREC member PREC member Undertaking I certify that research work titled “enter title of your research proposal here” is my own work. The work has not, in whole or in part, been presented elsewhere for assessment. Where material has been used from other sources, it has been properly acknowledged/referred. Signature of Student Name of Student Registration Number