Guidelines for Preparing Research

Proposal/Thesis

Prepared By: Noorulhadi Lecturer

Govt College of Management Sciences,
Peshawar.
 Table of Contents
S.No Title Page
1 Contents of Synopsis/Proposal 01
2 Brief Explanation of Contents 02

3 Layout Of Research Report 04

4 Other Requirement 05
 1. CONTENTS OF SYNOPSIS/Proposal

-------------------------------------------------TOPICS----------------------------------------------------------

1. Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
1.3 Main Objectives
1.4 Research question
1.5 Hypothesis to be tested
1.6 Rational/Significance of study
1.7 Limitation of study
1.8 Research Plan

2. Review of Literature
3. Research Methodology
3.1 Sources of data
3.2 Research Instrument
3.3 Sampling Design
a) Universe/Population
b) Sample Size and Selection
3.4 Analytical Techniques
3.5 Theoretical Framework
4. Organization of the Study
5. References
 2. Brief Explanation of Contents

Topics/Research Problem:

The Research Topic is the exhibition of whole research. The topic should show
relationship between two or more variables, usually in a question form e.g.

“The impact of capital structure on firm profitability”

A case study of cement industry in Peshawar”

1 Introduction
This selection explains a brief, but comprehensive introduction of the under study.
It includes:
 Introduction paragraphs.
 Description of topics

1.1 Main Objectives.

This sub-section clearly explains the purpose and aims of the research project e.g

 To estimate the relationship between capital structure and profitability

 To investigate the impact of capital structure.
 To assess/evolution of capital structure on profitability.
1.2 Problem Statement

A problem statement is a clear concise description of the issues that need to be

addressed by a problem solving team and should be presented to them (or created
by them) before they try to solve the problem. When bringing together a team to
achieve a particular purpose efficiently provide them with a problem statement. A
good problem statement should answer these questions:

What is the problem? This should explain why the team is needed.
Who has the problem or who is the client/customer? This should explain who
needs the solution and who will decide the problem has been solved.
What form can the resolution be? What is the scope and limitations (in time,
money, resources, technologies) that can be used to solve the problem? Does the
client want a white paper? A web-tool? A new feature for a product? A
brainstorming on a topic?
The primary purpose of a problem statement is to focus the attention of the
problem solving team. However, if the focus of the problem is too narrow or the
scope of the solution too limited the creativity and innovation of the solution can
be stifling.

A research-worthy problem statement is the description of an active challenge (i.e.

problem) faced by researchers and/or practitioners that does not have adequate
solutions

1.3 Research Question

A research question is the methodological point of departure of scholarly research

in both the natural sciences and humanities. It is the question which the research
sets out to answer. At an undergraduate level, the answer to the research question
is the thesis statement

Importance
The research question is one of the first methodological steps the investigator has
to take when undertaking research. The research question must be accurately and
clearly defined.

Choosing a research question is the central element of both quantitative and

qualitative research and in some cases it may precede construction of the
conceptual framework of study. In all cases, it makes the theoretical assumptions
in the framework more explicit, most of all it indicates what the researcher wants
to know most and first.

A research question may be used in anything from a high-school or university

term paper to a funding proposal for a major postgraduate research project costing
millions of dollars.
Formulation and use
Before a research question can be formulated, a topic must be identified. It is
generally stressed that the topic must be of the right size for the purpose--neither
too large and complex to be dealt with properly in the time and space available, nor
too small for anything much to be done with. Many university teachers find that
the general tendency is for proposed topics to be too large.

Once a topic (for example, Wikipedia) has been identified and narrowed to the
right size (for example, Wikipedia's policy on contentious topics), the research
question can be formulated. An example might be "How effective is Wikipedia's
policy on contentious topics in achieving presentations that present a neutral point
of view?"

The student or researcher then carries out the research necessary to answer the
research question, whether this involves reading secondary sources over a few days
for an undergraduate term paper or carrying out primary research over years for a
major project.

Once the research is complete and the researcher knows the (probable) answer to
the research question, writing can begin. In term papers, the answer to the question
is normally given in summary in the introduction in the form of a thesis statement.

1.4 Hypotheses to be tested

A hypotheses is declarative or predictive sentence, showing the relationship

between two variables, normally in conclusive form e.g “There is significant
impact of capital structure on firm profitability.

1.3 Rational/Significance.

 By rational of the study (in this case ) we mean why we are going to conduct
this particular study? And what is the significance or importance of the
study? (optional)
2. Review of literature.

In this sub-section the relevant literature is reviewed from the already

published research reports/papers and internet etc.

3. Research methodology.

In highlights the procedure / process and methods with the help of which the
predetermined targets. Objectives are achieved with special focus on.
3.1 sources of data
Primary or secondary or both sources of data collection.
3.1 Research instrument.

Questionnaire, interview schedule, structured or unstructured.

3.2 Sampling design.

The sampling units should clearly be identified e.g.
Firms, Employees, Employers, or Consumers etc.

3.3 Universe/ population:

The universe of the study should precisely be identified.

It should also include whether the universe is finite ir infinite.

3.4 Sample size and selection:

At the stage of research proposal the appropriate sample size is determined.for

the selection of sampling units/respondents, it should be clearly proposed that
random selection method or non-random selection method or a combination of
both should be used. In the former case the type of technique should be
mentioned e.g simple random sampling technique or stratified random
sampling technique etc.
3.5 Analytical techniques:
How the collected data should be anbalyzed? The research proposal must
clearly mention the various mathematical and statistical techniques e.g
percentages, means correction, regression model, NPV, IRR “t” or “Z” or
Chi-Square tests etc.
1. Organization of the study:
 In how many chapters the research report should be organized ? (chapter-
wise break-up)e.g. chapter-1 will highlight the introduction, Review of
Literature will be presented in chapter-2,the 3rd chapter will explain the
research methodology. Chapter-4 will focus on the results and
recommendations. The whole text will be followed by appendixes and
references.
6. References :
It is a list of all books, publications, journals, internal etc. consulted for this
particular research project. It is always arranged alphabetically by author and
should follow any appropriate citations style (APA or HARWARD). Normally
name of author is written first along with year in parenthesis, followed by name of
book or journal (in italics or under lined), publishers and place e.g.
Nazir,M.M. (1990), The cropping pattern in NWFP, Naeem
Printers,Peshawar.
2. Layout of Research Report

Normally the research report is divided into the following three parts:
1. Preliminary pages.
This part of the report includes:
 The title page
 Approval sheet
 Acknowledgement
 Executive summary/ abstract
 Table of contents
 List of tables and figures
2. Main text.
It includes all chapters of the text (e.g. Chapter-1 to chapter-5).
3. End matter.
The main text of research report is followed by end matter,which
includes:
3.1 Appendixes.
The material related to the research project, but not included in the
main text of the report (e.g. questionnaire, long statistical tables,
derivation of formula, maps, calculations etc.)
3.2 References
3.3 Index (optional)

Note: At least three copies of the finalized research project with hard
binding (grey color at BBA level and maroon color at MBA level) must
be submitted to City University of Science & Information Technology,
Peshawar.
4. Other Requirement

1. Format
2. Referencing (APA)
3. Basic Grammer
4. British English
5. Spellings
6. Page Numbering w.r.t Table of Contents
7. Numbering of Tables, Graphs, etc.
8. Punctuation
Capitalization
Comma
Semi-colon
Colon
Full Stop
Quotation Marks
Exclamatory Mark
Question Mark
Brackets
Hyphen
Dash
Forward/Backward Slash
9. Typing Specifications
Font/ Size : Text Times New Roman/12
: Heading Times New Roman/14
: Sub-Heading Times New Roman /12
Line spacing : 1.5 Lines
Page numbering : Bottom Center (Arial/12)
Preliminary Pages( Roman.i.ii.iii.........)
Text: stating from the 2nd Pages from 2,3,4..5
 Paper size & weight : A-4, 80 gms

Margin : Top : 1”
Bottom : 1”
Left : 1.5”
Right : 1”
10. Appendixes:
It includes Questionnaire and large Statistical tables etc

11 References:

Alphabetically from author’s name point of view.Name of author

along with year in parenthesis is witten first, followed by title of the book, name of
publishers and place.

12.Hard Binding:

Blue color at MBA level

13. Volume Of Research Report:

Size of MBA research project should not be less than 60 pages