RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Chapter 1
(10Apr23, 2.00-5.00pm)
Writing a Research
Proposal/ Thesis
 Why write research proposal?

Your proposal describes your

proposed plan of work:
• What you plan to study?
(scope and research
questions).
• How you intend to study
your topic? (methodology).
• Why this topic needs to be
studied? (significance).
• When you will complete this
work? (timeline).
 Component of a
Research Proposal

• Title
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Problem Statement, Objective & Scope
• Literature Review
• Methodology
• Results and Discussion
• Conclusion
 Title
Senate Committee for Graduate Studies (Bil. 6/2005/2006) in its meeting on 18 January
2006 has decided that thesis title should observe the following:
i. Thesis title should be a short and snappy description of the main topic of the thesis.
Not more than 15 words.

ii. Redundant words such as “An investigation of ...”, “A preliminary study of ...”, “A study
of ...”, “Analysis of ...”, “On the ...”, “Theory of ...”, “Some ,,,”, and “Toward a ...” must be
avoided.

iii. Thesis title should not contain formulas, symbols or subscripts, Greek letters, or other
non-alphabetical symbols. Word substitutes should be used instead.

iv. Thesis title should not contain acronyms, eg. “GPS” or even acronyms in brackets. For
example, “GPS” should be written as “Global positioning system” and should not be
written as “Global positioning system (GPS)”

v. Thesis title should not contain punctuations such as colon “:”, semi-colon “;”, etc.

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 Abstract
A good abstract would contain the following aspects:

1) Background of problem
2) Problem statement
3) Current solution
4) Current alternative solution
5) Your proposal
6) Methodologies (core method/s only)
7) Results (most important results only)
8) Conclusion/ Expected outcomes
 Example of an Abstract
Over the last two decades, the Malaysian palm oil industry grows rapidly as the premier
agriculture-based industry in place of the rubber industry. However, the production of Background
palm oil also results in the generation of large quantities of polluted wastewater
commonly referred to as palm oil mill effluent (POME) and lignocellulosic biomass Problem
statement
(including fronds, trunks, empty fruit bunch, palm kernel and mesocarp fibre). Current
treatment system for POME is relatively effective, however this system requires a large Current
land area to accommodate a series of ponds as well as long hydraulic retention time (up solution
to 80 days per batch). This study aimed at developing an alternative treatment system
(consisting of biological and physical systems) to remove oil and grease from the Objective
mixing pond section in POME treatment system. Isolation of lipid and biosurfactant-
producing bacteria will be carried out from this section as it contains maximum load of
oil and fats compared to other treatment sections. From the 21 bacterial isolates, two Methodologies
isolates namely isolate X7 and X10 showed lipid degradation activity from the use of
Tween Peptone Agar. Isolate X10 showed promising role as lipid degrading bacteria Results
based on the high cell hydrophobicity value of 84.51% (determined using the BATH
test) and highest OD600 of 1.633 after 24 hours of incubation time. More studies will be
carried out including optimization on the growth condition of selected lipase producing Expected
bacterial species in view of optimum lipase production, adaptation of bacterial isolates outcomes/
conclusion
to grow in raw POME, development of bacterial-based biofilm community using oil
palm frond biomass as support material and evaluation on the oil and grease removal
efficiency using shake-flask (batch) and flow-through column system.
 Chapter 1:
Introduction
 Introduction
5 main components of Introduction:

• Background of study
• Problem statement
• Objective
• Scope
• Significant of study
 Introduction
• Elaboration of the Abstract section

• Overall = < 10 pages (ideal 6-7 pages max.)

- Background of study = 2-3 pages
- Problem statement = half – 1 page
- Objective = 2-3 (for Master’s), 3-4 (Ph.D)
- Scope = 1 page
- Significant of study = 1 page
 Summary of Background

• Give a clear presentation of related literature

• Give the history of the topic
• Show your knowledge of the relevant works and
researchers
• Show agreements, contradictions, gaps
• Show weaknesses in other studies
• Summarize techniques and materials
• Show the originality of your own work.

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 Problem statement
A "Problem Statement" is a
description of a difficulty or lack that
needs to be solved or at least
researched to see whether a solution
can be found. It can also be described
as either a gap between the real and
the desired or a contradiction
between principle and practice.

Reference: http://www.professorbwisa.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=111:how-to-write-a-statement-of-the-problem-in-four-steps
 Problem statement
What is the goal of a statement of problem?

The ultimate goal of a problem statement is to transform a generalized

problem (something that bothers you; a perceived lack) into a targeted,
well-defined problem one that can be resolved through focused
research and careful decision-making.

Writing a Problem Statement should help you clearly identify the

purpose of the project you will propose. Often, the Problem Statement
will also serve as the basis for the introductory section of your final
proposal, directing your readers attention quickly to the issues that your
proposed project will address and providing the reader with a concise
statement of the proposed project itself.

A statement problem need not be long and windy. One page is more
than enough for a good statement of problem.
 Problem statement
What are the key characteristics of a statement of problem?

A good research problem should:

1. address a gap
2. be significant enough to contribute to the existing body of research
3. be one that will lead to more research
4. renter itself to be investigated via collection of data
5. be interesting to the researcher and suit his/her skills, time and
resources
6. be ethical
 Problem statement

What is the format (parts of a problem statement)?

A persuasive problem statement consists of three
parts:
1. Part A - the ideal: Describes a desired goal or ideal
situation; explains how things should be.
2. Part B - the reality: Describes a condition that
prevents the goal, state, or value in Part A from being
achieved or realized at this time; explains how the
current situation falls short of the goal or ideal.
3. Part C - the consequences: Identifies the way you
propose to improve the current situation and move it
closer to the goal or ideal.
 Common Mistakes

• Main purpose is not clear

• Inadequate literature review
• Too long, rambling, unstructured
• Too short, too general
• The approach is not clear
• Specialist terms are not defined

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 Difficulties

• Quantity of literature
• Lack of literature
• Getting started
• How broad or narrow?
• What should be discarded?
• Re-reading for improved understanding

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