The research plan, which is also called “research proposal” before acceptance by competent authority, is a scholarly paper. As is well-known, it must conform to accepted conventions of academic and scientific procedure. It is expected to show evidence of intelligent grasp of the problem being proposed for solution, and fields related to it. It must also present appropriate and valid method and procedure for the solution of the problem.
Allowing for certain variations due to preferences of scholars, disciplines, and institutions, a research plan generally contains the following:
1) The title of the personal study,
2) Statement of the problem,
3) Review of related literature, and
4) Scope and limitation of the study,
5) Importance or significance of the study,
6) Definition of terms, and theoretical framework,
7) Methods and procedure,
8) Bibliography.
The Title
The title of the research plan should be brief but descriptive and comprehensive. The title should also be an adequate index to the key contents of the following: 1) the statement of the problem, 2) the method(s) used, and 3) the expected or hypothetical conclusion(s).
Although it is the first to appear on the research plan, it can remain tentative until the problem and methodology have been clearly formulated. (See also W. C. Campbell & S. V. Ballou, Form and Style: Theses, Reports, Term Papers, 4th ed., Boston, USA: Houghton Miffin, 1974, p. 15).
The Statement of the Problem
The statement of the problem is the part of the research plan, which contains two parts, namely: 1) a careful exposition of an area involving significant problems, and how such problems affect knowledge in the given discipline, and 2) a clear and concise statement of the problem. The first is an essay that demonstrates the researcher’s intelligent and broad grasp of the key problem currently confronting her discipline. The second is a clear statement of the question(s) to be answered or hypothesis to be tested.
The statement of the problem in experimental research is usually in the form of a hypothesis or a series of related hypotheses which call for proof or disproof. Other types of research require that the problem be stated categorically in the form of a question or series of related questions. In case a question needs further specification by means of sub-questions, care is to be taken that the sub-questions are all comprehended by the primary question. Multiple questions and questions which add new problems not expressed or implied in the primary question must be avoided. (See Campbell & Ballou, p. 18).
It must be remembered that the statement of the problem is not the same with the statement of the purpose of the study. The first is the question to be answered, while the second is the reason for answering the question.
A good statement of the problem must be consistent with the title and the methods and procedure to be used in the research.
Review of Related Literature
It is assumed that before the researcher starts making the research plan, she has read many important works related to the proposed study. The aims of the review of related literature are:
1) to show that the researcher is familiar with key ideas in his field of study;
2) to show that the knowledge in the field is incomplete, unreliable, or both; and
3) to show that the findings of the proposed study will: a) add to, b) supplement,
and/or c) correct present knowledge.
The tone and tenor of the review of related literature are both expository and evaluative or critical.
The materials subject to review under this heading are both published and unpublished materials containing anything that have some pertinence to the proposed subject of study. These include books, periodicals, documents, theses, dissertations, and all papers that are conventionally regarded among scholars as disciplinary literature. This explains why it is redundant to say “literature and studies” because the term “literature” includes all studies, which are on record and reported.
Scope and Limitation of the Study
The scope of the study refers to the
1) specific source(s) of information, and
2) time involved in the study.
Since the scope of the study directly affect the validity of the conclusion derived from it, it may be assumed that a study that has no specifically defined scope and limitation of sources and time cannot lead to a definite and valid generalization and/or conclusion.
The limitation of the study refers to shortcoming or source of weakness of the study. The honest researcher must admit the weakness or limitation of any aspect of her investigation or her tools of investigation, and source of information. This fundamental rule is required by intellectual honesty. For example, using translation as reference due to one’s lack of proficiency in the original language of the source is a limitation of the investigator. Limitations that are so great as to cause doubt concerning the validity or conclusion of the study invalidate a research plan.
Significance of the Study
The significance of the study is generally of two kinds, namely, 1) the significance of the expected findings of the study to the specific discipline to which the study belongs, and 2) the benefit that human world may derive from the findings. Evidence of significance on the first level is generally sufficient. Significance of the second level if not discreetly put tends to be pretentious and violates the modesty generally expected of scholars. It is, therefore, generally best to convince the reader that the answer(s) one is trying to discover are important mainly to one’s line of study, and leave the “earth-shaking” value of the study understated or implied.
Research on the graduate school level is expected to show evidence of 1) mastery of scientific and rational methods of arriving at conclusions, and 2) actual contribution of new knowledge to the pool of human knowledge. Unless the study meets this requirement, the study is not significant, and this could imply that the student fails even in the first.
Definition of Terms and Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework of the study is stated here. This is the place to present 1) the assumption of the study, that is, proposition regarded are true and therefore not requiring proof in the proposed research, and 2) the definition of key terms.
It is usual that scholars or researchers work within the framework of a discipline, which have generally accepted principles or law which need simply to be assumed as true, and within whose framework the researcher performs his reflected thinking. This means placing the proposed study in the context of a specific school of thought in the researcher’s field of study. It may also require statement of ideas already proved satisfactory by other or previous researchers.
When the theoretical framework in the form of assumptions has been completed, key terms, especially those that are used in a particular or unusual sense, are defined. Operational definitions are preferred. Sources of definitions are properly indicated. Definitions not indicated as having been borrowed from sources are assumed to belong to the author of the research plan.
Operational definitions reduce abstract terms (for example, education) to concrete or quantifiable or measurable terms. The term “development”, for example, is defined operationally as “getting people to know, desire, and be capable of doing better things”. Operational definitions are always in a framework of a study.
Methods and Procedure
Methods refer to the set of procedures or steps to be undertaken for discovering knowledge with reference to the time setting of the truth to be known, that is, the past, present, and the future.
Truth of the past is historical. That of the present is described or pictured. And that of the future can be experimented, that is, create a situation whereby an unknown truth can be observed under controlled conditions. Therefore, there are three methods in general use in the scholarly world.
One method may be used, or where necessary, a combination of all three. But the use of these in combination must be done with great care so that it is always clear when each of the methods is being used, especially in the writing of the research report.
In certain disciplines, such as Literature and Philosophy, textual studies are usual. Studies of text are historical because the ordinary aim of this type of study is to arrive at the original intent of the author insofar as this is possible. This involved an attempt to situate words in their historical or biological context, with reference to their import at the time and place the document was written.
In the research plan, it is sufficient to indicate which method is proposed to be used.
Procedures are sub-items under methods. They are steps in logical or chronological sequence which are seen as an organized system of steps toward the discovery of truth, which involve 1) analyzing, 2) classifying, 3) comparing, 4) narrating, and 5) making conclusions regarding what causes produced what effects. One should not confuse method with the steps in a method.
After the procedures have been presented, a proposed outline of the expected report (for example, thesis, dissertation, and term paper) is presented. This outline shows clearly the proposed titles and subsections under each title. Parts or chapters are presented in their expected final sequence which indicate how the successive parts lead to the findings and conclusion.
Bibliography
This is a systematic listing of all available references in libraries, archives, collections, and in other sources. Exhaustiveness is ideal. Although last in the research plan, it is the first to be done in the order of procedure and time. This is because before anyone can formulate a title or problem for the research plan, one has to know whether there are available sources, or whether there already exist and completed studies covering the same area and problem. The way to discover the sources is to look for them wherever they may be an make a listing of these sources.
Final Note: Sometimes, a research plan or proposal may be presented for evaluation in order to secure funding. When this is the case, two things must be added to the foregoing parts: 1) a timetable indicating the schedule of research activities and the time each step in the research is expected to be completed, and 2) a statement of expenses properly itemized to indicate which amount is for which activity, and for which logistics (that is, tools, equipment, instruments, postage, and the like) and related expenses, such as salaries and publication expenses. It is important to note that the budget is not only itemized but also justified.