I choose to write this article to guide final year students, undergraduate students even the post graduate students (MBA, MSc.) in their research work. The word proposal as we all know is simply a form of an official request to handle a particular situation based on the background knowledge for that particular situation; now in the area of research writing, the situation here is the research topic you are writing on. When you are proposing to carryout research on a particular topic it is required and believed that you have a good knowledge background concerning your research topic. A good research student will go back, sit down and think about the research topic he or she wishes to carryout research on; you are expected to understand the topic, gather all the knowledge gap in the topic you choose, know your aims and objectives of your research topic, derive a strategies through your research question on how to ascertain those aims, tell your research supervisor the importance and need why he or she should allow you to carry out a research on the topic you presented to him or her.

The mistake most final year students made is telling their supervisor about the limitation of the study in their proposal when they have not actually carried out the research.

Below is the simple guide on how to write a good research proposal:

In writing your research proposal, first you state the data you are proposing for the research topic on the left top corner, secondly the research topic should be boldly stated for example “THE EFFECT OF CHANGE IN POLITICAL ADMINISTRATION ON BUDGET AND BUDGET PLANNING” when you state the topic as presented above, you are expected to follow up with the background of the study, followed by the statement of problem including the gaps, then your aims and objective for the research work, the research question, the significance of study, the scope of the study, then finally you go ahead and tell your project supervisor the methodology you wish to apply for an excellent research work to be done on the topic. At the end of the day your research proposal will be something similar to this:

DATE:

TOPIC:

BACKGROUND OF STUDY

STATEMENT OF RESEARCH PROBLEM

AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

RESEARCH QUESTION

SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY

SCOPE OF STUDY

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

If a research study can put up some meaningful then I see your research work going places.