Objective : By the end of this course , students will be able to outline their research dissertation in a form

of a research proposal .

A research proposal

As noted in the previous lesson , choosing a topic that ‗fits‘ you is one of the most important steps in
the entire dissertation writing process, as your work will generally be of much higher quality when you have
a genuine interest in your topic and the knowledge and resources available to do a good job on that topic.
Possible topics can be found in a number of places. First, consider the gaps and intellectual controversies
that you‘ve listed in the activities above. Secondly, your supervisor or other academics in the department
may have suggestions. Thirdly, other students in the same programme, and particularly those who are
already writing dissertations, may be able to tell you about ideas that they considered and rejected.
Indeed, you may spot an interesting angle to the topic that they missed! Yet another excellent place to
identify good candidate topics is when you‘re reading articles in your subject area. Some bit of information
in the article may spark an idea or the writer may make suggestions for future research. You might use these
suggestions ‗as is‘ or adapt and improve them. You should avoid the tendency to choose a topic that is very
broad or complex; it‘s better to do a limited study well than a large-scale study poorly. One thing that‘s true
for nearly all dissertation and thesis writers is that they‘re surprised at how much time the project requires.
Projects of this size take more time and energy than you predict simply because the number of unanticipated
challenges and details that have to be considered and then handled is so large.

The goal of a research proposal?

In a research proposal , the goal is to present the author‘s plan for the research they intend to conduct. In
some cases, part of this goal is to secure funding for said research. In others, it‘s to have the research
approved by the author‘s supervisor or department so they can move forward with it. In some cases, a
research proposal is a required part of a graduate school application. In every one of these circumstanc es,
research proposals follow the same structure.

How long s hould a research proposal be?

Generally, research proposals for bachelor‘s and master‘s theses are a few pages long. Research
proposals for meatier projects, like Ph.D. dissertations and funding requests, are often longer and far more
detailed. A research proposal‘s goal is to clearly outline exactly what your research will entail and
accomplish, so including the proposal‘s word count or page count isn‘t nearly as important as it is to ensure
that all the necessary elements and content are present.

The structure of a research proposal

A research proposal or an RP describes what you will investigate, why it‘s important, and how you
will conduct your research . In a research proposal, the author demonstrates how and why their research is
relevant to their field. They demonstrate that the work is necessary to the following:

 Filling a gap in the existing body of research on their subject

 Underscoring existing research on their subject, and/or

 Adding new, original knowledge to the academic community‘s existing understanding of their subject
 A research proposal also demonstrates that the author is capable of conducting this research and contributing
to the current state of their field in a meaningful way. To do this, your research proposal needs to discuss
your academic background and credentials as well as demonstrate that your proposed ideas have academic
merit.

But demonstrating your research‘s validity and your personal capability to carry it out isn‘t enough to get
your research proposal approved. Your research proposal also has to cover these things:
 The research methodology you plan to use

 The tools and procedures you will use to collect, analyze, and interpret the data you collect
 An explanation of how your research fits the budget and other constraints that come with conducting it
through your institution, department, or academic program

While the sections may vary, the overall objective is always the same. A research proposal serves as
a blueprint and guide for your research plan, helping you get organized and feel confident in the path
forward you choose to take. The format of a research proposal varies between fields, but most proposals will
contain at least these elements:

 Title page
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Literature review
 Research design
 Expected results
 Reference list

Introduction

Your introduction achieves a few goals:

 Introduces your topic
 States your problem statement and the questions your research aims to answer

 Provides context for your research

In a research proposal, an introduction can be a few paragraphs long. It should be concise, but don‘t feel like
you need to cram all of your information into one paragraph.

In some cases, you need to include an abstract and/or a table of contents in your research proposal. These are
included just before the introduction.

Background significance

This is where you explain why your research is necessary and how it relates to established research in your
field. Your work might complement existing research, strengthen it, or even challenge it—no matter how
your work will ―play with‖ other researchers‘ work, you need to express it in detail in your research
proposal.

This is also the section where you clearly define the existing problems your research will address. By doing
this, you‘re explaining why your work is necessary—in other words, this is where you answer the reader‘s
―so what?‖
 In your background significance section, you‘ll also outline how you‘ll conduct your research. If necessary,
note which related questions and issues you won’t be covering in your research.

Lite rature review

In your literature review, you introduce all the sources you plan to use in your research. This includes
landmark studies and their data, books, and scholarly articles. A literature review isn‘t merely a list of
sources (that‘s what your bibliography is for); a literature review delves into the collection of sources you
chose and explains how you‘re using them in your research.

Research design, methods, and schedule

Following your research review, you‘ll discuss your research plans. In this section, make sure you cover
these aspects:
 The type of research you will do. Are you conducting qualitative or quantitative research? Are you
collecting original data or working with data collected by other researchers?
 Whether you‘re doing experimental, correlational, or descriptive research
 The data you‘re working with. For example, if you‘re conducting research in the social sciences, you‘ll need
to describe the population you‘re studying. You‘ll also need to cover how you‘ll select your subjects and
how you‘ll collect data from them.

 The tools you‘ll use to collect data. Will you be running experiments? Conducting surveys? Observing
phenomena? Note all data collection methods here along with why they’re effective methods for your
specific research.

Beyond a comprehensive look at your research itself, you‘ll also need to include:
 Your research timeline
 Your research budget

 Any potential obstacles you foresee and your plan for handling them

Suppositions and implications

Although you can‘t know your research‘s results until you‘ve actually done the work, you should be going
into the project with a clear idea of how your work will contribute to your field. This section is perhaps the
most critical to your research proposal‘s argument because it expresses exactly why your research is
necessary.
In this section, make sure you cover the following:
 Any ways your work can challenge existing theories and assumptions in your field

 How your work will create the foundation for future research
 The practical value your findings will provide to practitioners, educators, and other academics in your field
 The problems your work can potentially help to fix

 Policies that could be impacted by your findings

 How your findings can be implemented in academia or other settings and how this will improve or otherwise
transform these settings
In other words, this section isn‘t about stating the specific results you expect. Rather, it‘s where you
state how your findings will be valuable.

Conclusion
This is where you wrap it all up. Your conclusion section, just like your conclusion paragraph for an essay,
briefly summarizes your research proposal and reinforces your research‘s stated purpose.

Bibliography or references

Yes, you need to write a bibliography in addition to your literature review. Unlike your literature review,
where you explained the relevance of the sources you chose and in some cases, challenged them, your
bibliography simply lists your sources and their authors.
The way you write a citation depends on the style guide you‘re using. The three most common style guides
for academics are MLA, APA, and Chicago, and each has its own particular rules and requirements. Keep in
mind that each formatting style has specific guidelines for citing just about any kind of source,
including photos, websites, speeches, and YouTube videos.
Sometimes, a full bibliography is not needed. When this is the case, you can include a references list, which
is simply a scaled-down list of all the sources you cited in your work. If you‘re not sure which to write, ask
your supervisor.

Exercise : The following research proposal parts are in disorder , identify each part to get a coherent
research proposal format

…………………………………..

A preliminary literature review shows that past studies are primarily focused on understanding and
modeling a particular type of constraint, such as technological, contractual, resource, spatial, and
information constraints. Limited progress has been made on classifying various constraints according to
their characteristics in a comprehensive manner. In terms of modeling and resolving constraints, various
approaches have been recommended. For example, many CPM-based methods are applied to deal with time-
related constraints; knowledge-based systems were used to automate work plan generation; network-based
optimization algorithms were developed to resolve constraints; and databases and visualization techniques,
such as 3D, 4D, and Virtual Reality (VR), are used to communicate and visualize constraints. What is
missing from the past studies is a comprehensive and structured approach in managing constraints

……………………………………….

The importance of developing a constraint-free and reliable work plan has long been recognized by
the industry. However, numerous construction projects are still plagued by delays and cost overruns, which
can frequently be traced to ineffective identification and treatment of constraints. First, when a constraint is
not properly identified during scheduling, subsequent conflicts in the field are inevitable. Today‘s projects
are becoming more and more technically complex and logistically challenging, which exposes construction
operations to even more complex constraints. Second, the traditional scheduling methods, bar charts and
Critical Path Method (CPM) which are widely used as a basis for constraint analysis, greatly limit our
capability in modeling and resolving constraints Problem statement provides a clear and concise description
of the issues that need to be addressed - What is the specific problem in that research area that you will
address (e.g. lack of understanding of a subject, low performance …)? during look-ahead scheduling. These
methods have long been blamed for their limitations in modeling and communicating constraints, including
inability to cope with non-time-related precedence constraints and difficulty to evaluate and communicate
inter-dependencies at the field operation level (e.g. Sriprasert and Dawood 2002; Chua and Shen 2001).

………………………………….

The result of this study will be valuable to the industry practitioners as well as related software
providers in developing better practice and tools for constraint management and look-ahead scheduling.

………………………………

In summary, there is a need for a better understanding of constraints in construction and a structured
approach in identifying and modeling constraints to ensure a constraint-free work plan. More specifically,
the following research questions need to be addressed:

1. What are the typical constraints found in various construction projects?

2. How to classify these constrains for easier identification and modeling?

3. What are the current industry practice as well as research advancements in modeling and resolving
constraints?

How to unify the constraint classification knowledge and various constraint modeling efforts into a
framework for total constraint management?

…………………………………….

The primary research method for this study is literature review and conceptual modeling. Constraint
identification and classification through a structured approach is the very first step toward a ―zero-
constraint‖ environment. This study will first review various types of constraints in construction and their
characteristics. Based on this understanding, a classification method will be developed to categorize
constraint factors for the purpose of constraint identification and modeling. In the second stage of this study,
existing constraint modeling methods will be identified based on a comprehensive review of current industry
practices and academic researches. Finally, once the constraint classification and modeling techniques are
identified, a conceptual framework for total constraint management will be outlined. This study will be
conducted between September 2010 and May 2011.

……………………………………….

Ballard, G. (2000). ―Last planner system of production contro l.‖ Ph.D. Dissertation. Univ. of
Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.

Chua, D. and Shen, L. J. (2001). ―Constraint modeling and buffer management with integrated
production scheduler.‖ Proceedings of International Conferences on Lean Construction 2001, Singapore.

Hinze, J. W. (2008). Construction planning and scheduling, 3rd ed. Pearson, NJ.
 Sriprasert, E. and Dawood, N (2002). ―Requirements identification for 4D constraint-based
construction planning and control system.‖ Proceedings of CIB W78 conference – distributing knowledge in
building, Aarhus, Danmark.

…………………………………………..

Every construction project is unique and has its own operating environment and sets of technical
requirements. As a result, the execution of a construction project is subject to numerous constraints that limit
the commencement or progression of field operations, which invariably have significant negative impact on
overall project performance. By definition, constraints refer to any condition, such as temporal/spatial
limitations and safety/quality concerns, which may prevent a project to achieve its goals. Successful
execution and control of a construction project relies on effective identification and management of
constraints through master planning and short-term look-ahead scheduling. While the master schedule
provides a global view of a project and the overall execution strategy, a look-ahead schedule offers a detail
account of operational constraints and a detailed plan showing work to be done within a relatively short time
window. Ideally, these detailed schedules should reflect actual field conditions and provide field personnel
with operation instructions free of constraints and conflicts (Hinze 2008). This look-ahead scheduling and
constraint analysis procedure is also a critical component of the last-planner methodology proposed by
Ballard (2000). This research project will provide an overview of state-of-art schedule constraint analysis
practice during look-ahead scheduling. In addition, it will propose a conceptual framework for managing
constraints.

………………………………………..

The long term goal of the research is to develop a formalized constraint management system.
Constraint management is defined herein as the process of identifying, classifying, modeling, and resolving
constraints. The objective of the current study is to provide a comprehensive review of literatures and
industry practices in relation to constraint analysis and outline a conceptual framework for constraint
management. Particularly, the study has the following sub-objectives:

1. To provide a comprehensive review of sources and characteristics of constraints typically found in

construction projects;

2. To develop a constraint classification method for easier constraint identification and modeling;

3. To review current industry practices and researches in regards to constraint modeling;

4. To outline a conceptual framework for total constraint management.

……………………………………

A Conceptual Frame work for Scheduling Constraint Management