FORMAT OF A CONCEPT PAPER

Concept outline :
1. Title page
2. Introduction
3. Statement of the Problem
4. Value of the Study
5. Definition of Variables
6. A Preliminary Literature Review
7. Research Objectives
8. Research Hypothesis
9. Research Methodology
10. Timeline
11. Citation
2. Introduction and statement of the problem

This serves as the most important part of the concept paper. You must be seeking to add value
and convince the reader that you are doing so. For example, your research should seek to solve
an exist ing problem or provide further insights into a scarcely researched topic. The problem
should be clear. Why wou ld you want to investigate the topic under study, and how your
research will be helpful in achieving this? Herein, you need to provide the evidence that the
research you need to carry out is necessary in that it has not been carried out before or has not
been ade quately done. Here are some questions that may help you nail this element:

• What is the problem?

• Why do you feel that it is important?

• How does your study relate to or add to research that has already been done?

3. Value of the study

Outline specific groups of people who the study may benefit and how it will benefit them.

4. A preliminary literature review

You need to back up your passion for the topic under researc h with solid literature that supports
the topic, for example, literature that supports the fact that further research needs to be carried
out in that area. You need to show that there exists an information gap which your research
seeks to fill. The wider the variety of literature review you have carried out, the more solid and
convincing your concept paper will be.

5. State the research goals or objectives

This is a broad statement or statements of what the research seeks to achieve. It should start
with 'to' and answer the questions who, what, when, which, or how.

6. Write down all the research questions

These are important as they will direct you on every research area, for example, the type of data
to collect and how to ana lyze it. Make sure you have exhausted all the questions for the research
to be complete.
7. The research hypothesis

The research hypotheses stem from the research topic or the research questions and are, there
fore, easy to draft. They are a statement of the situation you anticipate based on some prior
knowledge you have, even before you carry out the research. The research seeks to find out if
these hypotheses are true or not. There should be a positive and a negative hypothesis for each
statement given. A positive hypothesis agrees with the statement in question while a negative hy
pothesis opposes it. At the end of the research paper, you will either accept or reject your positive
hypothesis based on your findings.

8. State the methodology you intend to use

The research methodology states the 'how' of carrying out the research. It details the research
design, that is, what kind of research you intend to carry out. You can either carry out:

• An exploratory design that seeks to expound on the area of study that you have an idea in, in
order to understand it better.
• An explanatory design that seeks to carry out an in-depth study on a certain idea that
was not tackled in-depth. It mostly requires the use of qualitative methods of data collection.

• A descriptive research that seeks to find out the relationship between two variables of data
you need. It uses analyses methods such as mean and mode.

9. A timeline for completion of each element of the research project

Undertaking a research can take a very long time if not well planned for, and it is, therefore, im
portant to lay out just how much time you may need to complete each element of the research
project and ultimately the whole project. In this section, you need to set a time frame that is
realist ic.

10. Outline citations

Always remember to give credit to any sources you may have sourced your information from.
This can be done within the document or at the end of the concept paper.
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Title Page :

Republic of the Philippines

CAMARINES SUR POLYTECHNIC COLLEGES
Nabua, Camarines Sur
ISO 9001:2015
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE
Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering

<Title of Project>
(Times New Romans, Font 12, Bold, upper case letters)

A CONCEPT PAPER

A Requirement in
CEP 321 – CE PROJECT 1

by

<First, MI, Last Name of the student>

<First, MI, Last Name of the student>
<First, MI, Last Name of the student>
<First, MI, Last Name of the student>
<First, MI, Last Name of the student>
Course/Section/Group
(Times New Romans, Font 12, Bold, upper case letters for the first letter)

ENGR. IRENE VIRGINIA C. BLANQUERA

Course Adviser
Main Parts :

<Title of the Project>

(Times New Romans, Font 12, Bold, upper case letters)

Introduction

Of late, there have been so many cases of food-related illnesses that are being

associated with the low quality of food products……<justify>

….. …. …. …. ……...

….….. …. …. …. ….

……. As to just how vital quality is in the production process.

2- double space

Statement of the
Problem

This study seeks to answer the question on just how much the quality

considerations of a firm…… <justify>

2- double space

Value of the
Study

The findings for the study will be helpful……

Environment. This will be of great help…… …. …. …. …. ….

in

the realization of …….

Local Government of Nabua. The LGU of Nabua will be … … …

Definition of Variables

What is Quality?

In this study, we will define quality as the ability……..

 2
What is Performance?

In this study, we will define the performance as the ability to ……..

The Preliminary Literature Review

Many documented texts agree that there is a relationship between quality

considerations and the performance of firms………

Research Objectives

The capstone project proposal will be guided by the following objectives:

1. To find out the …..

2. To determine the ….

Research Hypothesis (optional)

The …..

Research Methodology

Timeline

Citations (use ASCE Referencing)