GuidelineforDevelopingaGoodPh.DProposal Developedby FolorunsoOlufemiA.

FacultyofComputerScienceandInformationSystems, UniversitiTeknologiMalaysia,81310,Skudai JohorBahru,Malaysia.

CHAPTER1 TOTALPAGESFORCHAPTER1MUSTBEBETWEEN(1522)pages 1. Introduction Whatisthemotivationforthisresearch?Discussthemajor keywordsfortheresearch,generalizetheideasbehindit. Explainbrieflytheinspirationfortheresearch;makeappropriate andconcisereferencestorecentbutrelatedresearches. Avoiddetailsatthisstage. Shouldnotbemorethan12pagesideally. 2. ProblemBackground Mentionrelatedworksdonebyothers. Usethe1H5Wprinciples(1Husband5Wives) AnswertheentireWforeachH. Shouldnotbemorethan34pages. 3. StatementoftheProblem Highlightexactlywhatproblempromptedthisresearch. Whathasotherstriedtodoaboutit(ifany). Whatnotabledevelopmentshavebeenachievedasaresultof theirefforts? Whatremainsunsolvedthatnecessitatedthiswork? Donotattempttoprovidesolutiontotheproblemhere. Limityourselfto45pages. 4. Aim(s) Formostworks,theresearchaimisnotdifferentfromyourtitle. Thisisyourgoal. Usuallynotmorethan3linesinasinglepage. 5. Objectives Stateyourobjectivesinlinewiththegoal(s). Eachgoalmusthaveatleast1or2ormoreobjectivestoachieveit. Stateyourobjectivesinorderandnotmorethanfourinnumber. Avoiddetails Preferablynumbered,butmayalsobeparagraphed. Instatingyourobjectives,usetheSMARTprinciple. Notmorethan12pagesideally. 6. JustificationfortheResearch Attempttojustifythereasonsandthenecessityofthisresearch.

 Answerquestionsof:Whymustitbesolvedandnow? Makereferencestoappropriateworkateachstage. Nodetailsshouldbeprovided,justasummary. Notmorethan23pages. 7. ScopeandResearchLimitations Explainthescopeofyourworkhere. Whatkindofdataareyouexpectingtouse Whythiskindofdataandnotothertypesofdata? Whereisyourdatasourcegoingtobeoris? Whatarethosethingsyoudontreallyneedtoborderaboutin thisresearchandwhy? Itmaybeofgoodusetorefertoothersworkandthekindofdata usedtheadvantagesoftheirdatachoicesandthepotential pitfallsforsuchselection. Restrictto12pages 8. Proposalorganization Explaininparagraphswhatthewholeproposaltalksabout. Ideally,thisisnormallydoneafterchapter.Itisaformofchapter summary. Mustbeconstructedinsimplebutlucidmanners. Youmustbeawarethatafastassessororreadermayjustbe interestedinthissectioninyourproposalandnothingmore. Providedetailsofwhateachchaptertalksabouthere. Restrictyourselfto13pages CHAPTER2 TOTALPAGESFORCHAPTER2MUSTBEBETWEEN(2230)pages 1. HistoryandChronology Identityyourresearchmajorkeywords. Asageneralguide,lookatyourproposalstitle,pickwordsfrom there. Giveagoodaccountofthehistoricalviewsofthemajorkeywords ofyourresearch. Talkindetailsstartingfromtheoldesttothelatestperspectives aboutthesewords. Makesurethatyouareabletotracetheworksintheorderof chronology. Diagramscouldbeusedtosummarizeviews. UsetheTechnique,TrendandDatasetsapproachhereforeach identifiedpreviouswork. Restrictyourselfto1520pages. 2. Discussions Accordingtothehistoricalpatternyouhavejusttalkedabout, highlightwhatrelatestoyourownresearch. Whoarethemajorplayers?

 CHAPTER3

Compareresultsintheirresearchesandrelatethistoyourown work. Restrictyourselfto810pages.

TOTALPAGESFORCHAPTER3MUSTBEBETWEEN(1015)pages 1. ResearchTools Whatarethetoolsnecessarytocarryoutyourresearch? Specifyyoursourceofthesetoolsandgivereasonswhyyouhave chosenthem.Itmaybewisetopointtoothersworkontheway theymadetheirtoolschoices. Whatarethecosts(ifany)forthesetools? Aretherealternatives? Restrictto12pages. 2. ResearchApproachorDesign Howdoyouintendtocarryoutyourresearch? Providemethodologiesthatspecificallyanswereachobjectiveset outinchapter1. Ensureconsistencyandfollowtheorderofyourstatedobjectives. Notmorethan23pagesforeachobjective. 3. ImplementationorExperimentation Describeindetailshoweachdesignabovewillbeimplemented. Conductapilotstudyandexplainwhatisobservedfromthestudy. Dontgiveasummaryofyourproposalhere. Restrictto34pages CHAPTER4 TOTALPAGESFORCHAPTER4MUSTBEBETWEEN(510)pages 1. Summary Giveasummaryofthefindingsfromyourpilotstudy. Outlinethemajorproblemsencounteredduringthestudy Restrictto14page. 2. Conclusions Giveanoverviewofyourresearchhere.Itmaybewisetodiscuss potentialproblemsassociatedwitheachsectionandstagesof yourresearch. Summarizeyourworkandgiverecommendations. Avoidclosinguptheresearchtunnel(Researchesmustneverbe closed).Giveroomsforfurtherimprovementsonyourresearch. Giveastatementofpromisetocontinueinthisvein. Restrictto46pages