NOU Proposal Format
NOU Proposal Format
NOU Proposal Format
A Manual
Format Decided by
the FOSSED-Faculty Research Committee
27 Baishak, 2076
Introduction
This guide help students prepare their research proposal and dissertations for
acceptance by Nepal Open University [NOU]. Every student in the NOU is required to
successfully complete and submit a dissertation to qualify for degree assignment. This
The main objective of a research proposal is to present and justify the need to study a
research problem and to present the practical ways with which the proposed study should
be conducted. The proposal for the research project work should include the following
contents:
Title Page
Table of Contents
Chapter I: Introduction
Organizational Structure
References
28
Guidelines
Title
Generally, the title of research proposal contains certain keywords which inform
about research area, context, methodology and problem. Although some academies
prescribe the limit of words in research proposal titles such as maximum 12 to 15 words,
there is no limit of words. However, all the academies encourage to write short titles with
Introduction
This section generally informs about the purpose of study, research methodology,
research problem and significance of the study. This section provides a basic information
about over all research proposal. When developing this section, a researcher can begin
with what the purpose of study is. It can lead to how the study is going to be conducted. It
means how the researcher is going to approach research field and participants, what the
research resign is, what research methods are, what tools s/he is going to use to gather
data/information (optional depending on the type of research), how the research data will
Coherently, this section informs about research problem and significance of the
study. A researcher can describe the problem identified and has been a matter of study.
S/he can develop own writing rather than bringing ideas from other sources. This section
disciplines, research proposals can be specific but general principles are shared by all
focused in own research, systematic and gradual development of the idea and the current
situation of the focused idea. Individual researchers may generate their own themes to
present contextual ideas. However, they are expected to begin from broader areas to
specific to come to own study context such as international, national and local contexts.
This section provides general information about the research area and idea, but it
does not particularly negotiate research arguments as in the literature review section. For
of ICT in
their planning and teaching, may require basic information such as international context
curriculum and government policy in ICT. These sections can provide a rationale of study
undertaken research for target audiences that how the research is beneficial. It is
necessary to include some reasons that contribute to academic and literature field,
paragraph or so.
Research Questions
Generally, researchers write one overarching and then two or three specific
research questions. The overarching question covers all other questions which means the
specific questions are part of the main research question. These questions lead the entire
research process from the development of research title to writing research conclusion.
research, researcher can state three to four hypotheses. For this, the researcher needs to
Delimitations are decisions that a researcher takes that should be listed. He/she
define the boundaries they set for the research. The researcher needs to inform the readers
specifically why they choose those constructs, theories, methods or study sites.
Literature Review
various databases and old documents which can be replicated and reproduced by other
researcher will state review of literature in separate chapter in research report. For
proposal, the review needs to include generally search terms, type of documents, search
researcher can follow chronological or thematic literature review idea depending on the
for investigating or examining the pre-assumed relation between the variables or explore
Research Methodology
chapter This section provides a strict map of research process that the researcher is going
to follow throughout the research, particularly from obtaining ethical approval to writing
thesis. It shows how a researcher is going to approach research field and participants and
Organizational Structure
The following Index 9 is the Dissertation format decided by FRC that shows the
organization structure of the research. If there are any changes in the structure, the
References
This section lists the sources cited in the proposal. The researcher has to follow
Style Manual
references, labelling headings, and constructing tables and figures. FOSSED, NOU
primarily follows the style manual of latest style manual of American Psychological
Association (APA) (7th ed., 2020). Some examples are listed on MPhil Dissertation
Format Synopsis.