Problem Definition
A Computer Science research proposal needs to show the worthiness for undertaking the research and as such you should place special emphasis on explaining the research problem that needs to be addressed. While explaining the problem, you should make a strong case stating the reasons that it is worthwhile to solve it, what is the impact of the problem persisting as it is and the change that would be brought about by a solution. In particular, make a special mention of the particular stakeholders that will benefit from the outcomes of your research and to whom it will contribute, such as those that you will deliver your results to. Different types of Computer Science research problem present different types of research direction, so it’s useful to classify the type of research problem that you want to address. A Computer Science research proposal should try to address a problem that could be, among others, the need for a technological solution, defects in a current technology, the need for enhancing a process or method or the analysis of a new model, theory, technology or process.
Research Intent
A key component of your Computer Science research proposal is the specification of precise and verifiable questions, hypotheses and or/objectives for the research. Depending on the nature of your Computer Science endeavour, different forms of stating your intentions would apply. For research that focuses on the design, implementation, testing or correction of a technology solution, specific objectives would be most appropriate; whereas, the enhancement of a process or method and various objects of evaluations/analyses are more suited to questions or hypotheses.
The statement of your intentions should use unambiguous language, avoiding conjunctions so that each question or objective may be atomically addressed, clearly and indisputably using the findings, statistics and outcomes of your research and establish sound and substantiated conclusions.
Proposed Plan For Your Computer Science Research Proposal
Your Computer Science research proposal should provide discussion of the methodologies you could use depending on the nature of the main undertaking, for example a Waterfall process for an application development component of your research. Your discussion should cover alternative approaches within the various tasks needed for your research completion, giving the reasons for the applicability of your choices to your particular endeavour.
Within the framework of any overarching methodology to be adopted, you should draw up a detailed plan which specifies the tasks, resources and deliverables expected during the life of the research, along with their estimated schedule for completion. You should be careful not to underestimate the timescales for completion as that can lead to overrunning several tasks and losing control of your research; so add extra time to your end dates to give extra room.
Continuing your detailed planning, you should carry out an analysis of the potential risks to your research (such as underestimating scales or misunderstanding technology requirements). You should detail particular characteristics of each risk including the extent of damage, the probability of it arising, options to prevent it and solutions to alleviate its occurrence.
Literature Review
Your research proposal should cover a range of the established discussions in Computer Science, models and theoretical underpinnings that relate to the problem area you have set out to address. The existing state of knowledge should be concisely captured in your proposal with a clear case made for what your proposed research will provide in advance of that which is available. In particular, you should address the specific intentions that your proposal has stated and provide arguments as to why any relevant literature inadequately addresses the issues as well as you propose to achieve.
Proposal Write-Up
A good Computer Science research uses a formal tone throughout with a high standard of language without orthographical errors or poor grammar. You should make every effort to check the quality of your language by proofreading it as well as using spelling and grammar checking tools typical of any commercial word processor. In addition, your proposal needs to be comprehensible without great effort, with a coherent and sound progression of your points making the case in favor of your research. It’s easier for you, as the writer, to understand what you are trying to communicate and therefore you may not detect misunderstandings with a straightforward re-read, so you should try to leave your proposal to rest for a number of days before reading it over again with a fresh mind.
Lastly, you should write a section with the references that you have used, the obvious ones being for the literature that you have reviewed, but other supporting sources should be included as well.
It can be helpful to view other research papers for inspiration and to guide you as to an appropriate structure – try EssaySauce.com for lots of examples.