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How to make a concept paper? A comprehensive

guide (2021)
a year ago • by Patricia Santos

Have you been required to submit a concept paper prior to your research paper, and you
are now wondering how to write a concept paper? You are not alone. As a student pursu-
ing any course at the tertiary level, it is inevitable that before you complete your course,
you will be required to do a research paper to show that you can apply what you have
been studying in your area of specialization to a real-life situation. It is one of the most es-
sential parts of the course requirements. Before your research paper, you will be required
to come up with a concept paper that gives an outline of your research idea. Here is an
article on how to write a concept paper.
Image: pixabay.com (modified by author)
Source: Original

A research paper is usually done at the very last year or semester and is vital for the satisfactory
completion of your course. You as the student are required to come up with a topic of research
that you find relevant and essential to potentially solve an existing problem or answer a contro-
versial question in your area of study or industry in question.

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Before doing your research or writing your research paper, you will need to draft a catchy sum-
mary of what the research is about and how it contributes to the world of academia, and espe-
cially with regards to the particular industry in question. This summary is what is known as a
concept paper. The concept paper will be read by your lecturer or supervisor who will be tasked
to determine the suitability of the research project you want to undertake. Based on their analysis
and your prowess in convincing them that it is a worthy and helpful research project, they will
either give you the go-ahead to carry on with the project, suggest similar alternative topics you
can focus on, or tell you to come up with another project altogether. This article details how to
write a concept paper, but first, let us look at what a concept paper is.

Concept paper definition

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A concept paper is a document which summarizes what your project is about, why it is important,
and how you intend to carry it out. It consists of the topic under research, the hypothesis that you
seek to approve or disprove, research questions, data required, and methods of obtaining it. It is
sometimes known as a proposal or an abstract. The latter two are usually more detailed than a
concept paper but often serve the same purpose, that is, to convince the party evaluating it that
the research project is worthwhile.

Depending on the research you are carrying out, your concept paper can range from 2-3 pages
for a small research project to up to 20 pages for massive research projects. As for the format-
ting, the spacing should be double, the font size should be 12, and the font style should prefer-
ably be Times New Roman. If you refer to any sources while drafting your concept paper, it is im-
portant that you cite them at the end of your document or whenever the citation may be neces-
sary for the process of concept paper writing.

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How to write a concept paper

Writing a concept paper is the first step in writing your research project. A winning concept paper
will capture the attention of whoever is reading it and get you the results you need. Below are the
steps you need to follow to ensure that your concept paper will get a smile and a nod from the
reader.

1. Come up with a research topic that genuinely interests you

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The research topic should span areas that interest you as an individual and are still relevant to
your area of study or course. How do you come up with a research topic?

How to come up with a research topic

As you studied throughout your junior classes, you may have encountered certain concepts that
awoke your curiosity. These may give you ideas of what your research could be about. Alternat-
ively, while randomly reading a newspaper, watching TV, reading books, and so on, you may
have come across ideas or concepts that aroused your interests. These can serve as research
topics you may consider pursuing. Personal experiences can also be good starting points when
you are searching for a topic to write about.

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List all the ideas you can remember or think of that you would be interested in doing a research
on. Afterward, choose the area that interests you most in the list you made as the one in which
you will carry out your research. Ensure it is a topic that is academically relevant and
researchable.

2. Write down the research questions you need to research on depending on

the idea you have chosen

You can come up with as many questions as possible. The more the questions, the longer your
research paper will be, as it will seek to answer to each of them. The questions can range from:

Exploratory questions, where you want to find out more about the topic under study,

Explanatory question, where your aim is to explore the relationship or lack thereof between two
or more variables, and
Descriptive questions such as determining the averages, means, and modes of a variable or vari-
ables in the topic under study.

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3. Develop a research hypothesis from each of the research questions that

you have listed

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A hypothesis, also known as a thesis or theses in plural, is a tentative, usually informed or edu-
cated guess about a certain scenario. It is referred to as ‘an educated or informed guess’ as it is
based on some prior knowledge about the topic either by some pre-known theory, or a previous
research you may have carried out. The hypothesis is what you will either prove or disprove
when the research is done and therefore, be able to draw your conclusion.

4. Identify the kind of data you need to answer these hypothetical questions
and how you will gather the data

Depending on the type of research you are carrying out, data that you may need may include ac-
tual numbers, averages, and so on. Data can either be primary or secondary, qualitative or
quantitative.

Primary data is first-hand information obtained from the ground, for example, by carrying out in-
terviews and site visits.
Secondary data is second-hand information obtained from reading books, watching news, videos,
the internet, and other already documented material.

Qualitative data is based on subjective factors such as people’s opinions, while quantitative data
is based on actual numbers and is, therefore, more objective.

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5. Identify how you will analyze, interpret, and present the data

Come up with conclusive and tangible evidence to prove or disprove all the hypotheses you had
stated earlier. Methods of data analysis include the use of statistical analysis such as mean,
totals, income, or the general relationship between variables which can be enhanced by the use
of graphical methods where possible.

Having developed all the above, you are now ready to come up with your concept paper, which
will detail each of the steps outlined. The following is a guideline on how to structure your ideas
for the perfect concept paper.

How to structure your concept paper

Here are the major elements of a concept paper format:

1. The title page

You should begin with a title that fully summarizes what the project you are carrying out is about.
Avoid being wordy and stick to the main point.
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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 existing problem or provide further insights into a scarcely researched topic. The problem
should be clear. Why would 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 ad-
equately 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

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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 research 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 analyze it. Make sure you have exhausted all the questions for the research
to be complete.

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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
hypothesis opposes it. At the end of the research paper, you will either accept or reject your pos-
itive 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:

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An exploratory design that seeks to expound on the area of study that you have an idea in, in or-
der 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
realistic.

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.

Image: pixabay.com (modified by author)

Source: Original
Concept paper example

Below is an example of a concept paper how to write. It will give you a detailed picture of what to
include in your concept paper and ease the process of coming up with your own.

THE ROLE THAT QUALITY PLAYS IN THE PERFORMANCE OF FOOD PRODUCING FIRMS
IN PAKISTANI

Introduction

Of late, there have been so many cases of food-related illnesses that are being directly associ-
ated with the low quality of food products being released to the market by the many food pro-
cessing firms. It is clear that the quality of products that these firms are producing is below the in-
dustry mark. Surprisingly, these food firms which are already losing their reputation still seem to
be blossoming. There is a general perception that quality affects the performance of firms and
this ironic trend, therefore, begs the question as to just how vital quality is in the production
process.

Statement of the problem

This study seeks to answer the question on just how much the quality considerations of a firm af-
fect its performance in terms of factors such as the ability to make more sales, maintain profit, as
well as remain in the market. Is quality that much a factor as we all imagine it to be? If it is, why
are these firms still doing so well, and if it is not what other factors are causing these firms to con-
tinue to prosper? Have we lost the quality battle by offering sub-standard products to our people,
and should we reconsider our quality restrictions?

It has been widely agreed that quality is a factor that firms need to consider in order to compete
in the global market (Paiva, 2013). Is this however the scenario on the ground and does quality
play such a great role in the performance of food producing firms?

Value of the study

The findings for the study will be helpful to the following parties:

Quality regulatory bodies that will be able to determine the quality gap that exists and take neces-
sary action.

Researchers who will identify further areas of study as will be outlined in this research and hence
lead to an increase in the body of knowledge.

Definition of variables

What is quality?

In this study, we will define quality as the ability of a product to perform suitably as per expecta-
tions (Reid & Sanders 2012). The study shall focus on the four main quality components includ-
ing Quality planning, control, assurance, and improvement, and how each affects the perform-
ance of a firm when well implemented.

What is performance?

In this study, we will define performance as the ability to meet and /or exceed set standards. Ex-
amples of performance standards include sales levels, brand image, reduced rework rates, and
customer retention rates.

A brief Literature Review

Many documented texts agree that there is a relationship between quality considerations and the
performance of firms. According to Garvin 1984, quality is based on innate excellence, recogniz-
able on through experience. Abbot describes it as a measurable variable, and in another study,
quality is subjective and individual based (Maio 2007). According to Sower 2010, quality refers to
the conformance to prior set specifications. The final argument is that quality is based on cost
and prices (Jones 2014).

The above scholars argue that quality is essential in the performance of a firm. The literature re-
views however fall short as they fail to answer a few questions which this study paper will seek to
outline. These are:

To what extent quality actually affects performance, and

Which approach firms use to measure quality and how these approaches affect their
performance.

Research objectives

This research paper will be guided by the following objectives;

1. To find out the systems that food producing firms in the country have put in place to guarantee
quality of their products.
2. To determine the extent to which these quality systems affect their performance.

Research hypothesis

H0. Adherence to quality management system is integral to the performance of food producing
firms.

H1. Adherence to quality management systems is not integral to the performance of food pro-
cessing firms.

Research methodology

Research design
This will be a descriptive study analyzing different firms, the kinds of quality systems they have in
place, and the relationship between these quality systems and the performance of the firms in
question.

Population of study

The study will involve a sample of 35 food producing firms based in the capital, irrespective of
their size or age.

Data collection

Data used will be primary data collected by use of questionnaires to be filled by personnel in the
Operations Department of the various firms or other relevant department. The questions will be
broad and detailed, seeking to draw information on the types of quality systems that the firms
have put in place. For this study, we will focus on the four main quality components including
Quality planning, quality control, quality assurance, and quality improvement. Details of their per-
formance in terms of factors such as sales revenues will also be sought. Data on performance
will also be sourced from secondary sources such as company financial statements and sales re-
cords, some of which are available online.

Data analyses and interpretation

The data of the two variables collected, Quality, (X), and p

Performance, (Y), will be used to draw up a regression analysis to determine the strength as well
as the nature of the relationship between the two variables. A conclusion will then be drawn from
the resulting findings.

Timeline

The project is expected to be completed in 13 weeks with the following as the timeline for each
part of the project:

Introduction and literature review: 3 weeks

Research methodology: 5 weeks

Data analysis, data interpretation, and presentation: 2 weeks

Summary, conclusion, and recommendations: 2 weeks

Polishing up the work for submission: 1 week

Citations

American Society for Quality. (2015, January 13). Quality Assurance. Quality Engineering .

Besterfield Dale .H, D... (2011). Total Quality Management (Revised ed.). Delhi, CRC Noida, In-
dia: Pearson.
 Carton, R. B. (2006). Measuring Organizational performance: Metrics for entrepreneurship and
strategic management research. Northampton, Massachusetts, United States of America: Ed-
wards Elgar Publishing.

Ciotti, G. (2013, May 22nd). Help Scout. Retrieved February 23rd, 2015, from Help scout web-
site: http://www.helpscout.net/blog/customer-satisfaction/
Crosby, P. B. (1995). Quality Without Tears:The art of Hassle Free Management. (J. H. David
E.Fogarty, Ed.) Town Penn Plaza, New York, United States of America :McGraw- Hill.

David J Ketchen, J. c. (2004). Improving Firm Performance by matching strategic Decision-Mak-

ing processes to competitive Dynamics. The Academy of Management Executive, 18 (4), 29-43.
Et.al, J. G. (2005).Research in social Stratification and Mobility (Vol. 2). (K. T. Leicht, Ed.) Ams-
terdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.

Frank M. Gryna, B. G. (2005). Juran, Quality and a century of Improvement (15th ed.). (K. S.
Stephens, Ed.) Milwaukee, Winsconsin, United States of America: ASQ Press

After following the above outline, you can be sure to submit a convincing concept paper for your
research project to be approved. Finally, remember that the concept paper is based on facts and
your personal opinions are not allowed. Ensure that your topic is researchable through any aca-
demic means such as the use of libraries, interviews, internet, and the like. The research must
add value and be useful in the academic fraternity and not be casual. It must have a question or
questions that are very specific and answerable by carrying out the research. It should have at
least one hypothesis, and the data you need must obtainable in a cost-effective way. Of import-
ance is to provide proper citation for all your work. I trust that you are now well versed with how to
write a concept paper that you will be proud of.
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