Scribd
Upload
267 views

How To Write A Concept Paper

This document discusses the importance of conducting a facility audit for institutions. It explains that a facility audit can help institutions better budget, plan, and prioritize facility needs. The audit examines all building systems and can identify deferred maintenance, replacement schedules, regulatory compliance, and energy savings opportunities. It provides a baseline for high performance building programs by establishing an accurate assessment of current facility conditions.

Uploaded by

Jigar Chavda
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
267 views

How To Write A Concept Paper

This document discusses the importance of conducting a facility audit for institutions. It explains that a facility audit can help institutions better budget, plan, and prioritize facility needs. The audit examines all building systems and can identify deferred maintenance, replacement schedules, regulatory compliance, and energy savings opportunities. It provides a baseline for high performance building programs by establishing an accurate assessment of current facility conditions.

Uploaded by

Jigar Chavda
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

How to Write a Concept Paper

October 31, 2012 Patrick Regional, PhD 6 Comments


What is a concept paper? Why is there a need to write a concept paper? How do
you write it? This article explains the reasons why a concept paper must be
prepared before writing a full blown research paper. It also provides a step-by-step
approach on how to write it.
I once browsed the internet to look for information on how to write a concept paper.
It took me some time to find the information I want. However, I am not quite
satisfied with those explanations because the discussion is either too short or it
vaguely explains what a concept paper really is.
I somehow drew out some principles from these readings and came up with a
concept paper in compliance with a request to come up with one. There are also
differences in approach on how this should be prepared. Nobody complained in the
output I prepared.
I was reminded once again when a colleague asked me the other day to explain
what is a concept paper and how should it be written. He needs this information
because students have been asking him on how to go about writing the stuff.
To him and his students I dedicate this article.
What is a Concept Paper and Why Do You Need It?
First, before going into the details on how to prepare a concept paper, let me
explain what a concept paper is and why do you need it.
A concept paper is prepared as a prelude to a full paper. What is the full paper all
about? The full paper may be a thesis, a program, a project, or anything that will
require a longer time to prepare.
In essence, a concept paper is an embodiment of your ideas on a certain topic or
item of interest. Preparing the concept paper saves time because it is possible that
your thesis or review panel may say that your concept is not worth pursuing.
It is expected that the concept paper should consist only of 1 or 2 pages. Or if you
want to clear up some matters, it can go up to 5 pages.
For example, as a student you may be asked to prepare your concept paper for your
thesis proposal (see 4 steps in preparing the thesis proposal). This means that you
will have to develop an idea and express it for others to understand. You may glean
from either your experience or from the literature that you have read. Of course,
your topic should be within your respective area of specialization.
If you are a student of computer science, you might want to study the behavior of
Wi-Fi signals in different kinds of material where these signals are bounced. Or
maybe you want to create a simple gadget to concentrate signals for a portable USB
Wi-Fi connection to improve its performance. Or probably you would like to find out

the optimum size of cache that should be allocated for greatest browsing
experience in the internet. The list could go on.
How Do You Write a Concept Paper?
As I mentioned a while ago, there is no hard and fast rule on how to write a concept
paper. It is not actually desirable to have a format as your ideas may be limited by
placing your ideas in a box. You may miss some important points which may not be
in the format given to you. The point is that you are able to express to others what
you intend to do.
What then are the things that the concept paper as a prelude to a thesis should be
able to address or contain? To make your approach more systematic, a concept
paper must have at least the following elements and in the following order:

Image Source
1. A Rationale
You explain here the reasons why you need to undertake that thesis proposal of
yours. You can ask yourself the following questions:
What prompted you to prepare the concept paper?
Why is the issue of such importance?
What should you be able to produce out of your intended study?
2. A Conceptual Framework

A conceptual framework is simply your guide in working on the idea you have in
mind. It is like a map which you need to follow to arrive to your destination. A great
way to come up with one is to do a mind mapping exercise.
That brings up another thing, what is mind mapping anyway?
A mind map is simply a list of keywords that you can connect together to make
clear a certain issue. Its our subconscious way of analyzing things. We tend to
associate a thing with another thing. This actually relates to how we recall past
experiences. In computers, we have the so-called links that connect commands in
a computer module to make an application program work.
How does mind mapping work? You just have to come up with a word, for example,
that will help you start off. You can start off with an issue on computers and from
there, generate other ideas that connect with the previous one. There are actually a
lot of literature on the internet that explains what is a mind map.
Now, after reading an explanation of the mind map, how will you come up with your
conceptual framework? Well, I dont need to explain it again here because I wrote
about it previously. You may read an easy to understand explanation and example
here.
3. Your Hypothesis
Once the idea on conceptual framework is quite clear to you, then you may write
your hypothesis. A hypothesis is just your expected output in the course of
conducting your study. You will base this hypothesis on the conceptual framework
that you have prepared.
Once you have identified the specific variables in the phenomenon that you would
like to study, ask yourself the following questions: How are the variables
related? Does one variable affect another? Or are they related at all?
A quick review of relevant and updated literature will help you identify which
variables really matter. Nowadays, its easy to find full articles on your topic using
the internet, that is if you know how. You can start off by going to doaj.org, a
directory of open access journals.
Example of Hypotheses
Considering the issues raised a while ago, the following null hypotheses may be
written:
1. There is no significant difference in Wi-Fi signal behavior between wood and
metal.
2. There is no significant difference in browsing speed between a 10 mb cache and
a 100 mb cache storage setting using Mozilla Firefox.
At this point, you may already have a better idea on how to prepare a concept
paper before working on a full thesis proposal. If you find this discussion useful or
you would like to clarify further the discussion above, your feedback is welcome.

Facility Audit
Most institutions dont know as much as they should about the condition of their
largest single asset plant and equipment. Too often, high performing institutions
dont have high performing buildings supporting their mission.
Armed with a professionally prepared facility audit, business and plant managers
can prepare more accurate budgets, guide fundraising, direct long-range planning
and positively influence their accrediting bodies. The audit gives the facility a
credible voice in the budgeting process, and allows facilities leadership to
effectively support their institutions goals.
A facility audit covers all building systems from HVAC and electrical, to building
envelope, elevators, and life safety. It can also address technology, energy
conservation strategies, asbestos management, and accessibility. Most audits
include a survey of regulatory compliance and ongoing operational practices
Because Building Solutions has specialized in facility auditing for nearly two
decades, and have ongoing audit update responsibilities with many clients, we can
provide benchmarking and best practices from our information database.
Components of a facility audit
Deferred maintenance assessment of each building system, by a team of
experienced specialists and forecast of costs to remedy
Schedule and forecast of capital replacement requirements
Inventory of building assets
Recommended strategy for implementing corrective actions
Energy conservation strategies
Review of facility staffing levels, operating practices
Regulatory compliance status
High Performance Buildings
Optimizing operations is the goal of most institutions as we begin the 21st Century
deriving the most benefit from our resources and minimizing waste. A facility
audit is the foundation for launching your HPB programa High Performance

Buildings program. The Building Solutions HPB program is predicated on a powerful


baseline audit, and an affordable, regularly scheduled monitoring and updating of
the audit. This process ensures current, accurate information for better executive
decision making, and a tool that will equip the facilities department to maximize the
value of the plant investment.
Usually, the database of issues is provided in a web-enabled maintenance
management system offered by our strategic partner, or it can be incorporated into
whatever information system the institution currently uses.

You might also like