Microsoft Word research method fm doc

7.2 Budget 
 
Why do we need to design a budget? 
• 
A detailed budget will help you to identify which resources are already locally available 
and which additional resources may be required.
• 
The process of budget design will encourage you to consider aspects of the work plan 
you have not thought about before and will serve as a useful reminder of activities 
planned, as your research gets underway.
 
How should a budget be prepared? 
It is necessary to use the work plan as a starting point. Specify, for each activity in the work 
plan, what resources are required. Determine for each resource needed the unit cost and 
the total cost. 
The budget for the fieldwork component of the work plan will include funds for 
personnel, transport and supplies. 
Note that UNIT COST (e.g., per diem or cost of petrol per km), the MULTIPLYING FACTOR 
(number of days), and TOTAL COST are required for all budget categories. 
 
Budget justification 
It is not sufficient to present a budget without explanation. The budget justification follows the 
budget as an explanatory note justifying briefly, in the context of the proposal, why the 
various items in the budget are required. Make sure you give clear explanations concerning 
why items that may seem questionable or that are particularly costly are needed and discuss 
how complicated expenses have been calculated. If a strong budget justification has been 
prepared, it is less likely that essential items will be cut during proposal review. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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Research methodology 
88
Example of a budget proposal 
 
Budget Category 
Unit Cost
Multiplying factor
Total Cost
(Birr) 
1. Personnel 
Daily 
Wage 
(including per 
diem)
Number of staff days
(Number of staff x 
Number of working 
days)
Principal 
investigator 
100 
1x15 
1,500.00 
Supervisors
100 
2 x 15 
3,000.00 
Data collectors 
60 
10 x 15 
9,000.00 
Data entry clerk
40 
1x 20 
800.00 
Secretarial 
work 40 
1x20 
800.00 
Sub total