In this exercise, the challenge will be to present the conceptual framework for your research study without reference to any specific system. This exercise is designed to help you articulate the general question for your research in broad terms, and to relate your study to a larger field of theoretical and empirical research preceding it. If you need to use a system to illustrate aspects of the discussion, you should not use the system you intend to study. A model or series of models should be used to identify the key relationships between processes. As in the first exercise, the emphasis should not be on justifying this problem for your specific system, but rather relating your study to a larger field of theoretical and empirical research preceding it.
Subjectivity is definitely part of the proposal review process.
Review the relevant theoretical and empirical literature both for the system you are studying and for other relevant systems. Articulate the general question for your research in the context of your conceptual framework and the theoretical and empirical work that precedes or defines your work. Formulate the set of hypotheses you must test to address your general question. Design the studies that you must perform to address each hypothesis. Evaluate potential alternative outcomes that you may obtain from each study, and consider where each of these alternatives may lead you.