WRITING A RESEARCH PROPOSAL - OUTLINE, FORMAT AND EXAMPLES

WRITING A RESEARCH PROPOSAL - OUTLINE, FORMAT AND EXAMPLES

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Do you also find writing a research paper a dreadful task?

To write a successful research paper, you need to know how to write a research proposal in a way that it passes through the thesis committee.

1. What is a Research Proposal?

A research proposal is a concise summary of your research paper. Your research proposal creates the general idea of your research by highlighting the questions and issues you are going to address in your paper.

To write a research proposal, demonstrate the uniqueness of your research paper. Your research proposal is the first draft that demonstrates your skills to conduct research.

To further clarify what is a research proposal, A research proposal is the most important document as it tells if you can successfully conduct complex research by communicating your clear and concise ideas.

2. Research Proposal Definition

A detailed research proposal definition is,

“A research proposal is a document proposing a research project, generally in the sciences or academia, and generally constitutes a request for sponsorship of that research. Proposals are evaluated on the cost and potential impact of the proposed research, and on the soundness of the proposed plan for carrying it out.”

3. Research Proposal Outline

Sometimes students don’t realize how important a research paper is and just end up putting all the information together without following the basic outline or thinking this through.

To summarize the importance of a research proposal, if you want a successful research project, you need to write a great proposal for it.

Before starting with your research proposal outline, you need to understand the basic components that are a part of research proposal. It goes without saying that a clear outline is important when it comes to literature and writing.

4. Research Proposal Template

Writing a research proposal might seem like a dreadful task and especially for the students who are new to this. It requires good writing as well as research skills. Here is a sample research proposal template to further explain the outline.

Research Proposal Template (PDF)

Continue reading to know more about how to write a research proposal.

5. Research Proposal Format

Your proposal proposal should have enough data and information to persuade and convince your readers regarding the significance of your research. Here is a basic research proposal format you can follow while writing your proposal.

• Title
• Abstract
• Introduction
• Literature Review
• Research Methodology
• Result
• Discussion
• Citation

6. How to Write a Research Proposal?

Now you have the basic research proposal outline you can follow. Let’s discuss how to write a research proposal following the format mentioned above.

6.1 Title

Your proposal title should be concise and clear to indicate your research question. The title is the first thing that your reader is going to read in your research proposal. A catchy yet informative title will attract readers.

Your readers should know what to expect in the paper after reading the title. Your title should clearly indicate the relationship between the independent and dependent variables. Avoid writing titles in a general perspective or phrases like “An investigation of …” or “A review of …”

6.2 Abstract

The abstract is a short summary of your research proposal that is around 100-250 words. The abstract should include the research question, hypothesis of your research (if there is any), the research methodology and findings.

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6.3 Introduction

To write a research proposal, you need to start with a strong introduction. The introduction is written to provide a background or context related to your research problem. It is important to frame the research question while writing the proposal.

Your entire proposal will revolve around your research question. If the research question is not specific and has a very general literature review, then your proposal might seem insignificant. A specific research question will make your research focused.

However, there is no one way to frame your research question. Start the introduction of a research proposal with a general statement related to the problem area you are focusing on and the justification for your study.

The introduction of research proposal usually covers the following elements.

• What is the purpose of your research or study?
• Mention the background information and significance before you introduce your research question.
• Introduce your research question in a way that its significance is highlighted by setting the stage for it.
• Briefly mention the issues that you are going to discuss and highlight in your study.
• Make sure that you identify the independent and dependent variables in the title of your study.
• If there is a hypothesis or a theory related to your research, state it in the introduction.

Have a very clear and concise idea related to your research to make sure you do not deviate from the boundaries set for your study. A clear idea will help you craft a perfect thesis. Here is how you can create a crisp and interesting thesis introduction along with a basic guideline.

6.4 Literature Review

As per the requirements of your instructor, you can incorporate the literature review in the introduction or create a separate section for the review. A separate section dedicated to literature review will allow you to conduct extensive background research and support your research question with ample proof from credible sources and researches.

Following are the basic purposes of the literature review.

• To give reference to the researchers whose study has been a part of your research.
• To help you construct a precise and clear research question.
• To critically evaluate previous literature information related to your research.
• To understand research issues relevant to the topic of your research.
• To convince the reader that your research is an important contribution to the relevant niche.

A literature review is an important part of the research proposal. However, there are some common mistakes that students make while reviewing the literature.

• Lack of organization and coherence.
• No proper structure.
• Lack of focus on the topic.
• Not citing the papers and researchers properly.
• Not including the recent studies relevant to the topic.
• Trivial citation

Keep your literature review organized by adding a subheading to maintain a smooth flow in the content. Reading literature review might seem boring to a few people. Try not to bore your readers and your instructor, or the committee.. Write it in an engaging manner.

6.5 Research Methodology

This section of the research proposal explains how you are going to conduct your research and the method you choose for your research question. Explain why the specific method is suitable for your research and how will it help you attain your research goals. Your research methodology will give you an organized plan for the research.

Mention sufficient information regarding your research methodology for readers to understand how you are conducting your research. A research proposal must contain enough information regarding the study for another researcher to implement it.

Choose the type of research methodology that is suitable for your research. Quantitative research is suitable for projects involving collecting and analysis of statistical data like that in social sciences, medicine and psychology. Qualitative type is used in theoretical type of research like that in literature. Some research involves both; if your research topic also involves analysis of both the statistical data and theory, then make sure that you use them appropriately.

For a qualitative approach, the method section of your research proposal needs to be more detailed and elaborate as compared to the one in quantitative approach. How you will collect your data and analyze it according to the qualitative approach should be described with great care.

When you choose a quantitative approach for your research, the method section should contain answers to the following elements.

Design – Is it a laboratory experiment or a survey?

What is the sample size and the subject of your study?

What is the procedure of your study and how will you carry out the activities involved in it?

Describe your questionnaire or the instruments you will be using in the experiment.

Have detailed knowledge of all the research methodologies to justify your approach towards the research problem.

6.6 Result

You won’t be having any results of your experiment while you are writing the research proposal. In this section, you can describe how you will analyze your research question; present hypothesis based on the data you have collected in the research.

6.7 Discussion

Describe what will be the potential impact of your research and highlight the reasons of choosing the respective topic. Don’t exaggerate the merits of your research just to enhance the significance in the eyes of the readers.

Also, mention the limitations of your study in terms of lack of time, resources and budget; mention its scope for future study.

6.8 Citation

Don’t forget this section of your research proposal. You don’t want to get blamed for plagiarism. Always give references to the authors and the literature you have studied for your research.

There are two ways to cite your sources.

Reference – List the literature that you have used in your proposal.

Bibliography – List everything that you have cited while doing your study or to write your research proposal.

Follow a specific format for the citation section as instructed by your supervisor. It can be written in APA, MLA, Chicago or Harvard style. Both references and bibliography are included in the research proposal.

6.8.1 Why Research Proposals Get Rejected?

An analysis of 500 rejected research proposals allowed us to identify the common blunders made in them.

These blunders caused the rejection of otherwise promising research.

• The proposal stated a flawed hypothesis.
• The professor doubts the research will not bring new or useful results.
• The plan mentioned in the proposal lacks details and is unrealistic.
• The research proposal lacks coherence.
• The results obtained, or the hypothesis,from the chosen method will be inaccurate.
• The review of literature is not done correctly.
• Sufficient time was not devoted to writing the proposal.
• The proposal is copied or has been used by many other students in the past.

These are the common ways that result in rejection.

If you desire to make your research proposal shine, stick to your instructor’s guidelines and stay away from committing these mistakes. They will kill the purpose and effort you put in your proposal and tarnish your reputation also.

6.8.2 The Perfect Strategy to Maximize Acceptance of the Research Proposal

None wants the proposal to be rejected in the first place. The acceptance of the research proposal gives you a head start.

Your writing style is significant in this regard; it will decide if your proposal is accepted or not.

Always proceed to establish a declarative writing format. Never use informal vocabulary or overused idioms and passive verbs. Typos, spelling mistakes and poor grammar casts a negative impact on the professor.

If you don’t have perfect grammatical skills, you can never write a brilliant research proposal.

6.9 Proofreading

Many students prefer not to proofread the proposal after completion, which is a grave mistake If you proofread the paper on your own, you may fail to identify the mistakes. Use online tools or have a helping hand from your friend to give it a good read.

In the end, edit the document as per the needs.

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7. Research Proposal Example

To clarify the concept and to write a research proposal, here is a research proposal example following the outline mentioned above.

7.1 Research Proposal (PDF)

Here is another complete sample to help you write a research proposal.

7.2 Research Proposal Sample (PDF)

To write your proposal in APA format, review the following example.

7.3 Research Proposal Example APA (PDF)

8. Research Proposal Topics

To write a research proposal, you can take ideas for your topic from books, journals, previously done researches and dissertations.

Here are a few research proposal topics you can choose from to write a research proposal.

1. How technology has evolved English language over the last 10 years?
2. What are the effects of individualism in the British literature?
3. How Feminism has helped women get their rights over the last decade?
4. Fall of Roman empire and its effects.
5. What factors caused World War 2?
6. Effects of World War 2 on diplomacy.
7. Can cultural differences affect social interaction?
8. How violent video games have affected the brain development among children?
9. How does alcohol affect aggression among few people?
10. Is death penalty effective?

If you want to know more about finding a topic for your research paper and research paper topic examples, here is how you can choose a topic for research paper.

9. Seek Professional Help!

Research proposals are critical and require critical attention.

If you are inexperienced, you are likely to suffer.

In a worst case scenario, your research proposal may get rejected.

But there is a solution to this complex problem.

Experienced professionals!

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