The first part of your proposal is the initial pitch for your project, so make sure it succinctly explains what you want to do and why. It should:
Scribbr editors not only correct grammar and spelling mistakes, but also strengthen your writing by making sure your paper is free of vague language, redundant words and awkward phrasing.
In some cases, you might be asked to include a bibliography. This is a list of all the sources you consulted in preparing the proposal, even ones you did not cite in the text, and sometimes also other relevant sources that you plan to read. The aim is to show the full range of literature that will support your research project.
Academics often have to write research proposals to get funding for their projects. As a student, you might have to write a research proposal to get your thesis or dissertation plan approved.
What can proofreading do for your paper?
Like your dissertation or thesis, the proposal will usually have a title page that includes:
A research proposal describes what you will investigate, why it’s important, and how you will do the research. The format of a research proposal varies between fields, but most proposals should contain at least these elements:
Make sure to check what type of costs the funding body will agree to cover, and only include relevant items in your budget. For each item, include:
Bibliography
Lastly, you would want to create a list of the most relevant works that contributed to your study. You can need to so in the research paper format required by your instructor (APA, MLA, etc.). You can create an annotated bibliography, giving some insights into how each of the sources helped you with your research.
- 12-point font Times New Roman
- Double-spaced
- 1-inch margins
- An APA running head (limited to 50 characters)
- A title page with the paper’s title (no more than 12 words in length), your name, and the name of your institution
- An abstract (150-200 words)
- In-text citations (formatted accordingly to APA guidelines)
- References page (formatted accordingly to APA guidelines)
Research Paper Title
You will be able to revise your title throughout your research, but it is important that the title encompasses what your paper is about.
- What do I want to study?
- Why is the topic important?
- How is it significant within the subject areas covered in my class?
- What problems will it help solve?
- How does it build upon (and hopefully go beyond) conducted on the topic?
- What exactly should I plan to do, and can I get it done in the time available?
Research Proposal Outline
Your research proposal outline should be structured according to the template above. Before embarking on the proposal writing process, make sure that you have your research question narrowed down properly and a solid outline as to how you will structure your proposal.
How to write a research proposal when you have no idea what is it? A research proposal is another writing assignment a student can be faced with. For your help, EssayPro custom paper writers wrote a full guide on how to write a research proposal with a research proposal example included. Let’s get right into the topic starting with a research proposal definition.
Research Question
The aim should be to attempt to answer a question. The question needs to be narrow and focused, and reflect the objective of your essay. During your writing process, narrow your research question to two different aspects. You should elaborate on how you intend to answer the question and brief the reader on the conclusion that you made.
Research Significance
Explain why your work is important. In any sample, you will find a short justification for why your research is original and how it adds something new to the field of study. You might want to list a reason why your research is pressing in the current time.
- Available time
- Infrastructure
- Other important resources.
- Reference – List the literature that you have used in your proposal.
- Bibliography – List everything that you have studied, cited, or not while doing your study or while writing.
Have detailed knowledge of all the research methodologies to justify your approach towards the research problem.
Choose the type of research methodology that is suitable for your research. Quantitative research is suitable for projects involving collecting and analyzing statistical data like that in social sciences, medicine, and psychology. Qualitative type is used in a theoretical type of research like that in literature.
Clarify the Research Objectives
Sometimes the researcher gets the same kind of results, but sometimes, the results could differ from the expected ones.
- 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.
- It lacks coherence.
- The results obtained, or the hypothesis from the chosen method will be inaccurate.
- The review of the 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.
Keep your literature review organized by adding a subheading to maintain a smooth flow in the content. Reading a 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.
Now you have the basic outline you can follow. Let’s discuss how to write it by following the format mentioned above.
They should not harm them in any way, and full consent should be obtained from them prior to the study.
As per the research proposal definition, it is a concise summary of your research paper. It introduces the general idea of your research by highlighting the questions and issues you are going to address in your paper.
In this post, we have explained the different steps involved in writing a great research proposal. This will help you in formulating your proposal and increasing the chances of acceptance.
Choose the Title Carefully
Sometimes the researcher gets the same kind of results, but sometimes, the results could differ from the expected ones.
Don’t forget the references section. You don’t want to get blamed for plagiarism. Always give references to the authors and the literature you have studied for your research.
- Design – Is it a laboratory experiment or a survey?
- What are 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
Similarly, a good proposal also identifies the knowledge of existing literature and suggests practical solutions. Here you will explain the nature and significance of the research study to persuade the audience.
The conclusion is a summary of the entire research study. It describes the importance and significance of your proposal.
Highlight the following key points while writing a background and significance section.
A comprehensive literature review instills energy in the paper and offers you important insights. It requires a thorough analysis of a literature source that is relevant to the research topic.
What is a Research Proposal?
- References - Only list the sources you have used in the proposal.
- Bibliography - List sources used along with other additional citations that you have studied to conduct the research.
Also, choose the specific citation formats required by the professors. It includes APA, MLA, and Chicago.
- How can a political system influence society?
- Discuss the difference between Fascism and Nazism.
- How can terrorism affect the economy of a state?
- What is the importance of advertising in running a business?
- Advantages and disadvantages of a testing system.
- Education is the basis for developing a child’s character.
- Role of methodology in a research paper.
- Impact of non-governmental organizations.
- How can waste management programs influence society?
- Educational technologies for higher education.
- Improving processes in a specific location or field
- Informing policy objectives
- Strengthening a theory or model
- Challenging popular or scientific assumptions
- Creating a basis for further research
A research proposal describes what you will investigate, why it’s important, and how you will do the research. The format of a research proposal varies between fields, but most proposals should contain at least these elements:
Like your dissertation or thesis, the proposal will usually have a title page that includes:
There may be some variation in how the sections are named or divided, but the overall goals are always the same. This article takes you through a basic research proposal template and explains what you need to include in each part.
Implications and contribution to knowledge
In this section, aim to demonstrate exactly how your project will contribute to conversations in the field.
In some cases, you might have to include a detailed timeline of the project, explaining exactly what you will do at each stage and how long it will take. Check the requirements of your programme or funding body to see if this is required.
To finish your proposal on a strong note, you can explore the potential implications of the research for theory or practice, and emphasize again what you aim to contribute to existing knowledge on the topic. For example, your results might have implications for:
- Travel costs: do you need to go to specific locations to collect data? How will you get there, how long will you spend there, and what will you do there (e.g. interviews, archival research)?
- Materials: do you need access to any tools or technologies? Are there training or installation costs?
- Assistance: do you need to hire research assistants for the project? What will they do and how much will you pay them? Will you outsource any other tasks such as transcription?
- Time: do you need to take leave from regular duties such as teaching? How much will you need to cover the time spent on the research?