A lot of fresh researchers and scholars try to learn how to write a proposal after having faced rejection in their first attempt at submission. This wastes a lot of their time and effort in a task that can be done much faster and in a simpler way if one knows exactly what is to be done and what are the critical dos and don’ts.
So, if you are a fresher in the field of research and are preparing the submission of your research proposal, this article will help you to go through the journey seamlessly and successfully. At the same time, if you have faced rejection once or more in your research proposal, you need to even more importantly go through this article to understand exactly where is the need and scope for improvisation to make you hit the bull’s eye and get the required approvals and funding.
You must always know that the standards for a research proposal are much higher than the standards of a project proposal and the guidelines related to content, writing style as well as formatting are far more specific. The guidelines will of course change with each discipline and department but you must know some general requisites and points to be kept in mind.
What are the most important things that the research committee is going to look for in your proposal, do you know it? Well, the first between the two is whether the proposal justifies the need to investigate the research problem and the second is that if it presents a set of workable strategies for the smooth conducting of the proposed research. You must ensure that you do justice to these both.
Through this article, let me try and describe some common steps that must be taken to make your research proposal attractive, logical, and worthy of approval and even finding if you are trying for it. Will also try to present some key aspects with which you will get an idea of how to convert your proposed study into the executed final work with the desired outcome.
1. Before beginning of writing the research proposal:
– As a novice researcher, you and many more researchers may not have complete clarity about what a research proposal structure means and the value it holds in the outcome of your research. It may not be an exaggeration to say that a research project is only as good and robust as its proposal. Even if you manage to get a vague or poorly prepared research proposal approved, it is going to have adverse effects on the quality of your final research. Conversely, a well-drafted research proposal ensures your research success and raises your branding as a researcher amongst your supervisor, evaluators, and even your peer group. You must do your groundwork, and foundation before jumping into the writing process. The first thing to do is to start reading the instructions very carefully. Ensure to clarify all that is needed for clarification and only proceed when the smallest of doubt r apprehension has been put to rest. A slight word of caution here though, do not fall into the trap of doing OVER RESEARCH. It is a waste of valuable time. Light reading to get a recce about the essential requisites is good enough at this stage.
– It is good to ask a few preparatory questions so that the direction of your research is not diluted. To whom should you ask these questions? Well, you must answer these questions to yourself with complete honesty and clarity after having done your bit of homework. What are these questions to which you need to have the answers:
a. What exactly is the topic that I want to research?
b. What makes it a worthy topic for study?
c. what practical or valuable problems will it resolve?
d. How would it contribute and create its place in the already existing research done on the topic?
e. What should be the sequence of tasks I must undertake in this research?
f. Do I have sufficient time and resources available to take up this task?
Most of the time, a strong and compelling background and significance in a research proposal will grow and evolve into robust research if it captures your knowledge as a researcher about the topic and exhibits your deep interest in conducting the research. You must handle your research proposal with the care and clarity that it must engage the readers in the importance as well as the outcomes of the study.
While you are trying to answer these questions yourself, if you feel apprehensive or unsure about the possibilities in the topic you are wanting to explore, you must do some study about the trends in the areas in which funding agencies are allocating their research budgets for the upcoming studies. Look for some cutting-edge, controversial, and debatable topics in your field. These will touch upon the contemporary interests of readers as well as other researchers in your field.
2. During the research proposal writing process: In general, accepted all most of the disciplines, you must follow the below sequence for the proposal
a. Introduction
b. Background and Significance
c. Review of Literature
d. Aim of the Study and the research questions
e. Proposed Research Methodology
f. Implications of the research and contribution to the existing knowledge
g. Budget and Timeline
h. Conclusion
i. Appendices
Introduction: An effective introduction is of grave importance and scholars must take it as a decisive initial pitch for the purpose of research inquiry. A good introduction is one that gives a clear idea to the reader about what you want to do and at the same time get signals about your enthusiasm for the study to be undertaken and its potential outcomes.
Generally, as a three to five-paragraph narrative, your introduction should answer the following questions. Go by this checklist:
– What is the main problem of study that you intend to undertake
– Why is the study important in today’s time and its relevance
– What is its significance in academia and the world at large
– The background about, why you chose this topic
Remember to keep the introduction crisp and succinct. And another point to note here is that most of the institutions and universities will not require you to add an abstract prior to the introduction, but you must read the instructions given to you well to know if you need to add one.
Background and significance: A lot of scholars combine this part with the introduction, but for a smoother flow of the narrative, you must write it separately. When you are writing this part, you must approach it with the intent that your busy readers want to quickly understand the relevance as well as the importance of your research. The core purpose you must have here is to give a concise text to just elicit the interest of your reader in your research. You can do this by giving a more detailed elaboration of the purpose of your research. Especially in the case of multifaceted research, this is very important. Also, State the rationale of your research proposal and explain, in an engaging way, why it is worthwhile to conduct and present the core problems or issues that will be addressed. This can be made either in questions or statements. If required, provide definitions of key terms or concepts, if necessary.
Review of Literature: The significance and background of your study have a direct connection with this section of your proposal. The implication of this section is to give a deliberate review and synthesis of the existing studies that are significant for your proposed topic of research. The review of literature targets to know the research gap and then appropriately fit your research in the bigger scheme of things of what is being investigated while at the same time maintaining the originality of your proposed work. This section of the proposal carries the heaviest information to comprehend so there are various approaches to doing it. It is always best to separate the literature that you are using into major themes or conceptual strategies. Seasoned scholars follow a five C’s approach for creating the LR.
i. Cite Properly
ii. Compare the methods, arguments, models, and outcomes of the literature under review
iii. Contrast the different themes, controversies, methodologies, and arguments
iv. Critically assess the literature
v. Connect the literature to your own study
Aim of the Study and the research question: Research objectives or questions are framed here and they need to be very specific as they help you to stay focused and stop you from drifting off on tangents. Your research objectives must do justice to the following research questions of whys and hows:
-What do you intend to achieve: Be very specific and crisp in describing the research problem here essential Requisites of a good research proposal: some critical Do’s and Don’ts
-Why are you conducting the research: you must give compelling evidence that your topic is worthy of the thorough research you are desiring to take up.
-How would the research be conducted: make sure that your strategies are in place and your study is doable with clarity of its execution.
Proposed Research Methodology: This section should be directly connected to your aim and objectives that you framed above. Here you should be able to convince the reader that your strategies for analysis will effectively address the problems of the study and interpret the expected results of the study. Cover the following aspects well when taking up this section:
-Establish a sequenced research methodology including the method for interpreting the outcomes
-Present arguments alongside each method and technique, explaining why it is the best one for your research
-Anticipate and accept the hurdles and drawbacks that can possibly come your way and your strategy to overcome them
Implications of the research and contribution to the existing knowledge: By now you know that one section leads to the next one and here you need to take your proposal to the next level by explaining how the expected outcomes will affect future studies, practice, theory, policymaking, procedures, etc. You can also briefly give the recommendations for further studies that could emerge from the expected study results and the way in which the outcomes affect practitioners in the real-world context of their workplace.
Budget and Timeline: Not all universities require budget-related details in the proposal but if you are applying for funding of any type, you will be asked to give a detailed budget that shows the cost of your project. The budget must not just cover the actual cost in terms of how much money you need to do the research but also the justification if the requirement and the method or sources you adopted for calculating the cost. Another thing here is the timeline where you need to be realistic and know the allocated time the university will assign to you for completing the research in the case where your proposal is approved. The timeline must comprise a series of objectives that have to be met for achieving your objectives, from the beginning stage to the final submission. The timeline is only proposed and needs to be updated as things progress and depending upon the speed of work.
Conclusion: The best way to conclude the research proposal is to give a conclusion briefing your anticipated outcomes. By this stage of the proposal, you must disclose the main benchmarks you are targeting to achieve through your research. They might modify or change as you take up your study and the reader or examiner knows that this is only based on the research taken up so far. Nevertheless, you must present what best can be drawn thus far. It is further a stamp on the validity and significance of your proposed research.
Appendices: This section is often ignored by researchers but then a lot of funding agencies and academic institutions lay a lot of emphasis on the importance of this section. This section must have all the supplemental material which is not the main content of the narrative of the proposal but is significant in adding value to the arguments presented in the proposal. The things you can add in this section are forms and data like tables, informed consent, clinical/research protocols, data collection instruments, etc. You can further attach your updated Curriculum Vitae (CV) here to show your caliber and potential in taking up the study effectively.
Remember that an effective research proposal is like the roots of a tree. The deeper, well-nourished, and stronger the roots the bigger the tree grows. So, I am sure that you want your research work to be of premium quality and establish you as a seasoned researcher. If yes, then focus on making a very well-read, structured, methodical, and crisp proposal for your research in the first go itself. These suggestions and ideas can help you to create an effective one for yourself.