How to Write a Research Proposal

Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D., C.Psych.

Research Director, Graduate Program
in Counselling Psychology
Trinity Western University
Langley, BC, Canada

Most students and beginning

researchers do not fully understand
what a research proposal means, nor
do they understand its importance. To
put it bluntly, one's research is only as
a good as one's proposal. An ill-
conceived proposal dooms the project
even if it somehow gets through the
Thesis Supervisory Committee. A high quality proposal, on the other hand, not only promises
success for the project, but also impresses your Thesis Committee about your potential as a
researcher.

A research proposal is intended to convince others that you have a worthwhile research
project and that you have the competence and the work-plan to complete it. Generally, a
research proposal should contain all the key elements involved in the research process and
include sufficient information for the readers to evaluate the proposed study.

Regardless of your research area and the methodology you choose, all research proposals
must address the following questions: What you plan to accomplish, why you want to do it and
how you are going to do it.

The proposal should have sufficient information to convince your readers that you have an
important research idea, that you have a good grasp of the relevant literature and the major
issues, and that your methodology is sound.

The quality of your research proposal depends not only on the quality of your proposed
project, but also on the quality of your proposal writing. A good research project may run the
risk of rejection simply because the proposal is poorly written. Therefore, it pays if your writing
is coherent, clear and compelling.

This paper focuses on proposal writing rather than on the development of research ideas.

Title:

It should be concise and descriptive. For example, the phrase, "An investigation of . . ." could
be omitted. Often titles are stated in terms of a functional relationship, because such titles
clearly indicate the independent and dependent variables. However, if possible, think of an
informative but catchy title. An effective title not only pricks the reader's interest, but also
predisposes him/her favourably towards the proposal.

Abstract:

It is a brief summary of approximately 300 words. It should include the research question, the
rationale for the study, the hypothesis (if any), the method and the main findings. Descriptions
of the method may include the design, procedures, the sample and any instruments that will
be used.

Introduction:

The main purpose of the introduction is to provide the necessary background or context for
your research problem. How to frame the research problem is perhaps the biggest problem in
proposal writing.
If the research problem is framed in the context of a general, rambling literature review, then
the research question may appear trivial and uninteresting. However, if the same question is
placed in the context of a very focused and current research area, its significance will become
evident.

Unfortunately, there are no hard and fast rules on how to frame your research question just as
there is no prescription on how to write an interesting and informative opening paragraph. A lot
depends on your creativity, your ability to think clearly and the depth of your understanding of
problem areas.

However, try to place your research question in the context of either a current "hot" area, or an
older area that remains viable. Secondly, you need to provide a brief but appropriate historical
backdrop. Thirdly, provide the contemporary context in which your proposed research
question occupies the central stage. Finally, identify "key players" and refer to the most
relevant and representative publications. In short, try to paint your research question in broad
brushes and at the same time bring out its significance.

The introduction typically begins with a general statement of the problem area, with a focus on
a specific research problem, to be followed by the rational or justification for the proposed
study. The introduction generally covers the following elements:

1. State the research problem, which is often referred to as the purpose of the study.
2. Provide the context and set the stage for your research question in such a way as to
show its necessity and importance.
3. Present the rationale of your proposed study and clearly indicate why it is worth
doing.
4. Briefly describe the major issues and sub-problems to be addressed by your
research.
5. Identify the key independent and dependent variables of your experiment.
Alternatively, specify the phenomenon you want to study.
6. State your hypothesis or theory, if any. For exploratory or phenomenological
research, you may not have any hypotheses. (Please do not confuse the hypothesis
with the statistical null hypothesis.)
7. Set the delimitation or boundaries of your proposed research in order to provide a
clear focus.
8. Provide definitions of key concepts. (This is optional.)

Literature Review:

Sometimes the literature review is incorporated into the introduction section. However, most
professors prefer a separate section, which allows a more thorough review of the literature.

The literature review serves several important functions:

1. Ensures that you are not "reinventing the wheel".

2. Gives credits to those who have laid the groundwork for your research.
3. Demonstrates your knowledge of the research problem.
4. Demonstrates your understanding of the theoretical and research issues related to
your research question.
5. Shows your ability to critically evaluate relevant literature information.
6. Indicates your ability to integrate and synthesize the existing literature.
7. Provides new theoretical insights or develops a new model as the conceptual
framework for your research.
8. Convinces your reader that your proposed research will make a significant and
substantial contribution to the literature (i.e., resolving an important theoretical issue
or filling a major gap in the literature).

Most students' literature reviews suffer from the following problems:

• Lacking organization and structure

• Lacking focus, unity and coherence
 • Being repetitive and verbose
• Failing to cite influential papers
• Failing to keep up with recent developments
• Failing to critically evaluate cited papers
• Citing irrelevant or trivial references
• Depending too much on secondary sources

Your scholarship and research competence will be questioned if any of the above applies to
your proposal.

There are different ways to organize your literature review. Make use of subheadings to bring
order and coherence to your review. For example, having established the importance of your
research area and its current state of development, you may devote several subsections on
related issues as: theoretical models, measuring instruments, cross-cultural and gender
differences, etc.

It is also helpful to keep in mind that you are telling a story to an audience. Try to tell it in a
stimulating and engaging manner. Do not bore them, because it may lead to rejection of your
worthy proposal. (Remember: Professors and scientists are human beings too.)

Methods:

The Method section is very important because it tells your Research Committee how you plan
to tackle your research problem. It will provide your work plan and describe the activities
necessary for the completion of your project.

The guiding principle for writing the Method section is that it should contain sufficient
information for the reader to determine whether methodology is sound. Some even argue that
a good proposal should contain sufficient details for another qualified researcher to implement
the study.

You need to demonstrate your knowledge of alternative methods and make the case that your
approach is the most appropriate and most valid way to address your research question.

Please note that your research question may be best answered by qualitative research.
However, since most mainstream psychologists are still biased against qualitative research,
especially the phenomenological variety, you may need to justify your qualitative method.

Furthermore, since there are no well-established and widely accepted canons in qualitative
analysis, your method section needs to be more elaborate than what is required for traditional
quantitative research. More importantly, the data collection process in qualitative research has
a far greater impact on the results as compared to quantitative research. That is another
reason for greater care in describing how you will collect and analyze your data. (How to write
the Method section for qualitative research is a topic for another paper.)

For quantitative studies, the method section typically consists of the following sections:

1. Design -Is it a questionnaire study or a laboratory experiment? What kind of design

do you choose?
2. Subjects or participants - Who will take part in your study ? What kind of sampling
procedure do you use?
3. Instruments - What kind of measuring instruments or questionnaires do you use?
Why do you choose them? Are they valid and reliable?
4. Procedure - How do you plan to carry out your study? What activities are involved?
How long does it take?

Results:

Obviously you do not have results at the proposal stage. However, you need to have some
idea about what kind of data you will be collecting, and what statistical procedures will be used
 in order to answer your research question or test you hypothesis.

Discussion:

It is important to convince your reader of the potential impact of your proposed research. You
need to communicate a sense of enthusiasm and confidence without exaggerating the merits
of your proposal. That is why you also need to mention the limitations and weaknesses of the
proposed research, which may be justified by time and financial constraints as well as by the
early developmental stage of your research area.

Common Mistakes in Proposal Writing

1. Failure to provide the proper context to frame the research question.

2. Failure to delimit the boundary conditions for your research.
3. Failure to cite landmark studies.
4. Failure to accurately present the theoretical and empirical contributions by other
researchers.
5. Failure to stay focused on the research question.
6. Failure to develop a coherent and persuasive argument for the proposed research.
7. Too much detail on minor issues, but not enough detail on major issues.
8. Too much rambling -- going "all over the map" without a clear sense of direction. (The
best proposals move forward with ease and grace like a seamless river.)
9. Too many citation lapses and incorrect references.
10. Too long or too short.
11. Failing to follow the APA style.

12. Slopping writing.

WHEN you apply for a research degree, like a PhD, you are asked to
write a research proposal as part of your application. The aim of the
proposal is to convince others that you have a worthwhile research
project in your chosen field, and that you also have the competence
and a proper work-plan to complete it. Whatever the field of
research, a proposal must address the following questions: what you
plan to accomplish, why you want to do it and how you are going to do
it. The quality of your research proposal is very important, as badly
written proposals are usually rejected. The quality does not depend
only on what your proposed project is, but also on how it is written.
So, it pays if your writing is coherent, clear and compelling.

Sometimes you are provided with the format in which the proposal has
to be written, at other times you are not. In the latter case you
have to know how to write a good research proposal. There is no set
way, or any hard and fast rules on how to write it, but generally a
good research proposal consists of the following sections:

Title:

The title should be concise, descriptive, informative, and if

possible a little catchy – one that will prick the interest of the
reader. Avoid words that add nothing to the meaning, such as
“Research on…..”, “Studies on…..” etc.

Abstract:

This should give a quick overview of the proposal. It should

summarize the whole project - the research question, the rationale
for the study, the hypothesis (if any), the methods (including
design, procedures, and the instruments to be used) and the main
findings.

Introduction:

The introduction of a proposal should begin with a capsule statement

of what is being proposed and then should proceed to introduce the
subject. It should generally cover the purpose of your study, why you
consider it to be important, the major issues you intend to cover,
the dependent and independent variables involved, and your hypothesis
if any. How to write all this depends a lot on your creativity and
your understanding of the subject. The important thing is that it
should be comprehensible to a layman so that he is able to place it
in a context of common knowledge.

Literature Review:

Here you have to enumerate literature sources on your research topic.

The intention is to demonstrate your knowledge of the subject and the
issues involved, your ability to evaluate relevant literature
information, and convince your reader that your research will fill
the gap in the literature of your research field. Remember to
organize it well and to include influential sources and documents.

Methodology:

In this section, you should explain how you will conduct your
research in as much detail as possible. If you will consult others
(such as a statistician, an ethnographer, or a librarian) explain
what role they will serve and how you hope they will enhance your
development of an appropriate methodology for the project. Discuss
the kinds of sources you hope to consult, the methods of research you
will use - qualitative (interviews, questionnaires) and quantitative
(statistics, stuff that deals intensively with numbers)– to extract
and process the information in as much detail as is possible.

Conclusion:

Shortly recap all that you have written above, stating why your
research is important, why it advances knowledge, and why it is worth
researching.

Timeframe:

Here you have to give the approximate time you need for your
research.

Main Points:

Just keep these points in mind while writing your proposal:

• Include all the above sections.

• Stay focused on your research topic.
• Develop a coherent and persuasive argument for your proposed
research.
• Cite major studies in the field.
 • Present theoretical and empirical contributions by other
researchers.
• Keep the length moderate – not too long, not too short.

If you have further questions on writing a research proposal, or would like us to

help you with your proposal, please do not hesitate to write to us at help@word-
mart.com

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