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COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO WRITING A RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Definition of Research Proposal
The aim of a research proposal is to present and justify a research idea and to present the practical
ways in which the research should be conducted. The forms and procedures for such research are
defined by the field of study, so guidelines for research proposals are generally more exacting and
less formal than a project proposal. Research proposals contain extensive literature reviews and
must provide persuasive evidence that there is a need for the research study being proposed
(Krathwohl, 2005).
In addition to providing rationale for the proposed research, a proposal describes detailed
methodology for conducting the research consistent with requirements of the professional or
academic field and a statement on anticipated outcomes and/or benefits derived from the study.
The importance of writing a research proposal:
i. Skills are being developed when thinking about and designing a comprehensive research
study;
ii. Writing a research proposal help learn how to conduct a comprehensive review of the
literature to ensure a research problem has not already been answered (or finding out that the
problem has been answered ineffectively) and, in so doing, become familiar with scholarship
related to the topic;
iii. It improves the general research and writing skills;
iv. It is a practice which helps in identifying what logical steps must be taken to accomplish the
research goals;
v. It helps to nurture a sense of inquisitiveness and being active in the process of doing
scholarly research.
A proposal should contain all the key elements involved in designing a complete research study,
with sufficient information that allows readers to assess the validity and usefulness of the proposed
study. The only elements missing from a research proposal are the results of the study and analysis
of those results. Finally, an effective proposal is judged on the quality of writing. It is, therefore,
important that writing is coherent, clear, and compelling.
Regardless of the research problem under investigation and the chosen methodology, all research
proposals must address the following questions:
i. What to accomplish? This is the clarity in defining the research problem.
ii. Why to conduct a research? In addition to detailing the research design, a thorough review
of the literature must be conducted and convincing evidence must be provided on the topic.
iii. How to conduct a research? Ensure that the proposed research is doable.
Here are the mistakes that are usually committed:
i. Failure to be concise; being "all over the map" without a clear sense of purpose;
ii. Failure to cite works that are very germane in the literature review;
iii. Failure to delimit the contextual boundaries of the research (such as context, place, time,
people, etc.);
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iv. Failure to develop a coherent and persuasive argument for the proposed research;
v. Failure to stay focused on the research question; going off on unrelated tangents;
vi. Imprecise writing;
vii. Poor grammar; and
viii. Too much detail on minor issues, but not enough detail on major issues.
The Proposal Writing Process
Research proposals are generally organized the same way as the traditional research paper
throughout the social sciences. Most proposals are usually between ten (10) and fifteen (15) pages
in length. However, before the commencement of the proposal writing, the following information
below should be studied, as they are specific requirements for organizing and writing the proposal.
The researcher should be able to answer these questions:
i. What do I want to study, and why?
ii. Is it in-line with my area of specialization?
iii. What problems will it help solve?
iv. How does it build upon or go beyond research already conducted on the subject matter?
v. What exactly should I plan to do?
vi. Can I get it done in the time available?
In the end, the research proposal should reflect enthusiasm for conducting the study. It should be
conducted with the convincing the readers on the exciting idea.
In general the proposal should include the following sections:
Research Proposal Writing: Introduction
In the real world of higher education, a research proposal is most often written by scholars seeking
grant funding for a research project or it is the first step in getting approval to write a dissertation.
Introduction is the initial pitch of an idea. After reading the introduction, the readers should not only
have an understanding of what is the research is set to achieve, but they should also be able to sense
the writers’ passion for the topic and be excited about its possible outcomes.
Think about the introduction as a narrative written in one to three paragraphs that succinctly
answers the following four questions:
i. What is the key research problem?
ii. How is the topic of study related to that problem?
iii. What methods should be used to analyze the research problem?
iv. Why is the topic important to research on and why should someone reading the proposal
care about the outcomes from the study?
Research Proposal Writing: Background and Significance
This section can be fused into the introduction or a separate section can be created to help with the
organization and flow of research proposal. This is where the context of the research, outline and
importance can be explained. Writing this section should be approached with the thought that the
readers cannot be assumed to know much about the research problem as the researcher does. This
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section is not an essay on the research problem; instead, the relevant things should be explained in-
line with the objectives for the study.
To this end, while there are no hard and fast rules, some of the following should be addressed:
i. State the research problem and give a more detailed explanation about the purpose of the
study than what was stated in the introduction;
ii. Present the rationale of the proposed study and clearly indicate why it is worth doing.
Answer the "So what question”;
iii. Describe the major issues or problems to be addressed by the research;
iv. Clearly identify the key sources to use and explain how they will contribute to the analysis
of the research;
v. Set the boundaries of the proposed research in order to provide a clear focus; and
vi. Provide definitions of key concepts or terms, if necessary.
Research Proposal Writing: Literature Review
A literature review should be properly connected to the background and significance of the study. It
is a more deliberate review and synthesis of prior studies related to the research problem under
investigation. The purpose here is to place the research within the larger whole of what is currently
being explored, while demonstrating to the readers that the research is original and innovative. It is
pertinent to think about what questions other researchers have asked, what methods they have used,
and what is the understanding of their findings. There is need to examine what seems to be missing,
and state how previous research has failed to examine the issue that this present study addresses.
Since a literature review is information dense, it is crucial that this section is intelligently structured
to enable a reader to grasp the key arguments underpinning the study in relation to that of other
researchers. A good strategy is to break the literature into “conceptual review, theoretical review,
empirical review and conceptual framework” [themes] rather than systematically describing
materials one at a time.
The following will be useful in framing the literature review in a research proposal:
i. Keep the primary focus on the literature pertinent to the research problem.
ii. Compare the various arguments, theories, methodologies, and findings expressed in the
literature: what do the authors agree on? Who applies similar approaches to analyzing the
research problem?
iii. Contrast the various arguments, themes, methodologies, approaches and controversies
expressed in the literature: what are the major areas of disagreement, controversy, or debate?
iv. Critique the existing literature. Which arguments are more persuasive, and why? Which
approaches, findings, methodologies seem most reliable, valid, or appropriate, and why? Pay
attention to the verbs used to describe what an author says/does [e.g., asserts, demonstrates,
etc.].
v. Connect the literature to an area of research and investigation: how does the present research
draw upon, depart from, or synthesize what has been said in the literature?
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Research Proposal Writing: Research Method and Design

The section of research method entails research design, and must be properly written and logically
organized because the research is not actually being carried out. As a consequence, the reader will
never have a study outcome from which to evaluate whether the methodological choices were the
correct ones. The objective here is to ensure that the reader is convinced that the overall research
design and methods of analysis will correctly address the research problem. The research methods
and design should be absolutely and unmistakably tied to the specific aim and objectives of the
study (Krathwohl, 2005).
Describe the overall research design by building upon and drawing examples from the review of
literature. Be specific about the methodological approaches proposed to elicit information, about the
techniques that will be used to analyze it, and about tests of external validity such as the
trustworthiness of the research.
When describing the methods to use in the proposal, there is need to consider the following:
i. Specify the research operations to be carried out and the way to interpret the results of these
operations in relation to the research problem. What is intended to be achieved from
applying the chosen methods should not just be identified, but there must be clear statement
on how time will be spent while doing it.
ii. Keep in mind that a methodology is not just a list of research tasks; it is an argument as to
why these tasks add up to the best way to investigate the research problem. This is an
important point because the mere listing of tasks to perform does not demonstrate that they
add up to the best feasible approach.
iii. Acknowledge any potential barriers and pitfalls in carrying out a research design and explain
how to get around them.
Research Proposal Writing: Preliminary Suppositions and Implications
Just because the study cannot actually be conducted and the results analyzed, it doesn't mean that
talking about the process and potential implications can be skipped. The purpose of preliminary
suppositions and implications is to argue how and in what ways the researcher believe the research
will be refined, revised, or extend existing knowledge in the subject matter under investigation.
Depending on the aim and objectives of the study, how the anticipated results of the study will
impact future scholarly research, theory, practice, forms of interventions, or policy should be
described.
It is essential to note that such discussions may have either methodological (a potential new way of
analyzing) significance, theoretical (a potential new understanding), or substantive (a potential new
policy).
When thinking about the potential implications of a study, the following questions should be asked:
1. What might the results mean in regards to the theoretical framework that frames the study?
2. What suggestions for subsequent research could arise from the potential outcomes of the
study?
3. What will the results mean to practitioners in the "real world"?
4. Will the results influence programs, methods, and/or forms of intervention?
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5. How might the results contribute to the solution of social, economic, environmental, or other
types of challenges?
6. Will the results influence policy decisions?
7. What will be improved or changed as a result of the proposed research?
8. How will the results of the study be implemented, and what innovations will emanate?
Research Proposal Writing: Conclusion
The conclusion reiterates the importance of proposal and provides a brief recap of the entire study.
It should be only one or two paragraphs long, emphasizing why the research study is unique, why it
advances knowledge, and why the research problem is worth investigating.
It should provide readers with the following:
1. Why the study was carried out;
2. The specific purpose of the study and the research questions it attempted to answer;
3. The research design and methods used;
4. The potential implications emerging from the proposed study of the research problem; and
5. A sense of how the study fits within the broader scholarship about the research problem.
Citations
As with any scholarly research paper, all the sources used in composing the proposal must be cited.
In a standard research proposal, there are two forms of citation (Krathwohl, 2005). The preferred
one depends on the format of each school.
1. References: This lists only the literature that is actually used or cited in the proposal.
2. Bibliography: This lists everything that is used or cited in a proposal with additional
citations of any key sources relevant to understanding the research problem.
In either case, citations should testify to the fact that enough preparatory work is carried out to make
sure the research will complement and not duplicate the efforts of other researchers (Punch &
Wayne, 2006).
Start a new page and use the heading "References" or "Bibliography" at the top of the page. Cited
works should always use a standard format that follows the writing style advised by the Research
Institute or discipline under which the research is carried out [History = Chicago; Education =
APA].
Note: This section normally does not count towards the total length of a proposal.
References
Krathwohl, D. R. (2005). How to Prepare a Dissertation Proposal: Suggestions for Students in
Education and the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
Punch, K., & Wayne, M. (2006). Developing and Writing a Research Proposal. In From
Postgraduate to Social Scientist: A Guide to Key Skills. Nigel Gilbert, ed. (Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage), 59-81.
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