HowtoWriteaResearchProposal

PaulT.P.Wong,Ph.D.,C.Psych.
ResearchDirector,GraduateProgramin
CounsellingPsychology
TrinityWesternUniversity
Langley,BC,Canada
Moststudentsandbeginningresearchers
donotfullyunderstandwhataresearch
proposalmeans,nordotheyunderstandits
importance.Toputitbluntly,one'sresearch
isonlyasagoodasone'sproposal.Anill
conceivedproposaldoomstheprojecteven
ifitsomehowgetsthroughtheThesis
SupervisoryCommittee.Ahighquality
proposal,ontheotherhand,notonlypromisessuccessfortheproject,butalsoimpressesyour
ThesisCommitteeaboutyourpotentialasaresearcher.
Aresearchproposalisintendedtoconvinceothersthatyouhaveaworthwhileresearchproject
andthatyouhavethecompetenceandtheworkplantocompleteit.Generally,aresearch
proposalshouldcontainallthekeyelementsinvolvedintheresearchprocessandinclude
sufficientinformationforthereaderstoevaluatetheproposedstudy.
Regardlessofyourresearchareaandthemethodologyyouchoose,allresearchproposalsmust
addressthefollowingquestions:Whatyouplantoaccomplish,whyyouwanttodoitandhowyou
aregoingtodoit.
Theproposalshouldhavesufficientinformationtoconvinceyourreadersthatyouhavean
importantresearchidea,thatyouhaveagoodgraspoftherelevantliteratureandthemajor
issues,andthatyourmethodologyissound.
Thequalityofyourresearchproposaldependsnotonlyonthequalityofyourproposedproject,
butalsoonthequalityofyourproposalwriting.Agoodresearchprojectmayruntheriskof
rejectionsimplybecausetheproposalispoorlywritten.Therefore,itpaysifyourwritingis
coherent,clearandcompelling.
Thispaperfocusesonproposalwritingratherthanonthedevelopmentofresearchideas.
Title:
Itshouldbeconciseanddescriptive.Forexample,thephrase,"Aninvestigationof..."couldbe
omitted.Oftentitlesarestatedintermsofafunctionalrelationship,becausesuchtitlesclearly
indicatetheindependentanddependentvariables.However,ifpossible,thinkofaninformative
butcatchytitle.Aneffectivetitlenotonlypricksthereader'sinterest,butalsopredisposeshim/her
favourablytowardstheproposal.
Abstract:
Itisabriefsummaryofapproximately300words.Itshouldincludetheresearchquestion,the
rationaleforthestudy,thehypothesis(ifany),themethodandthemainfindings.Descriptionsof
themethodmayincludethedesign,procedures,thesampleandanyinstrumentsthatwillbeused.
Introduction:
Themainpurposeoftheintroductionistoprovidethenecessarybackgroundorcontextforyour
researchproblem.Howtoframetheresearchproblemisperhapsthebiggestprobleminproposal
writing.
Iftheresearchproblemisframedinthecontextofageneral,ramblingliteraturereview,thenthe
researchquestionmayappeartrivialanduninteresting.However,ifthesamequestionisplacedin
thecontextofaveryfocusedandcurrentresearcharea,itssignificancewillbecomeevident.

Unfortunately,therearenohardandfastrulesonhowtoframeyourresearchquestionjustas
thereisnoprescriptiononhowtowriteaninterestingandinformativeopeningparagraph.Alot
dependsonyourcreativity,yourabilitytothinkclearlyandthedepthofyourunderstandingof
problemareas.
However,trytoplaceyourresearchquestioninthecontextofeitheracurrent"hot"area,oran
olderareathatremainsviable.Secondly,youneedtoprovideabriefbutappropriatehistorical
backdrop.Thirdly,providethecontemporarycontextinwhichyourproposedresearchquestion
occupiesthecentralstage.Finally,identify"keyplayers"andrefertothemostrelevantand
representativepublications.Inshort,trytopaintyourresearchquestioninbroadbrushesandat
thesametimebringoutitssignificance.
Theintroductiontypicallybeginswithageneralstatementoftheproblemarea,withafocusona
specificresearchproblem,tobefollowedbytherationalorjustificationfortheproposedstudy.The
introductiongenerallycoversthefollowingelements:
1. Statetheresearchproblem,whichisoftenreferredtoasthepurposeofthestudy.
2. Providethecontextandsetthestageforyourresearchquestioninsuchawayastoshow
itsnecessityandimportance.
3. Presenttherationaleofyourproposedstudyandclearlyindicatewhyitisworthdoing.
4. Brieflydescribethemajorissuesandsubproblemstobeaddressedbyyourresearch.
5. Identifythekeyindependentanddependentvariablesofyourexperiment.Alternatively,
specifythephenomenonyouwanttostudy.
6. Stateyourhypothesisortheory,ifany.Forexploratoryorphenomenologicalresearch,you
maynothaveanyhypotheses.(Pleasedonotconfusethehypothesiswiththestatistical
nullhypothesis.)
7. Setthedelimitationorboundariesofyourproposedresearchinordertoprovideaclear
focus.
8. Providedefinitionsofkeyconcepts.(Thisisoptional.)
LiteratureReview:
Sometimestheliteraturereviewisincorporatedintotheintroductionsection.However,most
professorspreferaseparatesection,whichallowsamorethoroughreviewoftheliterature.
Theliteraturereviewservesseveralimportantfunctions:
1. Ensuresthatyouarenot"reinventingthewheel".
2. Givescreditstothosewhohavelaidthegroundworkforyourresearch.
3. Demonstratesyourknowledgeoftheresearchproblem.
4. Demonstratesyourunderstandingofthetheoreticalandresearchissuesrelatedtoyour
researchquestion.
5. Showsyourabilitytocriticallyevaluaterelevantliteratureinformation.
6. Indicatesyourabilitytointegrateandsynthesizetheexistingliterature.
7. Providesnewtheoreticalinsightsordevelopsanewmodelastheconceptualframework
foryourresearch.
8. Convincesyourreaderthatyourproposedresearchwillmakeasignificantandsubstantial
contributiontotheliterature(i.e.,resolvinganimportanttheoreticalissueorfillingamajor
gapintheliterature).
Moststudents'literaturereviewssufferfromthefollowingproblems:
Lackingorganizationandstructure
Lackingfocus,unityandcoherence
Beingrepetitiveandverbose
Failingtociteinfluentialpapers
Failingtokeepupwithrecentdevelopments
Failingtocriticallyevaluatecitedpapers
Citingirrelevantortrivialreferences
Dependingtoomuchonsecondarysources
Yourscholarshipandresearchcompetencewillbequestionedifanyoftheaboveappliestoyour
proposal.
Therearedifferentwaystoorganizeyourliteraturereview.Makeuseofsubheadingstobring
orderandcoherencetoyourreview.Forexample,havingestablishedtheimportanceofyour
researchareaanditscurrentstateofdevelopment,youmaydevoteseveralsubsectionson
relatedissuesas:theoreticalmodels,measuringinstruments,crossculturalandgender
differences,etc.

Itisalsohelpfultokeepinmindthatyouaretellingastorytoanaudience.Trytotellitina
stimulatingandengagingmanner.Donotborethem,becauseitmayleadtorejectionofyour
worthyproposal.(Remember:Professorsandscientistsarehumanbeingstoo.)
Methods:
TheMethodsectionisveryimportantbecauseittellsyourResearchCommitteehowyouplanto
tackleyourresearchproblem.Itwillprovideyourworkplananddescribetheactivitiesnecessary
forthecompletionofyourproject.
TheguidingprincipleforwritingtheMethodsectionisthatitshouldcontainsufficientinformation
forthereadertodeterminewhethermethodologyissound.Someevenarguethatagoodproposal
shouldcontainsufficientdetailsforanotherqualifiedresearchertoimplementthestudy.
Youneedtodemonstrateyourknowledgeofalternativemethodsandmakethecasethatyour
approachisthemostappropriateandmostvalidwaytoaddressyourresearchquestion.
Pleasenotethatyourresearchquestionmaybebestansweredbyqualitativeresearch.However,
sincemostmainstreampsychologistsarestillbiasedagainstqualitativeresearch,especiallythe
phenomenologicalvariety,youmayneedtojustifyyourqualitativemethod.
Furthermore,sincetherearenowellestablishedandwidelyacceptedcanonsinqualitative
analysis,yourmethodsectionneedstobemoreelaboratethanwhatisrequiredfortraditional
quantitativeresearch.Moreimportantly,thedatacollectionprocessinqualitativeresearchhasa
fargreaterimpactontheresultsascomparedtoquantitativeresearch.Thatisanotherreasonfor
greatercareindescribinghowyouwillcollectandanalyzeyourdata.(HowtowritetheMethod
sectionforqualitativeresearchisatopicforanotherpaper.)
Forquantitativestudies,themethodsectiontypicallyconsistsofthefollowingsections:
1. DesignIsitaquestionnairestudyoralaboratoryexperiment?Whatkindofdesigndoyou
choose?
2. SubjectsorparticipantsWhowilltakepartinyourstudy?Whatkindofsampling
proceduredoyouuse?
3. InstrumentsWhatkindofmeasuringinstrumentsorquestionnairesdoyouuse?Whydo
youchoosethem?Aretheyvalidandreliable?
4. ProcedureHowdoyouplantocarryoutyourstudy?Whatactivitiesareinvolved?How
longdoesittake?
Results:
Obviouslyyoudonothaveresultsattheproposalstage.However,youneedtohavesomeidea
aboutwhatkindofdatayouwillbecollecting,andwhatstatisticalprocedureswillbeusedinorder
toansweryourresearchquestionortestyouhypothesis.
Discussion:
Itisimportanttoconvinceyourreaderofthepotentialimpactofyourproposedresearch.Youneed
tocommunicateasenseofenthusiasmandconfidencewithoutexaggeratingthemeritsofyour
proposal.Thatiswhyyoualsoneedtomentionthelimitationsandweaknessesoftheproposed
research,whichmaybejustifiedbytimeandfinancialconstraintsaswellasbytheearly
developmentalstageofyourresearcharea.
CommonMistakesinProposalWriting
1. Failuretoprovidethepropercontexttoframetheresearchquestion.
2. Failuretodelimittheboundaryconditionsforyourresearch.
3. Failuretocitelandmarkstudies.
4. Failuretoaccuratelypresentthetheoreticalandempiricalcontributionsbyother
researchers.
5. Failuretostayfocusedontheresearchquestion.
6. Failuretodevelopacoherentandpersuasiveargumentfortheproposedresearch.
7. Toomuchdetailonminorissues,butnotenoughdetailonmajorissues.
8. Toomuchramblinggoing"alloverthemap"withoutaclearsenseofdirection.(Thebest
proposalsmoveforwardwitheaseandgracelikeaseamlessriver.)
9. Toomanycitationlapsesandincorrectreferences.
10. Toolongortooshort.
11. FailingtofollowtheAPAstyle.
12. Sloppingwriting.