THE ELEMENTS OF A RESEARCH PROPOSAL

I. Introduction

A. “The introduction is the part of the paper that provides readers with the background
information for the research reported in the paper. Its purpose is to establish a framework
for the research, so that readers can understand how it is related to other research” .

B. In an introduction, the writer should:

1. create reader interest in the topic,

2. lay the broad foundation for the problem that leads to the study,

3. place the study within the larger context of the scholarly literature, and

4. reach out to a specific audience.

C. If a researcher is working within a particular theoretical framework/line of inquiry, the

theory or line of inquiry should be introduced and discussed early, preferably in the
introduction or literature review. Remember that the theory/line of inquiry selected will
inform the statement of the problem, rationale for the study, questions and hypotheses,
selection of instruments, and choice of methods. Ultimately, findings will be discussed in
terms of how they relate to the theory/line of inquiry that undergirds the study.

D. Theories, theoretical frameworks, and lines of inquiry may be differently handled in

quantitative and qualitative endeavors.

1. “In quantitative studies, one uses theory deductively and places it toward the
beginning of the plan for a study. The objective is to test or verify theory. One thus
begins the study advancing a theory, collects data to test it, and reflects on whether
the theory was confirmed or disconfirmed by the results in the study. The theory
becomes a framework for the entire study, an organizing model for the research
questions or hypotheses for the data collection procedure”.

2. In qualitative inquiry, the use of theory and of a line of inquiry depends on the
nature of the investigation. In studies aiming at “grounded theory,” for example,
theory and theoretical tenets emerge from findings. Much qualitative inquiry,
however, also aims to test or verify theory, hence in these cases the theoretical
framework, as in quantitative efforts, should be identified and discussed early on.
II. Review of the Literature

A. “The review of the literature provides the background and context for the
research problem. It should establish the need for the research and indicate that the
writer is knowledgeable about the area”.

B. The literature review accomplishes several important things.

1. It shares with the reader the results of other studies that are closely
related to the study being reported.

2. It relates a study to the larger, ongoing dialogue in the literature about a

topic, filling in gaps and extending prior studies.

3. It provides a framework for establishing the importance of the study, as

well as a benchmark for comparing the results of a study with other findings.

4. It “frames” the problem earlier identified.

C. Demonstrate to the reader that you have a comprehensive grasp of the field and
are aware of important recent substantive and methodological developments.

D. Delineate the “jumping-off place” for your study. How will your study refine,
revise, or extend what is now known?

E. Avoid statements that imply that little has been done in the area or that what has
been done is too extensive to permit easy summary. Statements of this sort are
usually taken as indications that the writer is not really familiar with the literature.

F. In a proposal, the literature review is generally brief and to the point. Be

judicious in your choice of exemplars—the literature selected should be pertinent
and relevant. Select and reference only the more appropriate citations. Make key
points clearly and succinctly.

III. Statement of the Problem

A. “The problem statement describes the context for the study and it also identifies
the general analysis approach”.

B. “A problem might be defined as the issue that exists in the literature, theory, or
practice that leads to a need for the study’.

C. It is important in a proposal that the problem stand out—that the reader can
easily recognize it. Sometimes, obscure and poorly formulated problems are masked
in an extended discussion. In such cases, reviewers and/or committee members will
have difficulty recognizing the problem.
 D. A problem statement should be presented within a context, and that context
should be provided and briefly explained, including a discussion of the conceptual or
theoretical framework in which it is embedded. Clearly and succinctly identify and
explain the problem within the framework of the theory or line of inquiry that
undergirds the study. This is of major importance in nearly all proposals and
requires careful attention. It is essential in all quantitative research and much
qualitative research.

E. State the problem in terms intelligible to someone who is generally sophisticated

but who is relatively uninformed in the area of your investigation.

F. Effective problem statements answer the question “Why does this research need
to be conducted.” If a researcher is unable to answer this question clearly and
succinctly, and without resorting to hyperspeaking (i.e., focusing on problems of
macro or global proportions that certainly will not be informed or alleviated by the
study), then the statement of the problem will come off as ambiguous and diffuse.

G. For conference proposals, the statement of the problem is generally incorporated

into the introduction; academic proposals for theses or dissertations should have
this as a separate section.

IV. Purpose of the Study

A. “The purpose statement should provide a specific and accurate synopsis of the
overall purpose of the study”. If the purpose is not clear to the writer, it cannot be
clear to the reader.

B. Briefly define and delimit the specific area of the research. You will revisit this in
greater detail in a later section.

C. Foreshadow the hypotheses to be tested or the questions to be raised, as well as

the significance of the study. These will require specific elaboration in subsequent
sections.

D. The purpose statement can also incorporate the rationale for the study. Some
committees prefer that the purpose and rationale be provided in separate sections,
however.

E. Key points to keep in mind when preparing a purpose statement.

1. Try to incorporate a sentence that begins with “The purpose of this study
is . . .”
This will clarify your own mind as to the purpose and it will inform the
reader directly and explicitly.
 2. Clearly identify and define the central concepts or ideas of the study. Some
committee Chairs prefer a separate section to this end. When defining terms,
make a judicious choice between using descriptive or operational definitions.

3. Identify the specific method of inquiry to be used.

4. Identify the unit of analysis in the study.

V. Questions and/or Hypotheses

A. Questions are relevant to normative or census type research (How many of them
are there? Is there a relationship between them?). They are most often used in
qualitative inquiry, although their use in quantitative inquiry is becoming more
prominent. Hypotheses are relevant to theoretical research and are typically used
only in quantitative inquiry. When a writer states hypotheses, the reader is entitled
to have an exposition of the theory that led to them (and of the assumptions
underlying the theory). Just as conclusions must be grounded in the data,
hypotheses must be grounded in the theoretical framework.

B. A research question poses a relationship between two or more variables but

phrases the relationship as a question; a hypothesis represents a declarative
statement of the relations between two or more variables.

C. Deciding whether to use questions or hypotheses depends on factors such as the

purpose of the study, the nature of the design and methodology, and the audience of
the research (at times even the taste and preference of committee members,
particularly the Chair).

D. The practice of using hypotheses was derived from using the scientific method in
social science inquiry. They have philosophical advantages in statistical testing, as
researchers should be and tend to be conservative and cautious in their statements
of conclusions.

E. Hypotheses can be couched in four kinds of statements.

1. Literary null—a “no difference” form in terms of theoretical constructs. For

example, “There is no relationship between support services and academic
persistence of nontraditional-aged college women.” Or, “There is no
difference in school achievement for high and low self-regulated students.”

2. Operational null—a “no difference” form in terms of the operation

required to test the hypothesis. For example, “There is no relationship
between the number of hours nontraditional-aged college women use the
student union and their persistence at the college after their freshman year.”
Or, “There is no difference between the mean grade point averages achieved
 by students in the upper and lower quartiles of the distribution of the Self-
regulated Inventory.” The operational null is generally the preferred form of
hypothesis-writing.

3. Literary alternative—a form that states the hypothesis you will accept if
the null hypothesis is rejected, stated in terms of theoretical constructs. In
other words, this is usually what you hope the results will show. For
example, “The more that nontraditional-aged women use support services,
the more they will persist academically.” Or, “High self-regulated students
will achieve more in their classes than low self-regulated students.”

4. Operational alternative—Similar to the literary alternative except that the

operations are specified. For example, “The more that nontraditional-aged
college women use the student union, the more they will persist at the
college after their freshman year.” Or, “Students in the upper quartile of the
Self-regulated Inventory distribution achieve significantly higher grade point
averages than do students in the lower quartile.”

F. In general, the null hypothesis is used if theory/literature does not suggest a

hypothesized relationship between the variables under investigation; the
alternative is generally reserved for situations in which theory/research suggests a
relationship or directional interplay.
 G. Be prepared to interpret any possible outcomes with respect to the questions
or hypotheses. It will be helpful if you visualize in your mind’s eye the tables (or
other summary devices) that you expect to result from your research.

H. Questions and hypotheses are testable propositions deduced and directly

derived from theory (except in grounded theory studies and similar types of
qualitative inquiry).

I. Make a clear and careful distinction between the dependent and independent
variables and be certain they are clear to the reader. Be excruciatingly consistent
in your use of terms. If appropriate, use the same pattern of wording and word
order in all hypotheses.

VI. Significance of the Study

A. Indicate how your research will refine, revise, or extend existing knowledge in
the area under investigation. Note that such refinements, revisions, or extensions
may have either substantive, theoretical, or methodological significance. Think
pragmatically (i.e., cash value).

B. Most studies have two potential audiences: practitioners and professional

peers. Statements relating the research to both groups are in order.

C. This can be a difficult section to write. Think about implications—how results

of the study may affect scholarly research, theory, practice, educational
interventions, curricula, counseling, policy.

D. When thinking about the significance of your study, ask yourself the following
questions.

1. What will results mean to the theoretical framework that framed the
study?

2. What suggestions for subsequent research arise from the findings?

3. What will the results mean to Food science, nutrition, public health,
etc?

4. Will results influence programs, methods, and/or interventions?

5. Will results contribute to the solution of health problems?

6. Will results influence policy decisions?

7. What will be improved or changed as a result of the proposed

research?
 8. How will results of the study be implemented, and what innovations
will come about?

VII. The Design--Methods and Procedures

A. “The methods or procedures section is really the heart of the research

proposal. The activities should be described with as much detail as possible, and
the continuity between them should be apparent”.

B. Indicate the methodological steps you will take to answer every question or to
test every hypothesis illustrated in the Questions/Hypotheses section.

C. All research is plagued by the presence of confounding variables (the noise

that covers up the information you would like to have). Confounding variables
should be minimized by various kinds of controls or be estimated and taken into
account by randomization processes. In the design section, indicate:

1. the variables you propose to control and how you propose to control
them, experimentally or statistically, and

2. the variables you propose to randomize, and the nature of the

randomizing unit (students, grades, schools, etc.).

D. Be aware of possible sources of error to which your design exposes you. You
will not produce a perfect, error free design (no one can). However, you should
anticipate possible sources of error and attempt to overcome them or take them
into account in your analysis. Moreover, you should disclose to the reader the
sources you have identified and what efforts you have made to account for them.

E. Sampling

1. The key reason for being concerned with sampling is that of validity—the
extent to which the interpretations of the results of the study follow from the
study itself and the extent to which results may be generalized to other
situations with other people.

2. Sampling is critical to external validity—the extent to which findings of a

study can be generalized to people or situations other than those observed in the
study. To generalize validly the findings from a sample to some defined
population requires that the sample has been drawn from that population
according to one of several probability sampling plans. By a probability sample is
meant that the probability of inclusion in the sample of any element in the
population must be given a priori. All probability samples involve the idea of
random sampling at some stage. In experimentation, two distinct steps are
involved.
 Random selection—participants to be included in the sample have been chosen at
random from the same population. Define the population and indicate the
sampling plan in detail.

Random assignment—participants for the sample have been assigned at random

to one of the experimental conditions.

3. Another reason for being concerned with sampling is that of internal

validity—the extent to which the outcomes of a study result from the variables
that were manipulated, measured, or selected rather than from other variables
not systematically treated. Without probability sampling, error estimates cannot
be constructed.

4. Perhaps the key word in sampling is representative. One must ask oneself,
“How representative is the sample of the survey population (the group from
which the sample is selected) and how representative is the survey population of
the target population (the larger group to which we wish to generalize)?”

5. When a sample is drawn out of convenience (a nonprobability sample),

rationale and limitations must be clearly provided.

6. If available, outline the characteristics of the sample (by gender,

race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or other relevant group membership).

7. Detail procedures to follow to obtain informed consent and ensure anonymity

and/or confidentiality.

F. Materials and Measures

1. Outline the instruments you propose to use (surveys, scales, interview

protocols, observation grids). If instruments have previously been used, identify
previous studies and findings related to reliability and validity. If instruments
have not previously been used, outline procedures you will follow to develop and
test their reliability and validity. In the latter case, a pilot study is nearly
essential.

2. Because selection of instruments in most cases provides the operational

definition of constructs, this is a crucial step in the proposal. For example, it is at
this step that a literary conception such as “self-efficacy is related to school
achievement” becomes “scores on the Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale are related
to Grade Point Average.” Strictly speaking, results of your study will be directly
relevant only to the instrumental or operational statements.

3. Include an appendix with a copy of the instruments to be used or the

interview protocol to be followed. Also include sample items in the description of
the instrument.

4. For a mailed survey, identify steps to be taken in administering and following

up the survey to obtain a high response rate.
G. Data Collection

1. Outline the general plan for collecting the data. This may include survey
administration procedures, interview or observation procedures. Include an
explicit statement covering the field controls to be employed. If appropriate,
discuss how you obtained entré.

2. Provide a general outline of the time schedule you expect to follow.

H. Data Analysis

1. Specify the procedures you will use, and label them accurately (e.g., ANOVA,
MANCOVA, HLM, ethnography, case study, grounded theory). If coding
procedures are to be used, describe in reasonable detail. If you triangulated,
carefully explain how you went about it. Communicate your precise intentions
and reasons for these intentions to the reader. This helps you and the reader
evaluate the choices you made and procedures you followed.

2. Indicate briefly any analytic tools you will have available and expect to use
(e.g. SAS, SPSS, Stata, Nvivo, SYSTAT, etc).

3. Provide a well thought-out rationale for your decision to use the design,
methodology, and analyses you have selected.

VIII. Limitations and Delimitations

A. A limitation identifies potential weaknesses of the study. Think about your

analysis, the nature of self-report, your instruments, the sample. Think about
threats to internal validity that may have been impossible to avoid or
minimize—explain.

B. A delimitation addresses how a study will be narrowed in scope, that is, how it
is bounded. This is the place to explain the things that you are not doing and why
you have chosen not to do them—the literature you will not review (and why
not), the population you are not studying (and why not), the methodological
procedures you will not use (and why you will not use them). Limit your
delimitations to the things that a reader might reasonably expect you to do but
that you, for clearly explained reasons, have decided not to do.

IX. References

A. Follow APA guidelines regarding use of references in text and in the reference
list. Of course, your committee or discipline may require Chicago or MLA.

B. Only references cited in the text are included in the reference list; however,
exceptions can be found to this rule. For example, committees may require
evidence that you are familiar with a broader spectrum of literature than that
immediately relevant to your research. In such instances, the reference list may
be called a bibliography.
 C. Some committees require that reference lists and/or bibliographies be
“annotated,” which is to say that each entry be accompanied by a brief
description, or an abstract. Check with your committee Chair before the fact.

Appendixes

The need for complete documentation generally dictates the inclusion of

appropriate appendixes in proposals (although this is generally not the case as
regards conference proposals).

The following materials are appropriate for an appendix. Consult with your
committee Chair.

 Verbatim instructions to participants.

 Original scales or questionnaires. If an instrument is copyrighted,
permission in writing to reproduce the instrument from the copyright
holder or proof of purchase of the instrument.
 Interview protocols.
 Sample of informed consent forms.
 Cover letters sent to appropriate stakeholders.
 Official letters of permission to conduct research.