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Dissertations 1: getting started: writing a proposal.
Before you start your dissertation, you may be asked to write a proposal for it.
The purpose of a dissertation proposal is to provide a snapshot of what your study involves. Usually, after submission of the proposal you will be assigned a supervisor who has some expertise in your field of study. You should receive feedback on the viability of the topic, how to focus the scope, research methods, and other issues you should consider before progressing in your research.
The research proposal should present the dissertation topic, justify your reasons for choosing it and outline how you are going to research it . You'll have to keep it brief, as word counts can vary from anywhere between 800 to 3,000 words at undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral levels.
It is worth bearing in mind that you are not bound by your proposal. Your project is likely going to evolve and may move in a new direction . Your dissertation supervisor is aware that this may occur as you delve deeper into the literature in your field of study. Nevertheless, always discuss any major developments with your supervisor in the first instance.
Before writing a proposal, you will need to read. A lot! But that doesn’t mean you must read everything. Be targeted! What do you really need to know?
Instead of reading every page in every book, look for clues in chapter titles and introductions to narrow your focus down. Use abstracts from journal articles to check whether the material is relevant to your study and keep notes of your reading along with clear records of bibliographic information and page numbers for your references.
Ultimately, your objective should be to create a dialogue between the theories and ideas you have read and your own thoughts. What is your personal perspective on the topic? What evidence is there that supports your point of view? Furthermore, you should ask questions about each text. Is it current or is it outdated? What argument is the author making? Is the author biased?
Approaching your reading in this way ensures that you engage with the literature critically. You will demonstrate that you have done this in your mini literature review (see Proposal Structure box).
If you have not yet started reading for your proposal, the Literature Review Guide offers advice on choosing a topic and how to conduct a literature search. Additionally, the Effective Reading Guide provides tips on researching and critical reading.
So, how is a dissertation proposal typically structured? The structure of a proposal varies considerably.
This is a list of elements that might be required. Please check the dissertation proposal requirements and marking criteria on Blackboard or with your lecturers if you are unsure about the requirements.
Title : The title you have devised, so far - it can change throughout the dissertation drafting process! A good title is simple but fairly specific. Example: "Focus and concentration during revision: an evaluation of the Pomodoro technique."
Introduction/Background : Provides background and presents the key issues of your proposed research. Can include the following:
Rationale : Why is this research being undertaken, why is it interesting and worthwhile, also considering the existing literature?
Purpose : What do you intend to accomplish with your study, e.g. improve something or understand something?
Research question : The main, overarching question your study seeks to answer. E.g. "How can focus and concentration be improved during revision?"
Hypothesis : Quantitative studies can use hypotheses in alternative to research questions. E.g. "Taking regular breaks significantly increases the ability to memorise information."
Aim : The main result your study seeks to achieve. If you use a research question, the aim echoes that, but uses an infinitive. E.g. "The aim of this research is to investigate how can focus and concentration be improved during revision."
Objectives : The stepping stones to achieve your aim. E.g. "The objectives of this research are 1) to review the literature on study techniques; 2) to identify the factors that influence focus and concentration; 3) to undertake an experiment on the Pomodoro technique with student volunteers; 4) to issue recommendations on focus and concentration for revision."
Literature review : Overview of significant literature around the research topic, moving from general (background) to specific (your subject of study). Highlight what the literature says, and does not say, on the research topic, identifying a gap(s) that your research aims to fill.
Methods : Here you consider what methods you are planning to use for your research, and why you are thinking of them. What secondary sources (literature) are you going to consult? Are you going to use primary sources (e.g. data bases, statistics, interviews, questionnaires, experiments)? Are you going to focus on a case study? Is the research going to be qualitative or quantitative? Consider if your research will need ethical clearance.
Significance/Implications/Expected outcomes : In this section you reiterate what are you hoping to demonstrate. State how your research could contribute to debates in your particular subject area, perhaps filling a gap(s) in the existing works.
Plan of Work : You might be asked to present your timeline for completing the dissertation. The timeline can be presented using different formats such as bullet points, table, Gantt chart. Whichever format you use, your plan of work should be realistic and should demonstrate awareness of the various elements of the study such as literature research, empirical work, drafting, re-drafting, etc.
Outline : Here you include a provisional table of contents for your dissertation. The structure of the dissertation can be free or prescribed by the dissertation guidelines of your course, so check that up.
Reference List : The list should include the bibliographical information of all the sources you cited in the proposal, listed in alphabetical order.
Most of the elements mentioned above are explained in the tabs of this guide!
Literature-based dissertations in the humanities
A literature-based dissertation in the humanities, however, might be less rigidly structured and may look like this:
Check your proposal!
Have you shown that your research idea is:
Ethical?
Relevant?
Feasible with the timeframe and resources available?
Have you:
Identified a clear research gap to focus on?
Stated why your study is important?
Selected a methodology that will enable you to gather the data you need?
Use the marking criteria for dissertation proposals provided by your department to check your work.
Locke, L.F., Spirduso, W.W. and Silverman, S.J. (2014). Proposals that Work: A Guide for Planning Dissertations and Grant Proposals . Sage.
Research proposal or statement of purpose.
Second only to the Personal Statement, is your Research/Project Proposal or Purpose Statement, which you can also expect to include in nearly every national scholarship or fellowship application. And, you can certainly anticipate some variation of this particular kind of statement to be an expected part of your graduate school applications as well. As with your Personal Statement, it needs to reflect something of you but with a much more specific focus on your academic plans and preparation. A Purpose Statement will also be relatively short, at most two-pages in length, and is your opportunity to make a well-substantiated case for what you are proposing to do in the future. Most students will find the Purpose Statement, Research or Project Proposal surprisingly comfortable to write as opposed to the Personal Statement because it is expected that your Purpose Statement is written from a largely academic focus. Your statement should include the following:
In short, try to convince your reader that what you are proposing to research or work on can only be done in that particular part of the world and that you, simply, must be there to be the most successful.
As with your Personal Statement, the more time you devote to careful planning, thought, and writing, the stronger your Purpose Statement will be. Make sure to ask your faculty mentors and advisors to review your Purpose Statement and/or Research Proposal as they will be able to best guide you in refining your subject and even providing you with further contacts and resources. Give yourself time to revise, edit, and revise some more.
NOTE: Some national scholarship and fellowship opportunities require an actual Research Essay ( Goldwater and the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship ). In this case, expect to submit a very detailed description of your undergraduate research efforts and how you expect to see the work continue in the coming years. Successful Goldwater research essays often include graphs, charts, notes and bibliographies to give evidence not only to the quality of the research but also to the quality of the students’ ability to put it in writing.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program’s research- and study-grants also requires a similar effort in crafting a highly specific project-proposal based on what an applicant intends to pursue in a foreign country. The proposal needs to be a specific and targeted articulation on research and project plans while still attending to the Fulbright’s ultimate concern of cultural exchange.
What this handout is about.
This handout will help you write and revise grant proposals for research funding in all academic disciplines (sciences, social sciences, humanities, and the arts). It’s targeted primarily to graduate students and faculty, although it will also be helpful to undergraduate students who are seeking funding for research (e.g. for a senior thesis).
A grant proposal or application is a document or set of documents that is submitted to an organization with the explicit intent of securing funding for a research project. Grant writing varies widely across the disciplines, and research intended for epistemological purposes (philosophy or the arts) rests on very different assumptions than research intended for practical applications (medicine or social policy research). Nonetheless, this handout attempts to provide a general introduction to grant writing across the disciplines.
Before you begin writing your proposal, you need to know what kind of research you will be doing and why. You may have a topic or experiment in mind, but taking the time to define what your ultimate purpose is can be essential to convincing others to fund that project. Although some scholars in the humanities and arts may not have thought about their projects in terms of research design, hypotheses, research questions, or results, reviewers and funding agencies expect you to frame your project in these terms. You may also find that thinking about your project in these terms reveals new aspects of it to you.
Writing successful grant applications is a long process that begins with an idea. Although many people think of grant writing as a linear process (from idea to proposal to award), it is a circular process. Many people start by defining their research question or questions. What knowledge or information will be gained as a direct result of your project? Why is undertaking your research important in a broader sense? You will need to explicitly communicate this purpose to the committee reviewing your application. This is easier when you know what you plan to achieve before you begin the writing process.
Diagram 1 below provides an overview of the grant writing process and may help you plan your proposal development.
Applicants must write grant proposals, submit them, receive notice of acceptance or rejection, and then revise their proposals. Unsuccessful grant applicants must revise and resubmit their proposals during the next funding cycle. Successful grant applications and the resulting research lead to ideas for further research and new grant proposals.
Cultivating an ongoing, positive relationship with funding agencies may lead to additional grants down the road. Thus, make sure you file progress reports and final reports in a timely and professional manner. Although some successful grant applicants may fear that funding agencies will reject future proposals because they’ve already received “enough” funding, the truth is that money follows money. Individuals or projects awarded grants in the past are more competitive and thus more likely to receive funding in the future.
Identify your needs and focus.
First, identify your needs. Answering the following questions may help you:
Next, think about the focus of your research/project. Answering the following questions may help you narrow it down:
Once you have identified your needs and focus, you can begin looking for prospective grants and funding agencies.
Whether your proposal receives funding will rely in large part on whether your purpose and goals closely match the priorities of granting agencies. Locating possible grantors is a time consuming task, but in the long run it will yield the greatest benefits. Even if you have the most appealing research proposal in the world, if you don’t send it to the right institutions, then you’re unlikely to receive funding.
There are many sources of information about granting agencies and grant programs. Most universities and many schools within universities have Offices of Research, whose primary purpose is to support faculty and students in grant-seeking endeavors. These offices usually have libraries or resource centers to help people find prospective grants.
At UNC, the Research at Carolina office coordinates research support.
The Funding Information Portal offers a collection of databases and proposal development guidance.
The UNC School of Medicine and School of Public Health each have their own Office of Research.
The majority of grant programs recruit academic reviewers with knowledge of the disciplines and/or program areas of the grant. Thus, when writing your grant proposals, assume that you are addressing a colleague who is knowledgeable in the general area, but who does not necessarily know the details about your research questions.
Remember that most readers are lazy and will not respond well to a poorly organized, poorly written, or confusing proposal. Be sure to give readers what they want. Follow all the guidelines for the particular grant you are applying for. This may require you to reframe your project in a different light or language. Reframing your project to fit a specific grant’s requirements is a legitimate and necessary part of the process unless it will fundamentally change your project’s goals or outcomes.
Final decisions about which proposals are funded often come down to whether the proposal convinces the reviewer that the research project is well planned and feasible and whether the investigators are well qualified to execute it. Throughout the proposal, be as explicit as possible. Predict the questions that the reviewer may have and answer them. Przeworski and Salomon (1995) note that reviewers read with three questions in mind:
Be sure to answer these questions in your proposal. Keep in mind that reviewers may not read every word of your proposal. Your reviewer may only read the abstract, the sections on research design and methodology, the vitae, and the budget. Make these sections as clear and straightforward as possible.
The way you write your grant will tell the reviewers a lot about you (Reif-Lehrer 82). From reading your proposal, the reviewers will form an idea of who you are as a scholar, a researcher, and a person. They will decide whether you are creative, logical, analytical, up-to-date in the relevant literature of the field, and, most importantly, capable of executing the proposed project. Allow your discipline and its conventions to determine the general style of your writing, but allow your own voice and personality to come through. Be sure to clarify your project’s theoretical orientation.
Because most proposal writers seek funding from several different agencies or granting programs, it is a good idea to begin by developing a general grant proposal and budget. This general proposal is sometimes called a “white paper.” Your general proposal should explain your project to a general academic audience. Before you submit proposals to different grant programs, you will tailor a specific proposal to their guidelines and priorities.
Although each funding agency will have its own (usually very specific) requirements, there are several elements of a proposal that are fairly standard, and they often come in the following order:
Literature review
Format the proposal so that it is easy to read. Use headings to break the proposal up into sections. If it is long, include a table of contents with page numbers.
The title page usually includes a brief yet explicit title for the research project, the names of the principal investigator(s), the institutional affiliation of the applicants (the department and university), name and address of the granting agency, project dates, amount of funding requested, and signatures of university personnel authorizing the proposal (when necessary). Most funding agencies have specific requirements for the title page; make sure to follow them.
The abstract provides readers with their first impression of your project. To remind themselves of your proposal, readers may glance at your abstract when making their final recommendations, so it may also serve as their last impression of your project. The abstract should explain the key elements of your research project in the future tense. Most abstracts state: (1) the general purpose, (2) specific goals, (3) research design, (4) methods, and (5) significance (contribution and rationale). Be as explicit as possible in your abstract. Use statements such as, “The objective of this study is to …”
Introduction
The introduction should cover the key elements of your proposal, including a statement of the problem, the purpose of research, research goals or objectives, and significance of the research. The statement of problem should provide a background and rationale for the project and establish the need and relevance of the research. How is your project different from previous research on the same topic? Will you be using new methodologies or covering new theoretical territory? The research goals or objectives should identify the anticipated outcomes of the research and should match up to the needs identified in the statement of problem. List only the principle goal(s) or objective(s) of your research and save sub-objectives for the project narrative.
Many proposals require a literature review. Reviewers want to know whether you’ve done the necessary preliminary research to undertake your project. Literature reviews should be selective and critical, not exhaustive. Reviewers want to see your evaluation of pertinent works. For more information, see our handout on literature reviews .
Project narrative
The project narrative provides the meat of your proposal and may require several subsections. The project narrative should supply all the details of the project, including a detailed statement of problem, research objectives or goals, hypotheses, methods, procedures, outcomes or deliverables, and evaluation and dissemination of the research.
For the project narrative, pre-empt and/or answer all of the reviewers’ questions. Don’t leave them wondering about anything. For example, if you propose to conduct unstructured interviews with open-ended questions, be sure you’ve explained why this methodology is best suited to the specific research questions in your proposal. Or, if you’re using item response theory rather than classical test theory to verify the validity of your survey instrument, explain the advantages of this innovative methodology. Or, if you need to travel to Valdez, Alaska to access historical archives at the Valdez Museum, make it clear what documents you hope to find and why they are relevant to your historical novel on the ’98ers in the Alaskan Gold Rush.
Clearly and explicitly state the connections between your research objectives, research questions, hypotheses, methodologies, and outcomes. As the requirements for a strong project narrative vary widely by discipline, consult a discipline-specific guide to grant writing for some additional advice.
Explain staffing requirements in detail and make sure that staffing makes sense. Be very explicit about the skill sets of the personnel already in place (you will probably include their Curriculum Vitae as part of the proposal). Explain the necessary skill sets and functions of personnel you will recruit. To minimize expenses, phase out personnel who are not relevant to later phases of a project.
The budget spells out project costs and usually consists of a spreadsheet or table with the budget detailed as line items and a budget narrative (also known as a budget justification) that explains the various expenses. Even when proposal guidelines do not specifically mention a narrative, be sure to include a one or two page explanation of the budget. To see a sample budget, turn to Example #1 at the end of this handout.
Consider including an exhaustive budget for your project, even if it exceeds the normal grant size of a particular funding organization. Simply make it clear that you are seeking additional funding from other sources. This technique will make it easier for you to combine awards down the road should you have the good fortune of receiving multiple grants.
Make sure that all budget items meet the funding agency’s requirements. For example, all U.S. government agencies have strict requirements for airline travel. Be sure the cost of the airline travel in your budget meets their requirements. If a line item falls outside an agency’s requirements (e.g. some organizations will not cover equipment purchases or other capital expenses), explain in the budget justification that other grant sources will pay for the item.
Many universities require that indirect costs (overhead) be added to grants that they administer. Check with the appropriate offices to find out what the standard (or required) rates are for overhead. Pass a draft budget by the university officer in charge of grant administration for assistance with indirect costs and costs not directly associated with research (e.g. facilities use charges).
Furthermore, make sure you factor in the estimated taxes applicable for your case. Depending on the categories of expenses and your particular circumstances (whether you are a foreign national, for example), estimated tax rates may differ. You can consult respective departmental staff or university services, as well as professional tax assistants. For information on taxes on scholarships and fellowships, see https://cashier.unc.edu/student-tax-information/scholarships-fellowships/ .
Explain the timeframe for the research project in some detail. When will you begin and complete each step? It may be helpful to reviewers if you present a visual version of your timeline. For less complicated research, a table summarizing the timeline for the project will help reviewers understand and evaluate the planning and feasibility. See Example #2 at the end of this handout.
For multi-year research proposals with numerous procedures and a large staff, a time line diagram can help clarify the feasibility and planning of the study. See Example #3 at the end of this handout.
Strong grant proposals take a long time to develop. Start the process early and leave time to get feedback from several readers on different drafts. Seek out a variety of readers, both specialists in your research area and non-specialist colleagues. You may also want to request assistance from knowledgeable readers on specific areas of your proposal. For example, you may want to schedule a meeting with a statistician to help revise your methodology section. Don’t hesitate to seek out specialized assistance from the relevant research offices on your campus. At UNC, the Odum Institute provides a variety of services to graduate students and faculty in the social sciences.
In your revision and editing, ask your readers to give careful consideration to whether you’ve made explicit the connections between your research objectives and methodology. Here are some example questions:
If a granting agency lists particular criteria used for rating and evaluating proposals, be sure to share these with your own reviewers.
Jet Travel | ||||
RDU-Kigali (roundtrip) | 1 | $6,100 | $6,100 | |
Maintenance Allowance | ||||
Rwanda | 12 months | $1,899 | $22,788 | $22,788 |
Project Allowance | ||||
Research Assistant/Translator | 12 months | $400 | $4800 | |
Transportation within country | ||||
–Phase 1 | 4 months | $300 | $1,200 | |
–Phase 2 | 8 months | $1,500 | $12,000 | |
12 months | $60 | $720 | ||
Audio cassette tapes | 200 | $2 | $400 | |
Photographic and slide film | 20 | $5 | $100 | |
Laptop Computer | 1 | $2,895 | ||
NUD*IST 4.0 Software | $373 | |||
Etc. | ||||
Total Project Allowance | $35,238 | |||
Administrative Fee | $100 | |||
Total | $65,690 | |||
Sought from other sources | ($15,000) | |||
Total Grant Request | $50,690 |
Jet travel $6,100 This estimate is based on the commercial high season rate for jet economy travel on Sabena Belgian Airlines. No U.S. carriers fly to Kigali, Rwanda. Sabena has student fare tickets available which will be significantly less expensive (approximately $2,000).
Maintenance allowance $22,788 Based on the Fulbright-Hays Maintenance Allowances published in the grant application guide.
Research assistant/translator $4,800 The research assistant/translator will be a native (and primary) speaker of Kinya-rwanda with at least a four-year university degree. They will accompany the primary investigator during life history interviews to provide assistance in comprehension. In addition, they will provide commentary, explanations, and observations to facilitate the primary investigator’s participant observation. During the first phase of the project in Kigali, the research assistant will work forty hours a week and occasional overtime as needed. During phases two and three in rural Rwanda, the assistant will stay with the investigator overnight in the field when necessary. The salary of $400 per month is based on the average pay rate for individuals with similar qualifications working for international NGO’s in Rwanda.
Transportation within country, phase one $1,200 The primary investigator and research assistant will need regular transportation within Kigali by bus and taxi. The average taxi fare in Kigali is $6-8 and bus fare is $.15. This figure is based on an average of $10 per day in transportation costs during the first project phase.
Transportation within country, phases two and three $12,000 Project personnel will also require regular transportation between rural field sites. If it is not possible to remain overnight, daily trips will be necessary. The average rental rate for a 4×4 vehicle in Rwanda is $130 per day. This estimate is based on an average of $50 per day in transportation costs for the second and third project phases. These costs could be reduced if an arrangement could be made with either a government ministry or international aid agency for transportation assistance.
Email $720 The rate for email service from RwandaTel (the only service provider in Rwanda) is $60 per month. Email access is vital for receiving news reports on Rwanda and the region as well as for staying in contact with dissertation committee members and advisors in the United States.
Audiocassette tapes $400 Audiocassette tapes will be necessary for recording life history interviews, musical performances, community events, story telling, and other pertinent data.
Photographic & slide film $100 Photographic and slide film will be necessary to document visual data such as landscape, environment, marriages, funerals, community events, etc.
Laptop computer $2,895 A laptop computer will be necessary for recording observations, thoughts, and analysis during research project. Price listed is a special offer to UNC students through the Carolina Computing Initiative.
NUD*IST 4.0 software $373.00 NUD*IST, “Nonnumerical, Unstructured Data, Indexing, Searching, and Theorizing,” is necessary for cataloging, indexing, and managing field notes both during and following the field research phase. The program will assist in cataloging themes that emerge during the life history interviews.
Administrative fee $100 Fee set by Fulbright-Hays for the sponsoring institution.
Exploratory Research | Completed |
Proposal Development | Completed |
Ph.D. qualifying exams | Completed |
Research Proposal Defense | Completed |
Fieldwork in Rwanda | Oct. 1999-Dec. 2000 |
Data Analysis and Transcription | Jan. 2001-March 2001 |
Writing of Draft Chapters | March 2001 – Sept. 2001 |
Revision | Oct. 2001-Feb. 2002 |
Dissertation Defense | April 2002 |
Final Approval and Completion | May 2002 |
Some of us may feel ashamed or embarrassed about asking for money or promoting ourselves. Often, these feelings have more to do with our own insecurities than with problems in the tone or style of our writing. If you’re having trouble because of these types of hang-ups, the most important thing to keep in mind is that it never hurts to ask. If you never ask for the money, they’ll never give you the money. Besides, the worst thing they can do is say no.
Research at Carolina http://research.unc.edu
The Odum Institute for Research in the Social Sciences https://odum.unc.edu/
UNC Medical School Office of Research https://www.med.unc.edu/oor
UNC School of Public Health Office of Research http://www.sph.unc.edu/research/
We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.
Holloway, Brian R. 2003. Proposal Writing Across the Disciplines. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Levine, S. Joseph. “Guide for Writing a Funding Proposal.” http://www.learnerassociates.net/proposal/ .
Locke, Lawrence F., Waneen Wyrick Spirduso, and Stephen J. Silverman. 2014. Proposals That Work . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Przeworski, Adam, and Frank Salomon. 2012. “Some Candid Suggestions on the Art of Writing Proposals.” Social Science Research Council. https://s3.amazonaws.com/ssrc-cdn2/art-of-writing-proposals-dsd-e-56b50ef814f12.pdf .
Reif-Lehrer, Liane. 1989. Writing a Successful Grant Application . Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
Wiggins, Beverly. 2002. “Funding and Proposal Writing for Social Science Faculty and Graduate Student Research.” Chapel Hill: Howard W. Odum Institute for Research in Social Science. 2 Feb. 2004. http://www2.irss.unc.edu/irss/shortcourses/wigginshandouts/granthandout.pdf.
You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Writing any academic paper often implies submitting a proposal. The form and content of this paper can differ depending on the type of your main paper - whether it's a research or project. The main difference is in the scope of work. The research paper proposal relates to a more serious academic field, whereas projects are mainly assigned in schools and don't have the scientific significance the research paper could have. First, however, we must mention that the project proposal must be written to get the necessary funding.
The difference in academic levels presupposes that the requirements for the research paper proposal are much stricter than those for the project. It's essential that the standard of research paper writing is higher, but we'll anyway mention it here. You can't just choose a topic and research it; writing a proposal where you should state a topic, its importance, and significance is a must. Besides it, a student must review the literature, and the previous research on a chosen topic, provide the evidence and get the approval of the professors' board. In conclusion, we can say that the purpose of both research and project proposals is to get permission to write a paper. The content, format, style, and length of these papers differ, but the purpose is the same.
Here we'll try to cover all the nuances of the project and academic research proposals so that you won't have any questions.
Keep in mind the formatting. There's no point in sharing any tips on formatting your research proposal because we can't know what formatting style you'll be asked to use. It depends either on your professor's requirements or the ones of your department. Even if you think that this or that format isn't suitable for your research proposal, you must unquestioningly follow the rules; otherwise, your professors will reject the proposal.
Each section is entitled. Let's leave aside a title page and move to other sections of your research proposal, such as background, aims, significance, methods, reference page, etc. The information should be placed in proper sections, and each section must have a relevant subheading.
A concise title. A research paper proposal isn't a minor paper, as many students might think. So, every aspect of this paper requires special attention, and the title isn't an exception. You must do everything to make the title of your proposal a short abstract of your research paper. Put the most important words first, and make sure your title is short, concise, and meaningful. If you want to achieve this purpose, write it only after you finish writing all other sections.
Remember about justification. The rationale is a must for you if you want the paper to be accepted by the academic committee. Rationale or justification is your explanation of the reason why you write this paper, what your knowledge gaps it can fill, etc. Please, don't write about the goals you won't achieve just to seem smarter - be realistic. Add some drawbacks or limitations in this paragraph.
Literature overview. Writing a research paper is impossible without using the literature. Your task isn't just to mention what research papers and studies you used. You must explain why this or that paper is relevant, what drawbacks it has and how your research can add up to the existing ones.
Write a proper outline. If you think that outlining means just deciding what sections your research paper proposal should have and following them, you're deeply mistaken. It's a lot of work that should be done. The outline is more than just a description of the structure - it should include other important aspects, such as your needs (resources, budget), completion timeline, etc.
Mention the research question. If you want to submit a proposal that will be accepted, keep in mind the research question. Professors who will read it shouldn't forget about your research question even for a minute when reading the proposal. Do your best to let the committee understand that your idea is worth it.
Don't start with cons. Of course, any research paper proposal must have the cons but don't mention them in the very beginning. Instead, focus on pros and tell how your research will contribute to the topic. Write the way your readers can stay interested in your paper.
Follow the right structure. There are certain sections obligatory for project proposals. These are intro, purpose, motivation, summary, references, project details, etc. We hope you're aware of the title's importance, so you can make it clear and concise. Keep in mind that 45 characters in length can lead you to success.
Proposal introduction. This section is the first the reader sees, so your task is to interest them from the very first word. What's the purpose of your project? Why do you think it's important? How can you benefit the scientific community? Answer all these questions in your intro, and your proposal will be graded high.
Describing the Motivation. Students often don't understand what is required of them in this or that section, so we'll help you. The motivation section implies that you'll tell the committee why your paper is important, you'll describe the problem you try to cover, tell them about the solutions and findings that already exist, etc. Don't forget that your aim is to glorify why your paper/solution is better than the previous ones.
The summary of your project. This section isn't long enough - just tell the professors what your project's content will be.
Covering the details. Writing your project presupposes carrying out some experiments, making observations, etc. Cover it all here: mention the procedures that have been taken, the problems you face, the challenges you completed, and the amount of time that was spent.
Concluding your project proposal. Writing the final paragraph is nice and easy: just check what you've written in previous sections, select the key points and restate them here.
References. It's a place to cite all research papers, studies, books, and other information sources used in your project and project proposal.
We tried to make this guide as detailed as possible, and hope that now you understand the similarities and differences between project and research paper proposal, and this kind of writing will no longer be a problem for you.
No matter what type of proposal you're writing, there's one one-size-fits-all secret: show your confidence and readiness while writing. Use the Internet to find some tips on making your writing more confident; spend time on achieving it, but be sure the result will be outstanding.
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Contributor: B. Zakarin, Office of Fellowships, [email protected] Posted: 2011
A research proposal differs in important respects from other forms of writing with which students are more familiar, such as an academic essay or a research paper. Instead of trying to reach a minimum length (e.g., 7 pages or 2000 words), you must achieve discrete goals within a specified space constraint (e.g., 2 pages or 750 words). Many students find this shift challenging, but the process of writing a proposal is essential for organizing your exciting ideas and prioritizing your next steps.
While an essay or a research paper requires an overall argument and provides evidence to support it, a research proposal is organized around questions to which the author does not yet have answers. A good research proposal does make an argument of a particular sort: its purpose is to convince readers that the questions are worth trying to answer and that the author has a concrete plan for doing so.
A good proposal and, by extension, a solid research agenda are organized around a central interpretive problem broken down into a series of smaller, more specific questions. Even if you begin with a topic that just seems fascinating, you will find that you have lots of different kinds of questions about its historiography and history. As you work toward a proposal, try to isolate and prioritize those questions: Which questions do you most want to find the answers to? Which questions can you realistically answer? If they are not the same, how might you reconcile what you want to find out with what you can find out through independent research?
As you work on a central question for your thesis, you also need to consider how you can explain to others why it is meaningful. This is the universal “so what?”: How will answers to your particular questions contribute to our collective knowledge? How will your research help us better understand the subject? While there are many ways of establishing the significance of a project, never assume that an uninitiated reader will find your topic inherently interesting. You must hint at the broader implications of your research in order to win over a reader who does not necessarily know (or care) anything about your thesis topic. The examples in “Learning from Model Proposals” exhibit various means of achieving this end.
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Home » Education » Difference Between Research Proposal and Research Report
Main difference – research proposal vs research report.
Research proposal and research report are two terms that often confuse many student researchers. A research proposal describes what the researcher intends to do in his research study and is written before the collection and analysis of data. A research report describes the whole research study and is submitted after the competition of the whole research project. Thus, the main difference between research proposal and research report is that a research proposal describes the proposed research and research design whereas a research report describes the completed research, including the findings, conclusion, and recommendations.
This article explains,
1. What is a Research Proposal? – Definition, Purpose, Content, and Characteristics
2. What is a Research Report? – Definition, Purpose, Content, and Characteristics
A research proposal is a brief and coherent summary of the proposed research study, which is prepared at the beginning of a research project. The aim of a research proposal is to justify the need for a specific research proposal and present the practical methods and ways to conduct the proposed research. In other words, a research proposal presents the proposed design of the study and justifies the necessity of the specific research. Thus, a research proposal describes what you intend to do and why you intend to do it.
A research proposal generally contains the following segments:
Each of these segments is indispensable to a research proposal. For example, it’s impossible to write a research proposal without reading related work and writing a literature review. Similarly, it’s not possible to decide a methodology without determining specific research questions.
A research report is a document that is submitted at the end of a research project. This describes the completed research project. It describes the data collection, analysis, and the results as well. Thus, in addition to the sections mentioned above, this also includes sections such as,
A research report is also known as a thesis or dissertation. A research report is not research plan or a proposed design. It describes what was actually done during the research project and what was learned from it. Research reports are usually longer than research proposals since they contain step-by-step processes of the research.
Research Proposal: Research Proposal describes what the researcher intends to do and why he intends to do it.
Research Report: Research report describes what the researcher has done, why he has done it, and the results he has achieved.
Research Proposal: Research proposals are written at the beginning of a research proposal before the research project actually begins.
Research Report: Research reports are completed after the completion of the whole research project.
Research Proposal: Research proposals contain sections such as introduction/background, literature review, research questions, methodology, aims and objective.
Research Report: Research reports contain sections such as introduction/background, literature review, research questions, methodology, aims and objective, findings, analysis, results, conclusion, recommendations, citation.
Research Proposal: Research proposals are shorter in length.
Research Report: Research reports are longer than research proposals.
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The format of a research proposal varies between fields, but most proposals will contain at least these elements: ... A research aim is a broad statement indicating the general purpose of your research project. ... The best way to remember the difference between a research plan and a research proposal is that they have fundamentally different ...
The main difference between a research proposal vs cover letter content is distinct. Whereas the research proposal summarizes the proposal for future research, the cover letter connects you to the research, and how you are the right person to complete the proposed research.
The purpose of the research proposal (its job, so to speak) is to convince your research supervisor, committee or university that your research is suitable (for the requirements of the degree program) and manageable (given the time and resource constraints you will face). The most important word here is "convince" - in other words, your ...
The best way to remember the difference between a research plan and a research proposal is that they have fundamentally different audiences. A research plan helps you, the researcher, organize your thoughts. On the other hand, a dissertation proposal or research proposal aims to convince others (e.g., a supervisor, a funding body, or a ...
Table of contents. Step 1: Coming up with an idea. Step 2: Presenting your idea in the introduction. Step 3: Exploring related research in the literature review. Step 4: Describing your methodology. Step 5: Outlining the potential implications of your research. Step 6: Creating a reference list or bibliography.
best essay writing service reviews 2022. However, the main difference is that while an academic research proposal is for a specific line of research, a project proposal is for approval of a relatively smaller enterprise or scientific scheme; most often, project proposals are written with the intent of obtaining support in the form of budget ...
A research proposal is a document proposing a research project, generally in the sciences or academia, and generally constitutes a request for sponsorship of that research. [1] Proposals are evaluated on the cost and potential impact of the proposed research, and on the soundness of the proposed plan for carrying it out. [2] Research proposals generally address several key points: [3]
Here's an example outline of a research plan you might put together: Project title. Project members involved in the research plan. Purpose of the project (provide a summary of the research plan's intent) Objective 1 (provide a short description for each objective) Objective 2. Objective 3.
The main difference between research and project is that research is the systematic investigation and study of materials and sources to establish facts and reach new conclusions, while a project is a specific and finite activity that gives a measurable and observable result under preset requirements. Both research and projects use a systematic ...
A research proposal is prepared at the beginning of the project. In contrast, the research report is prepared after the completion of the project. The length of a research proposal is about 4-10 pages. On the contrary, the length of the research report is about 100 to 300 pages.
Research Aims: Examples. True to the name, research aims usually start with the wording "this research aims to…", "this research seeks to…", and so on. For example: "This research aims to explore employee experiences of digital transformation in retail HR.". "This study sets out to assess the interaction between student ...
Online sources often use "research plan" and "research proposal" interchangeably. Two months after getting accepted into a PhD program, I was asked to do a research plan. ... above, in greater detail, as well as necessary resources, a specific schedule with milestones, and perhaps additional project specific elements (e.g. which programming ...
Research objectives describe what your research project intends to accomplish. They should guide every step of the research process, including how you collect data, build your argument, and develop your conclusions. Your research objectives may evolve slightly as your research progresses, but they should always line up with the research carried ...
The best way to remember the difference between a research plan and a research proposal is that they have fundamentally different audiences. A research plan helps you, the researcher, organize your thoughts. On the other hand, a dissertation proposal or research proposal aims to convince others (e.g., a supervisor, a funding body, or a ...
The purpose of a dissertation proposal is to provide a snapshot of what your study involves. Usually, after submission of the proposal you will be assigned a supervisor who has some expertise in your field of study. You should receive feedback on the viability of the topic, how to focus the scope, research methods, and other issues you should ...
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program's research- and study-grants also requires a similar effort in crafting a highly specific project-proposal based on what an applicant intends to pursue in a foreign country. The proposal needs to be a specific and targeted articulation on research and project plans while still attending to the Fulbright's ...
A research proposal, which should be as brief as possible, describes an idea for a project, emphasizes the research question the project would help to answer, and the how and why of the project.
Make explicit the connections between your research questions and objectives, your objectives and methods, your methods and results, and your results and dissemination plan. ... Your general proposal should explain your project to a general academic audience. Before you submit proposals to different grant programs, you will tailor a specific ...
A research proposal outlines the intended research project and seeks approval and funding, while a research paper reports on the actual conduct and outcomes of the research. Content:
The main difference is in the scope of work. The research paper proposal relates to a more serious academic field, whereas projects are mainly assigned in schools and don't have the scientific significance the research paper could have. First, however, we must mention that the project proposal must be written to get the necessary funding.
A research proposal differs in important respects from other forms of writing with which students are more familiar, such as an academic essay or a research paper. Instead of trying to reach a minimum length (e.g., 7 pages or 2000 words), you must achieve discrete goals within a specified space constraint (e.g., 2 pages or 750 words).
A research report describes the whole research study and is submitted after the competition of the whole research project. Thus, the main difference between research proposal and research report is that a research proposal describes the proposed research and research design whereas a research report describes the completed research, including ...
Popular answers (1) Whereas a research proposal is a statement of intent, related to answering a research question, a grant application is a specific request for funding to complete the research ...