If you're reading this, you have to do a research project, and maybe you have a topic that you want to research, but you have no idea how to get started. The paradox about conducting research is that if you have a brilliant research idea, it won't mean anything if you can't convince anyone to support you in pursuing it. That's why you have to do a research proposal, a document that requires you to shift from writing a report to actually pitching an idea, and move from a standard paper, where you summarize or explain what has happened, to a proposal, where you argue for what should happen in the future.
This can be difficult to navigate, especially when you're not used to writing this kind of content, or when you thought you knew how to write a research paper fast, but didn't expect a proposal to stand in your way. Because of that, this guide is a step-by-step blueprint you can follow to gain clarity about the process of writing a research proposal, understand the full expectations that exist, and produce a product that gains approval.
What Is a Research Proposal?
To fully understand what a research proposal is, you should become acquainted with why research proposals are important, the different types of research proposals, and how a research proposal might vary based on your university's requirements. These are the basic building blocks to starting on the right foot when writing your proposal.
Why Are Research Proposals Important?
A research proposal, by definition, is a formal document that explains what you want to do, why you want to do it, and how you will accomplish it. The reason it is important for students to prepare research proposals is to give advisors a view of the objectives, motivations, and goals. It helps you prove that your project is realistic, fits within your academic timeline, and that you have the knowledge you need to successfully accomplish it. During this stage, advisors can even provide paper help to make your proposal clearer and more aligned with what the university requires, and provide feedback that you can take into the research paper. Therefore, research proposals are extremely helpful tools to prepare you to do well on your research project.
Types of Research Proposals
In most US campuses, there are three main types of research proposals:
- A Coursework Proposal: This kind of proposal is usually the last thing you'll do as part of a seminar or research methods course, where you prepare a proposal for a research project you may or may not do in the future. The professor will review your research proposal for a grade.
- A Capstone/Dissertation Proposal: You have your research project ready, and you want to start collecting data, but you need to get approval from your department first. Usually, colleges will have an IRB, or Institutional Review Board, to which you must submit your proposal before you can start a research project.
- A Fellowship/Grant Application: This is a kind of research project that is paid for by the university or by external agencies for research projects. In order for them to release funding or research stipends, you must submit a proposal to convince them of the validity that your research project possesses. In short, it will measure what you want it to measure, and you know how to measure it.
These are the three main types of research proposals you will likely be creating, but it's still important to remember and take your university's specific requirements into account.
How Research Proposal Requirements Vary by University
Even though there are general standards you can apply to your research proposal, it is important to remember that every US department has its own unique quirks. Some universities or programs may require a 5-page brief, where you give a general overview of your project, but others may expect a 25-page proposal that goes into detail about what you will do, how you will do it, and why you want to do it.
There are also differences in requirements based on formatting and whether preliminary IRB ethics outlines are required. This is where it's important to review the requirements that your specific program and department have provided before you begin. In short, use the knowledge you gain from this to inform you, but utilize your own university's guidelines to help you with the specifics.
Research Proposal Structure
Despite varying requirements, there are still some main sections that your research proposal should feature.
Title: A comprehensive title that is functional and explicitly states what you're measuring and who you're researching.
Abstract: The main parts of your proposal condensed down into one dense paragraph.
Introduction: An overview of your project that establishes the problem your research is seeking to solve.
Background: Sometimes combined with the introduction, the background provides context for the issue, such as the historical trajectory or the current status of it.
Hypothesis: Also combined with the introduction at times, this overviews what you think the result of your study will be, and what you seek to accomplish with the study, briefly.
Literature Review: A discussion of what other researchers have discovered about your topic, and what they might have missed.
Aims: Sometimes, at the end of a literature review, the aims section uses the information you've gathered to inform the main goals that you'd like to accomplish with your research.
Methods: The "how" of your research project, which includes your main tools, procedures, and subjects.
Expected Results: Since you haven't collected data yet, discuss potential findings and how they will affect the field you're contributing to.
Conclusion: A summary and main reminder of why your project is important and influential.
The structure works like a funnel. Start by narrowing from a broad problem or issue down to a specific list of tools and procedures that you will use to address the problem.
A Guide to Writing a Research Proposal
Crafting the Proposal Title
The goal of a proper research project title is to eliminate anything creative or mysterious. Your title should be functional, searchable, and easily categorized so it's easy to find and understand exactly what you are measuring and what population your study is for.
If you need a more specific pathway, you can use this formula: [Methodological Approach] of [Independent Variable] on [Dependent Variable] Among [Target Population/Context]
Example: A Meta-Analysis of Student-Teacher Relationships and Their Effect on Academic Resilience Among High School Students
How to Write an Abstract for a Research Proposal
The abstract is the Cliff Notes version of your entire proposal, condensing your pages into a dense paragraph of about 200 words. This gives your evaluator the opportunity to understand your research goals and procedures in a matter of seconds, before they get into the details. Your abstract can follow a simple structure:
- The Problem: Identify the issue at hand or what is currently unknown about your topic.
- The Aim: State the purpose of your proposed study. What do you hope to accomplish?
- The Method: What's the research design, population, and tools you plan to use?
- The Expected Result: Explain what the results might be and how they might impact the field of study.
This framework ensures that your abstract remains concise and focused while still being specific to what the evaluator is looking for.
How to Write an Introduction for a Research Proposal
The goal of the introduction is to establish the problem you're attempting to solve. Start with a broad, pressing issue that's relevant to today's society. Discuss what each concept involved in the debate means and how they function in the argument. From here, you can explain common debates surrounding the issue and who it affects. The main goal of the introduction is to establish the relevance and importance of the topic you want to research, letting the evaluator know from the beginning that your research is valuable. Your introduction should end with a statement of intent behind your study. In short, what is the purpose of the proposed study, in one clear statement?
How to Write the Background of a Research Proposal
Sometimes the background is included as part of the introduction, but either way, the background should provide the context that explains why the problem exists in the first place. If you're wondering how the background is different from the introduction, the introduction focuses on the current crisis and how it's relevant today. In contrast, the background discusses how the issue arose historically and what theories are involved in it. From the introduction to the background, you're moving from the present to the past.
How to Write a Hypothesis for a Research Proposal
The hypothesis translates the abstract information involved in a problem or issue into a clear, testable statement that states exactly what you intend to do about the problem, scientifically. What's important here is representing both the Alternative Hypothesis and the Null Hypothesis.
Alternative Hypothesis: The two variables have some kind of relationship between each other.
Null Hypothesis: The two variables have no relationship between each other.
This is the time when you should concretely define the variables of your study and how you think they will relate to each other.
How to Write a Literature Review for a Research Proposal
The goal of the literature review is to prove to the reviewer that you have done the necessary research to prepare you for the research project. You can't conduct a research proposal before knowing whether other researchers have examined the same topic, what they found, and what they suggest for future research. You need to develop an appropriate knowledge base to present to the person who approves your proposal.
The best way to approach a literature review is through synthesis. This means that instead of making the classic mistake of summarizing previous sources, what they said, and what they discovered, focus on grouping past research by topic, concept, or methodology. From there, you should draw comparisons and differences between them to find consensus about the topic you are researching, where gaps exist, and where opinions may differ. This will show the evaluators that not only have you done your research, but you fully understand what it means and how it applies to the research you are conducting now. Synthesis gives you the opportunity to cluster your sources by theme, which will make learning how to write a research paper outline that much easier when the time comes to start writing the project.
How to Write Aims for a Research Proposal
The aims of the research proposal cover the "what" and "how" of your research, briefly. This is where the background and predictions become operational. To write the aims, first focus on what you want to do broadly. What is it that you intend to do with your research?
Example: The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of current academic resilience programs.
From there, use measurable terms to discuss how you'd like to accomplish this aim. A common way to accomplish this is through SMART goals. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Use active verbs to communicate the actions you will take to accomplish your main goal.
Example: The objectives of the study are to measure the levels of academic resilience in 100 high school students (specific) who both have and have not engaged in an academic resilience program using the Academic Resilience Scale (ARS-30) (measurable) to draw conclusions about the influence of this program on overall academic resilience (achievable) and create implications for current high school systems (relevant) over the next 2 months (time-bound).
How to Write a Methods Section for a Research Proposal
This is the most exhaustive, detailed, and specific portion of the research proposal, where you provide a step-by-step guide to the instruments you plan to use, what procedures you will implement to accomplish your goals, and how you will evaluate the data that you gather. Think of it as an instruction manual that another researcher should be able to follow to replicate your study. This is probably the section that committees will look at the closest to ensure that your study can feasibly be accomplished, so let's talk about what you should include in your methodology.
Research Design: In this portion, you will discuss whether your design is quantitative, qualitative, or mixed, and why that is the best choice for your research.
Example: A cross-sectional, survey-based research design will be utilized to obtain data on current adults who have previously attended high school, providing insight into the factors that influenced their success, or lack thereof.
Variables: Clearly state the variables you will be testing, their definition, and how they will be measured.
Example: The dependent variable in the present study is the academic resilience of students, measured using an adapted version of the Academic Resilience Scale (ARS-30).
Sampling & Participants: In this portion, you will discuss how you will recruit your study items, whether that be participants, previous research, or specimens, what criteria you will use to include or exclude them from your research project, and how many you hope to include. Be as specific as possible, and always justify the statements you make. The committee will want to know why you've chosen each aspect of the methodology.
Example: The strategy that will be used to collect data on this sample is a nonprobability strategy, specifically convenience sampling through social media outlets. The benefits of this sampling method include accessibility, anonymity, wide reach, and ease of access.
Instruments: Discuss what tools or surveys you will be using as part of your study, whether they are reliable or valid instruments to use, and how you will use them.
Example: The ARS-30 is a multidimensional scale with uncorrelated dimensions, having questions which load into the factors of Perseverance, Reflecting and Adaptive Help-Seeking, and Negative Affect and Emotional Response (Cassidy, 2016).
Procedures: Discuss what, in very specific terms, you plan to do with the instruments and the participants or specimens you've collected.
Example: The survey will be distributed using social media outlets, such as Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Discord. The survey will be released among these platforms to target diverse members of the population, as Instagram is used more frequently by younger adults, and Facebook is used more frequently by older adults.
Data Analysis Plan: Explain what exact software and processes you plan to use to evaluate the data that you gather.
Example: At the bivariate level, the variables of Academic Resilience and Student-Teacher Relationship will be compared to examine the strength and direction of their relationship, as well as any correlations between age cohorts.
How to Write Expected Results and Contribution
Since you haven't collected any data yet, this section acts as your prediction of what you think the data analysis will reveal. From there, answer what it will mean if your hypothesis is proven correct, and what it will mean if the null hypothesis is correct. No matter the result, how will it contribute to the field?
How to Write a Timeline for a Research Proposal
This section will address the greatest fear and downfall of most research projects: running out of time. Here, you will write a realistic and chronological timeline. Continue to be specific here by breaking it down into phases that are mapped across a set of weeks that fit within your deadline. A standard map to follow can be:
Research Gathering → Institutional Review Board Submission → Participant Recruitment → Data Collection → Analysis → Final Draft
The time allotment you pick for each will be dependent on your goals, but give yourself more time than you think you'll need for each phase.
How to Write a Conclusion for a Research Proposal
This is your chance to leave a final impression, compelling whoever is reviewing your proposal to sign off on it. Instead of summarizing each portion, remind them of the importance of doing the research, the value it has, and what the consequences might be without this research. Bring it back to its benefits for the field and department.
While these are the standard components of a research proposal, there are some specifics you can apply to different types.
How to Write a Research Proposal for a Master's Dissertation
Master's dissertations focus on how you will execute the research project more than anything else. For a master's dissertation, focus on proving that you can realistically accomplish your goals alongside your other coursework in the timeline you've been provided.
How to Write a Research Proposal for PhD
PhD proposals should focus on developing original knowledge and contributions to the field. Your PhD project should put forth something new, which requires complex approvals and long-term funding. Instead of focusing on the timeline, focus on the aspects of the study that will be influential and defensible.
How to Write a Research Grant Proposal
This transitions from convincing an educational board to support your study to arguing for the funds to accomplish your research. You should focus on aligning your aims with the agency's mission, focusing on a realistic budget for the materials and procedures, and on how it will benefit the agency.
Turning a Research Idea Into an Approved Proposal
This may have been a lot to process, and research proposals have a lot of moving parts. Even though it may seem complex, if you follow each step closely, write specifically and objectively, and stay confident in what you know and in your passion for the project, you can put forth a proposal that gains approval. If the review board can see that you know what you're doing, how you want to do it, and why it's important, you've achieved a huge win in the quest for getting started on your research project. Once you do, the actual execution follows smoothly, where you use the proposal as your blueprint for the project. From there, you'll have a solid strategy on how to write a research paper fast during the final exam weeks as you finish, contributing a new piece of knowledge to your field that reflects you, your knowledge, and your passion as a learner.
