What should be included in a good research proposal?
General Format of a research proposal:
TITLE
Title should give a clear indication of the proposed research.
BACKGROUND
- the background and issues of proposed research
- identify the discipline
- a short literature review
- a summary of key debates and developments in the field
RESEARCH QUESTION(S)
Formulate these clearly, giving an explanation as to what problems and issues are to be explored and why they are worth exploring.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
- the theoretical resources
- the research approach
- the research methods appropriate for the proposed research
- a discussion of advantages
- limitation of particular approaches and methods
PLAN OF WORK & TIME SCHEDULE
Should include an outline of the various stages and corresponding time lines for developing and implementing the research, including writing up of the thesis.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- a list of references to key articles and texts discussed within your research proposal
- a selection of sources appropriate to the proposed research.
Need expert opinion about what should include and what should not include in the research proposal???
State the research goals clearly and then the methodology. State expected outcomes (what you think would be the result) but give it a wide latitude for the possibility that you may find other results than expected and state the conditions under which this would happen. State clearly the resources needed and how much money it is going to cost. Prior to all of that do a thorough literature survey so that there are no surprises from the proposal reviewers.
As little as possible because research often leads in unanticipated directions and incidental findings can sometimes become the most important outcomes!
The list you give is adequate for a start but you will need to include a budget.
Dear Mr. Masud Ibn Afjal ,in Indonesia, research proposals must contain goals, namely: activities that are easy to do, in the short term or long term, have benefits for the community, the results are: policies that are easy to implement, or products that are useful and renewable and can be a solution to a problem. And the results of future research activities can be continued by the researchers themselves or other researchers. thanks.
State the research goals clearly and then the methodology. State expected outcomes (what you think would be the result) but give it a wide latitude for the possibility that you may find other results than expected and state the conditions under which this would happen. State clearly the resources needed and how much money it is going to cost. Prior to all of that do a thorough literature survey so that there are no surprises from the proposal reviewers.
1) Title
2) Problem definition
3) Objectives
4) Methods
5) Expectations
6) Plan and Budget
The guidelines/guidance as per the following papers should be helpful.
- Afful, J. B. (2008) Research Proposal and Thesis Writing: Narrative of a Recently Graduated Researcher in Applied Linguistics, Nebula, 5, 4, pp. 193-211.
- Al-Riyami, A. (2008) How to prepare a Research Proposal, Oman medical journal, 23, 2, pp. 66-69.
- Baker, M. J. (2000) Writing a Research Proposal, The Marketing Review, 1, 1, pp. 61-78.
- Iqbal, J. (2007) Learning from a Doctoral Research Project: Structure and Content of a Research Proposal, Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods, 5, 1, pp. 11-20.
- Kivunja, C. (2016) How to Write An Effective Research Proposal For Higher Degree Research in Higher Education: Lessons From Practice, International Journal of Higher Education, 5, 2, pp. 163-172.
and also to be outlined the principal investigators with their visibility in Research gate, Scopus, Google Scolar, etc.; and participation of foreign scientists.
The objectives to be presented quite clear.
What you include depends on the nature of your proposal, i.e. who is it going to and for what purpose.
If it is a research proposal for your thesis or dissertation, the "proposal" is the first three chapters of your final work, i.e. the Introduction, the Literature Review, and the Methodology chapters. In your proposal, you will write these sections in the future tense, i.e. the researcher WILL....
Here is my outline for the structure of a social science thesis or dissertation.
Method Scholarly Writing Outline for Thesis or Dissertation
The material that should be included in the proposal is all mentioned in scientific sources. I just want to say that it is very important to be concise.
Of course, it is also important who writes the proposal and why
Hermann Gruenwald Well, my field is social science (media) and there is not as much external research funding in this field. 😊
Normally funding agencies publish detailed Proposal Preparation Instructions such as the attached one issued by the German Research Foundation DFG. These should be carefully read prior to writing the proposal.
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