A research proposal is a document of primal importance in academic research because it is through this proposal that research candidates can persuade academic guides, supervisors and institutions that their work is worthy of support, funding and recognition. Writing a well-articulated proposal can be tricky, especially because it is written to convey strategic information about work that has not been done yet and types of research proposals may vary according to research objectives. Here are the essential elements of a successful research proposal for your future academic career:
1. A strong title:
The first thing that funders or supervisors see is the title page of your research proposal and thus, the title of your proposal must be strong, clear, catchy, interesting, insightful, and impactful. The title, itself should be around 10-12 words long and should accurately communicate your area of proposed research to the readers. Additionally, the title page must include required personal information such as your name, academic qualifications, nationality, age and contact details.
2. Clearly stated aims and objectives:
This is an extremely crucial part of a research proposal because it helps you establish the research problem and tells peers about the goals you want to achieve through your proposed research. The aims, in two or three broad sentences should focus on what exactly you want to achieve through your research and the objectives should outline several feasible and measurable steps you can undertake to achieve those aims.
3. Robust literature review:
No research proposal can be complete without robust and meticulous literature review. Literature review in research proposals is where candidates can discuss the most important or impactful texts, theories and models that influence and surround their research problem and mention their own takes and understandings of the key issues. Literature review is instrumental in identifying practical or theoretical knowledge gaps in existing research on your topic.
4. Create strategic methodology around hypothesis:
One of the most essential elements of a research proposal is a well-crafted hypothesis around which candidates build their strategic research methodology. In both qualitative and quantitative research, identifying the statistical data analysis techniques and the techniques of data collection in research methodology are imperative. In this portion of the proposal, candidates are also expected to justify their data collection and data analysis principles – be it questionnaire in research, descriptive statistics, or descriptive and inferential statistics.
5. Time-frame and bibliography:
It is quite important to establish a realistic project timeline in your proposal for the benefit of both yourself and your supervising/funding authorities. This part should mention the time-table you have charted and how long you’ll need to complete each step. It also must include a list of references of all the significant texts or literature that you’ve used.
A research proposal is something that can passionately articulate what you want to research and why. It should, in a nutshell, convey your understanding of existing literature and define a research problem/question, addressing which could lead to original knowledge.