By Synthia Ontita

WORTH WHILE RESEARCH PROPOSAL TIPS

As you advance to a point in your education where you take on a research project, you realize you need to know how to write a research proposal. Research proposals are not only just for academic purposes but also for workforce. Some workplaces do require you to write research proposals. You may probably know what a research proposal is and how to go about it. But till you are given the task to write a proposal, then you start realizing that it is not as easy as how you had imagined it since you have no idea where to start.

My first time to do a research proposal was when I was in my last year of my undergraduate degree program. I thought I was very familiar on how to go about writing one because I had received classes on how to write research proposals. Till I go to the point of working on my research proposal, then I realized that I did not know where to start and how to go about it. I knew the contents that were to be included but not exactly how to bring out my points in an attractive manner. My first proposal was rejected but this did not demotivate me anyhow instead motivated me to come up with a better proposal.

Most times you may find yourself in such a situation but worry not. You are not the only one to have ever been in such a situation or to ever be in one. From the several rejections you might get or are still getting; learn from your mistakes so that you get to improve your research proposal writing skills. “There’s plenty of advice out there for writing a PhD proposal, including advice on mistakes to avoid and reminders of what a good proposal doesn’t need to be. Writing a research proposal can be a difficult process. I found things particularly hard as I had an idea of what I wanted to do, but I didn’t know how to ‘put pen to paper’. I was also very worried the ideas I proposed would be wrong,” says Kirsty Smitten of FindAPhD.

However, a research proposal isn’t really about being ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. Instead, the challenge is to show you can adopt the thought processes necessary to identify a problem and come up with a solution. Does that sound like something you’re dealing with right now? If so, then read on the tips to go about writing a research proposal. Before doing your research project, you are required to submit your research proposal first. For this reason, you need a strong research proposal before embarking on your project.

The first thing when you are preparing for a research proposal is to do some research. You need to know what particular topic you are interested in and have knowledge about. Robert H. Schuller once said, “I’d rather attempt to do something great and fail, than to attempt nothing and succeed.” By doing a research proposal, you end up adding value to the society. As part of a requirement to graduate either with an undergraduate, masters and PhD programs, a research proposal is part of the core curriculum. When someone mentions a research proposal, what do we mean by that? University of Birmingham Law School defines it as,” A research proposal as a concise and coherent summary of your proposed research. It sets out the central issues or questions that you intend to address. “York St John University further defines it in a simple way as,” An introduction to your intended research.” Through a research proposal, you let your reader evaluate if your proposed research is relevant and useful.

You and I write research proposals. But then why do I write them? And why do you write them? What is really the main aim of writing a research proposal? You can write a research proposal to either try and persuade someone such as a funding body, educational institution or supervisor that your project is worthwhile and that you have the competence and the work-plan to complete it or you can write to present and justify the need to study a research problem and to present the practical ways in which the proposed study should be conducted. But then, as you write your research proposal, always have a goal as to why you are writing it. It will give you a direction as to how to write your research proposal.

As you write your research proposal, you should clearly bring out these three fundamental things: Identify your goals. By answering the question, ‘What do you plan to achieve with the research study?’ you will be able to identify your goals for the proposal. The next fundamental thing is for you to outline your methods. Here answer the two questions,’ How are you going to accomplish the research? And what tools will you be using?’ Lastly, present your motives. By you answering these questions,’ Why are you interested in this topic? And what do you plan to achieve?’ you will be able to fully make your reader know your motive for the research.

A research proposal is an introduction to your intended project. If you like reading novels, you can look at it as a prolog to the upcoming novel. When you have addressed the three fundamental things I have mentioned above, it’s time to move up the ladder. So, what makes up a good research proposal? You might have an idea of how a research proposal outline looks like. But each section of your proposal has its own ambiguous secrets. The format of a research proposal may vary between fields and in how the sections are named or divided but the overall goals are the same. Let’s go through each of them now as I guide you on how to write your proposal step by step.

Before your reader gets to see anything in your proposal, the first thing that they see is the title. So how do you want your reader to picture your proposal to be even before reading it? Do you want them to imagine that it is boring or do you want them to be like,” Oh you know what! I want to read this proposal.” The first thing that a reader should see on your proposal is the Title Page.  Imagine getting a book to read and the title of the book is “A good book.” Will the book capture your attention? Oh well, imagine another book with the title “5 Reasons as to why this is a good book.” Will this now capture your attention? The more attractive your title is the more the reader wants to read your research proposal. You really need to brainstorm for a good topic that should be interesting

When you are developing a topic, you can either formulate a topic beforehand then research the material to fit the theory or problem you are investigating or structure your topic based on your strength or specialties within the field. Make it catchy but informative. There must be a correlation between the title and the body of your research i.e. Extreme Value Analysis of Stock Returns. The body of the research from that topic is trying to see what happens to the extreme values of stock returns hence the relationship between the title and body. Your Title page should include: Title of your proposal, your name, primary organization you are connected to an d the date.

The other key component your research proposal should have is table of contents. Table of contents makes it easier for your reader to navigate through your proposal.

Another key ingredient for your research proposal is Abstract. In your abstract, remember to summarize your problem, method, proposed solution and objectives along with project funding requirements in this section. The text should be between 150- 300 words. Coventry University believes that” An educated reader will be able to tell a lot about your professional competence just by reading your abstract.” So make it count! Using an example from Scribbr, a research editing company, let us try to analyze an example and see if it contains the  research problem, objectives, method and proposed solution. Abstract guidelines clearly gives different examples of how to write your abstract. It gives a summary of the key things in your proposal.

In your Introduction, explain the context within which your study problem lies. Your introduction should help your readers understand your topic and enlighten them on what you want to do and why, gain your sense of passion for the topic and get the readers excited about your study’s possible outcomes. This is the section where you get to answer questions like: What is your central research problem? How is your topic of study related to your research problem? What methods should you use to analyze your research problem? Why is your research important and why should someone reading the proposal care? By answering these questions, you’d get to give details on the study background, problem statement, objectives and justification. Just like in the example I have used in the abstract part, by expounding more, you’ll get yourself an excellent introduction.

After your introduction, you should have a Literature Review. This should be chapter two of your proposal. Ashford University defines it as,” A survey of scholarly sources that provides an overview of a particular topic.” It is a collection of the most relevant and significant publications regarding that topic in order to provide a comprehensive look at what has been said on the topic and by whom. This is the where you get to convince your reader that your proposal has a solid foundation in existing knowledge or theory in your field of research. Make it concise, precise, persuasive, and coherent and forget not to cite the landmark works. Cite the most influential researchers in the field. When you are writing this part, you are showing the reader that you are presenting original work and not reinventing the wheel. This is the bulk of the proposal as you refer to work that has already been done and is similar to your work. To make the reader grasp your key arguments, divide this section into categories. To try and explain this section better, Ashford Writing Center gives a great example on how to write a great literature review.

After the literature review section, you should have the Methodology section. In your proposal, you will have to discuss the methods you plan on using to do your research. This chapter explains what you did and how you did it. Make the reader have confidence in that your research is worth pursuing. Tie your methods to the specific aims of your study. Your methodology should begin by introducing your overall approach to your research. It should try to answer the following questions: What research problem are you trying to investigate? What type of data do you need to achieve your goal? For a research proposal with the title Extreme Value Analysis of Stock Returns, the data you will need to collect here is quantitative data (expressed in numbers) while for a proposal with a title like Effects of HIV/AIDS, you will need qualitative data (expressed in words). Quantitative data can be collected through observations, one-to-one interviews, questionnaires, conducting focus groups among others. On the other hand, you can collect quantitative data by obtaining statistical data for analysis purpose.

After knowing the type of data you’d want to use, the next question to ask yourself is, Do you need to collect primary data (yourself) or secondary data (someone else)? Most qualitative data are secondary data while for quantitative; they are primary data and use a little bit of secondary data for comparison purposes. After getting your data, describe you plan on analyzing or processing your data. If you will choose a quantitative method, your analysis should be based on numbers. You can use statistical software such as SPSS, Stata or R for your analysis. For qualitative method, you can base your analysis on language, images and observations. The final step in your methodology is to justify why you used your methodology. You can discuss why other methods were not suitable for your objectives and show how your method contributes new knowledge.

Nothing is always done forever. Every research proposal that you plan to undertake must definitely have a timeline for starting and completion. In your Research Schedule also referred to as Work plan; you are required to give a detailed timeline of your project explaining what you will do at each stage and how long it will take. By giving your work plan, you show your readers that your research is feasible. You can check out a great research schedule by Shona McCombes of Scribbr.

When you will be doing your research work, money will definitely be used. Where you will write details of your how much you will incur is called the Budget section. You need to show how spending the money will help you answer your research question. Get to indicate all the anticipated costs needed.

Your research proposal is normally ended by the Reference section. The best format to use in this section is the APA format while citing the sources. This is a very important part of your proposal. Make sure to list all the sources you used in this section. You can use APA citation generator to create citations quickly and easily. Your reference part should look something like:

We at The Youth Café believe that research proposals are very important. As an organization that works with young men and women in Kenya and around Africa to foster community resilience, propose innovative solutions, drive social progress, youth empowerment and inspire political change, various researches have to be conducted so that we are able to achieve our Mission. It is through research proposals that the 8 pillars came about thereby providing an essential organizing structure for the development and implementation of its various programs and initiatives, which all play a critical role in reducing youth deprivation and socio-economic and political empowerment of young people in the continent. As we earlier stated, a research proposal is not about being right or wrong but identifying a problem and coming up with a solution.

 Synthia is a reseacher with The Youth Cafe

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