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How to Write a Research Proposal

By: Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D., C.Psych.
Research Director, Graduate Program in Counselling Psychology
Trinity Western University
Langley, BC, Canada

Most students and beginning researchers do not fully understand what a research proposal
means, nor do they understand its importance. To put it bluntly, one's research is only as a
good as one's proposal. An ill-conceived proposal dooms the project even if it somehow gets
through the Thesis Supervisory Committee. A high quality proposal, on the other hand, not
only promises success for the project, but also impresses your Thesis Committee about your
potential as a researcher.

A research proposal is intended to convince others that you have a worthwhile research
project and that you have the competence and the work-plan to complete it. Generally, a
research proposal should contain all the key elements involved in the research process and
include sufficient information for the readers to evaluate the proposed study.

Regardless of your research area and the methodology you choose, all research proposals
must address the following questions: What you plan to accomplish, why you want to do it
and how you are going to do it.

The proposal should have sufficient information to convince your readers that you have an
important research idea, that you have a good grasp of the relevant literature and the major
issues, and that your methodology is sound.

The quality of your research proposal depends not only on the quality of your proposed
project, but also on the quality of your proposal writing. A good research project may run the
risk of rejection simply because the proposal is poorly written. Therefore, it pays if your
writing is coherent, clear and compelling.

This paper focuses on proposal writing rather than on the development of research ideas.

Title:

It should be concise and descriptive. For example, the phrase, "An investigation of . . ." could
be omitted. Often titles are stated in terms of a functional relationship, because such titles
clearly indicate the independent and dependent variables. However, if possible, think of an
informative but catchy title. An effective title not only pricks the reader's interest, but also
predisposes him/her favourably towards the proposal.

Abstract:

It is a brief summary of approximately 300 words. It should include the research question, the
rationale for the study, the hypothesis (if any), the method and the main findings.
Descriptions of the method may include the design, procedures, the sample and any
instruments that will be used.

Introduction:

The main purpose of the introduction is to provide the necessary background or context for
your research problem. How to frame the research problem is perhaps the biggest problem in
proposal writing.

If the research problem is framed in the context of a general, rambling literature review, then
the research question may appear trivial and uninteresting. However, if the same question is
placed in the context of a very focused and current research area, its significance will become
evident.

Unfortunately, there are no hard and fast rules on how to frame your research question just as
there is no prescription on how to write an interesting and informative opening paragraph. A
lot depends on your creativity, your ability to think clearly and the depth of your
understanding of problem areas.

However, try to place your research question in the context of either a current "hot" area, or
an older area that remains viable. Secondly, you need to provide a brief but appropriate
historical backdrop. Thirdly, provide the contemporary context in which your proposed
research question occupies the central stage. Finally, identify "key players" and refer to the
most relevant and representative publications. In short, try to paint your research question in
broad brushes and at the same time bring out its significance.

The introduction typically begins with a general statement of the problem area, with a focus
on a specific research problem, to be followed by the rational or justification for the proposed
study. The introduction generally covers the following elements:

1. State the research problem, which is often referred to as the purpose of the study.
2. Provide the context and set the stage for your research question in such a way as to
show its necessity and importance.
3. Present the rationale of your proposed study and clearly indicate why it is worth
doing.
4. Briefly describe the major issues and sub-problems to be addressed by your research.
5. Identify the key independent and dependent variables of your experiment.
Alternatively, specify the phenomenon you want to study.
6. State your hypothesis or theory, if any. For exploratory or phenomenological research,
you may not have any hypotheses. (Please do not confuse the hypothesis with the
statistical null hypothesis.)
7. Set the delimitation or boundaries of your proposed research in order to provide a
clear focus.
 8. Provide definitions of key concepts. (This is optional.)

Literature Review:

Sometimes the literature review is incorporated into the introduction section. However, most
professors prefer a separate section, which allows a more thorough review of the literature.

The literature review serves several important functions:

1. Ensures that you are not "reinventing the wheel".

2. Gives credits to those who have laid the groundwork for your research.
3. Demonstrates your knowledge of the research problem.
4. Demonstrates your understanding of the theoretical and research issues related to your
research question.
5. Shows your ability to critically evaluate relevant literature information.
6. Indicates your ability to integrate and synthesize the existing literature.
7. Provides new theoretical insights or develops a new model as the conceptual
framework for your research.
8. Convinces your reader that your proposed research will make a significant and
substantial contribution to the literature (i.e., resolving an important theoretical issue
or filling a major gap in the literature).

Most students' literature reviews suffer from the following problems:

Lacking organization and structure

Lacking focus, unity and coherence
Being repetitive and verbose
Failing to cite influential papers
Failing to keep up with recent developments
Failing to critically evaluate cited papers
Citing irrelevant or trivial references
Depending too much on secondary sources

Your scholarship and research competence will be questioned if any of the above applies to
your proposal.

There are different ways to organize your literature review. Make use of subheadings to bring
order and coherence to your review. For example, having established the importance of your
research area and its current state of development, you may devote several subsections on
related issues as: theoretical models, measuring instruments, cross-cultural and gender
differences, etc.

It is also helpful to keep in mind that you are telling a story to an audience. Try to tell it in a
stimulating and engaging manner. Do not bore them, because it may lead to rejection of your
worthy proposal. (Remember: Professors and scientists are human beings too.)

Methods:
The Method section is very important because it tells your Research Committee how you plan
to tackle your research problem. It will provide your work plan and describe the activities
necessary for the completion of your project.

The guiding principle for writing the Method section is that it should contain sufficient
information for the reader to determine whether methodology is sound. Some even argue that
a good proposal should contain sufficient details for another qualified researcher to
implement the study.

You need to demonstrate your knowledge of alternative methods and make the case that your
approach is the most appropriate and most valid way to address your research question.

Please note that your research question may be best answered by qualitative research.
However, since most mainstream psychologists are still biased against qualitative research,
especially the phenomenological variety, you may need to justify your qualitative method.
[This is also common in other fields of research]

Furthermore, since there are no well-established and widely accepted canons in qualitative
analysis, your method section needs to be more elaborate than what is required for traditional
quantitative research. More importantly, the data collection process in qualitative research
has a far greater impact on the results as compared to quantitative research. That is another
reason for greater care in describing how you will collect and analyze your data. (How to
write the Method section for qualitative research is a topic for another paper.)

For quantitative studies, the method section typically consists of the following sections:

1. Design -Is it a questionnaire study or a laboratory experiment? What kind of design

do you choose?
2. Subjects or participants - Who will take part in your study ? What kind of sampling
procedure do you use?
3. Instruments - What kind of measuring instruments or questionnaires do you use? Why
do you choose them? Are they valid and reliable?
4. Procedure - How do you plan to carry out your study? What activities are involved?
How long does it take?

Results:

Obviously you do not have results at the proposal stage. However, you need to have some
idea about what kind of data you will be collecting, and what statistical procedures will be
used in order to answer your research question or test you hypothesis.

Discussion:

It is important to convince your reader of the potential impact of your proposed research. You
need to communicate a sense of enthusiasm and confidence without exaggerating the merits
of your proposal. That is why youg also need to mention the limitations and weaknesses of
the proposed research, which may be justified by time and financial constraints as well as by
the early developmental stage of your research area.

Common Mistakes in Proposal Writing

1. Failure to provide the proper context to frame the research question.
2. Failure to delimit the boundary conditions for your research.
3. Failure to cite landmark studies.
4. Failure to accurately present the theoretical and empirical contributions by other
researchers.
5. Failure to stay focused on the research question.
6. Failure to develop a coherent and persuasive argument for the proposed research.
7. Too much detail on minor issues, but not enough detail on major issues.
8. Too much rambling going "all over the map" without a clear sense of direction.
(The best proposals move forward with ease and grace like a seamless river.)
9. Too many citation lapses and incorrect references.
10. Too long or too short.
11. Failing to follow the APA style.
12. Slopping writing.