Welcome to this topic entitled Research proposal! Research proposal is a concise and coherent summary of your proposed research. It sets out the central issues or questions that you intend to address. As students of Language research, you are expected to exhibit your ability to write effective research proposals. This topic on Research proposal aims to equip you with the necessary knowledge and skills in order to come up with your own research proposals. Just sit back and enjoy as we embark on this journey together. So, jump in!
“Research is creating new knowledge.” ~ Neil Armstrong
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)
At the completion of this topic, you should be able to:
- Explain the parts of a research proposal
What is a Research Proposal?
A research proposal is a concise and coherent summary of your proposed research. It sets out the central issues or questions that you intend to address. It outlines the general area of study within which your research falls, referring to the current state of knowledge and any recent debates on the topic.
Purpose of a Research Proposal
The purpose of the proposal is to help you (as a student) to focus and define your research plans. These plans are not binding, in that they may well change substantially as you progress in the research. However, they are an indication to your faculty of your direction and discipline as a researcher.
The research proposal is expected to:
- show that you are engaging in genuine inquiry, finding out about something worthwhile in a particular context
- link your proposed work with the work of others, while proving you are acquainted with major schools of thought relevant to the topic
- establish a particular theoretical orientation
- establish your methodological approach, and
- show you have thought about the ethical issues.
Parts of a Research Proposal
The research proposal is likely to contain most of the elements listed below. Some schools, however, although they have their own research agenda as stipulated in their research policies, our own humble College of Arts also has its own developing research environment. Moreover, you will notice some inclusion or omission of certain parts. For our Language research class, you will use the following list as a checklist of items and the order in which they usually appear in your Language research proposals:
- Cover page. This part identifies the topic, writer, institution and degree of the researcher. This contains the proposed thesis title (should be descriptive of focus, concise, eye-catching and preferably use keywords from international information retrieval systems). This also includes your name and qualifications, department, university and degree the proposal is intended for.
- Table of Contents. This part lists sections of proposal and page references. This makes use of a numbering system to show the hierarchy for titles and subtitles.
- Introduction or Background of the Study. This part provides background information relating to the social/political/historical/ educational (etc.) context of the study. This answers the question WHAT. This may include historical, cultural, political, social or organizational information about the context of the research. Another feature may include a theoretical starting point or policy. In addition, this may include the researcher’s personal motivation and the way they problematize the current status quo.
- Rationale/Need for the study. This part follows from background to persuade the reader that the study is needed and will be useful/interesting. This answers the question WHY. This may include reference to a ‘gap’ in the research literature, to the need to apply certain ideas in a new context, or to the significance of your particular topic. This part explains the ways in which the study may be significant for the educational community may also be discussed.
- Purpose and aims of the study. This part outlines the key research questions and aims of the study. This part states clearly and succinctly the purpose of the study. Here, the purpose of the study is expressed in terms of the broader context of the study. The research question(s) (usually What, How, Why, or What if) – should be few, so that the focus is manageable.
- Review of related literatures and studies. This part shows that you are aware of significant writers/researchers in the field, and indicates which issues/topics you will focus on in your review. This part likewise shows that you can be judicious in your selection of issues to focus on and take an approach of critical inquiry. Essentially, this situates your own research within the entire field. Here, you should conduct an initial survey of the main theorists and a library information search to establish your directions and formulate a tentative list of readings. In this part, you should demonstrate critical analysis as you conduct your review. Your review should be shaped by your argument and should seek to establish your theoretical orientation.
- Research design (methodology). This part outlines and describes the research plans – ways in which it will be conducted. This answers the question HOW?. This part includes your understandings of the nature of knowledge (paradigm) and how this affects your choice of research approach. This part includes description of and rationale for selection of participants, methods of data collection and analysis, procedures you will use to ensure ethical practice, validity and reliability.
- Timetable/Plan. This part predicts the significance of the study and expected outcomes. These may relate closely to aims of the study. This part answers the question SO WHAT. However, this is only a prediction, and may be excluded if the rationale for the study has been well developed earlier in the proposal.
- Definition of terms. This part lists specialized terms or words and their meanings (e.g., from another culture, acronyms, key concepts in a relatively new field). These terms may be defined conceptually (from the dictionary) or operationally (from the way it was used in the course of research study). This is placed in a position which is easy to locate (e.g., before or after the main text parts).
- Appendices. This part displays the set of documents which are relevant to main text, but whose presence in the text would disturb rather than enhance the flow of the argument or writing. So these are placed in a specialized location within the research proposal.
- References. This part lists the works that have been consulted thus far and appear to be useful in the course of the study. You have to note that we will use the American Psychological Association (APA) Style Guide or convention for the in-text citation and bibliographical references.
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Works cited
- How to Write a Research Paper (n.d.) An online PDF accessed on July 10, 2017 at www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/law/courses/research/research-proposal.aspx