Different Types of Research Proposals
Contents
Would you want to know the different kinds of research proposals? Based on my experience, A research proposal is a formal offer from an individual or research company to produce a product or render a service to a client in response to a client’s request.
It serves as a work plan, prospectus, outline and statement of intent, and an agreement between a client and a researcher.
There are two types of research proposals, depending on their purpose:
Theoretical research: This type of research aims to obtain information of various kinds, even if this knowledge is not applied, but only to have general knowledge.
Applied research is a type of inquiry that seeks to identify solutions applicable to the problems currently being faced.
These challenges might be composed of a variety of factors, including those that are experienced in the workplace, in the classroom, and in society.
For the purpose of gathering extra data in a particular area of inquiry, this research approach makes use of empirical procedures, such as trials and experiments.
Utilises and applies existing ideas, information, methodologies, and procedures to effectively address and resolve specific, practical issues.
Applied research is a form of investigation that aims to discover practical answers to current challenges.
These obstacles can encompass several aspects, such as those encountered at work, in school, and in society.
For the purpose of gathering extra data in a particular area of inquiry, this research approach makes use of empirical procedures, such as trials and experiments.
Now, let’s get started.
A formal document with a predetermined format is a research proposal. If you could briefly explain your study topic (also known as what you want to examine) and why it is important, that would be greatly appreciated.
(i.e., your defence) and the manner in which you want to look into it (i.e., your practical approach)
A research proposal’s main goal is to convey to your customer or intended audience the significance of your study.
It will also provide the following benefits: Show that your project is essential and high quality, and that you can carry out the study.
When compared to a research paper, a research proposal is often more concise and contains fewer details.
It provides an in-depth explanation of the research activity that is expected to be undertaken.
This paper is broken down into seven unique sections: an introduction, a literature review, a methodology, results and conclusions, a discussion, a conclusion, and more references.
You must give a complete list of sources that have been correctly referenced in order to reduce the likelihood of claims of plagiarism.
Which is:
1: Introduce yourself and offer background information.
The main reason for opening a proposal is to catch the attention of your reader. After that, the next paragraph should clearly answer the main issue of the reader.
2. Describe your motivation for the proposal.
What you want to achieve or the issue you wish to resolve is the goal of your proposal. Specific information and fundamental language would be included in a business agreement proposal.
A proposal to revamp a firm website, on the other hand, would go over your comprehension of the problems with the website as it stands right now.
3. Establish and articulate your desired outcomes and targets.
A desired outcome is a declarative statement that provides a more specific and tangible expression of aims.
In order to create a valuable collection of desired outcomes (also known as objectives or outcome statements). It is necessary to articulate the particular changes that you aim to achieve as a direct consequence of your program, which will ultimately enable you to accomplish your aims.
Ensure that outcomes are defined as exact, explicit, and unambiguous statements that clearly articulate the expected achievements.
Every objective should be accompanied by two to three results to reinforce it.
Utilising Bloom’s Taxonomy can assist in assessing the degree of involvement in achieving desired results.
Once the asthma therapies have been implemented for a year, it is necessary to conduct evaluations in order to evaluate the outcomes and cost consequences for both the patients and the health plan.
Possible factors to consider include an assessment of the alteration in drug use trends among asthmatic individuals and a shift in the number of emergency department admissions.
4. Method of Approach
The section on methodology will include the material that is considered to be the most important for the study. Detailed information on the researchers’ complete methods will be presented and explained in this part.
As part of this, a discussion will be held on the study design, the scope of the research, the measuring tools, the analytical approach, and the procedure for data collection.
The researchers can incorporate more subsections into their study according to the qualities of their investigation and the methodology that they have chosen.
4. A Brief Synopsis
In conclusion, a concise summary of the contents of the paper will be provided, along with additional information that the researchers did not include in the sections that came before it.
When putting together a proposal for a project, it is possible that a conclusion is not required to be included.
Nevertheless, certain teachers would insist that a conclusion be included in the paper.
Students need to verify this information with their instructors in order to avoid any issues with their formatting.
5. Citations
The portion of the paper devoted to references is where the author offers a detailed list of all the sources that they used in the article.
Additionally, the sources of individuals have to be incorporated into the theoretical discussion portion, as well as the extra arguments.
A research design for a proposal won’t need a reference list, much like the conclusion does.
This is so because papers and proposals will always contain a specific list of references at the conclusion of the document.
The only papers that should have a reference list are stand-alone research design papers.
The structure of a research proposal differs across different academic disciplines and educational levels.
However, the majority of proposals should have the following components: an introduction, a literature review, a study design, and a reference list.
Typically, research proposals might vary in length, spanning from 500 to 1500 words or one to a few pages.
Research proposals typically consist of a title page, an abstract, an introduction, background information, research questions, a literature review, and a bibliography.
It is possible for proposals to be unsolicited, solicited, or internal.
Research proposals are internal if they target an entity or organisation and are prepared by an individual or a team of researchers who are part of the entity or organisation.
External research proposals are either solicited or unsolicited. Solicited research proposals are when the customer asks for a proposal.
The following reviews the sections you will commonly find in proposals.
Please do not assume that each of them has to be in the proposal you write, nor that they have to be in the order they are presented here.
The parts of a research proposal:
A complete research protocol should contain these 11 parts:
The first six components of the research protocol listed above will instead be condensed and even implied in the introduction chapter of the future original article.
Components 7, 8 and 9 will be merged into the “Material and Method” chapter of the future original article.
The 10th component will appear in the discussion chapter in the IMRAD structuring.
Finally, as the study has not yet been carried out, the “Results” chapter will not have any elements to appear in the research protocol.
There are some common elements you need to include in your research proposal.
A research proposal must contain critical components to make it successful. These key components include;
Researchers must, however, include all these essential sections within their research proposals as listed below:
Title
Without a doubt, all research proposals should include a title.
What you should take into consideration is that the title should be clear and explain what your research proposal is about. It does not matter if it is short or long.
The most crucial aspect is that the title is accurate and tells the reader precisely what they will read.
In other words, the title is essential in grabbing the readers’ attention from the beginning, even before they set out to read the details that follow the title.
Introduction
This provides an overview of the research proposal by highlighting key points. This is where you need to introduce the problem you want to solve with your research project.
Research questions and research objectives should be mentioned clearly.
As important as the title, the introduction is perhaps more important since it includes all the essential details about your research proposal.
It should not be unnecessarily too long or short, and should only include everything you will write about in the following sections of your proposal.
Avoid mentioning it in the introduction if you are not planning to write about something.
Similarly, if you introduce something in the introduction part, you need to write about it later on in the following sections.
Research questions and objectives
After briefly introducing research questions and objectives in the introduction part of the proposal, you need to expand on them in this section.
Research questions and objectives are at the core of your proposed project; therefore, you must focus on what you want to write.
As in many parts of the proposal, questions and objectives should be clear and to the point.
You may have many questions and objectives that stem from the primary questions and objectives, but it is unnecessary to include them since you are trying to keep the proposal concise.
Another point that should be noted is that you should not include any objective just for the sake of it. The number of objectives is not essential.
It would help if you focused on what you want to achieve with your research and aimed for those goals.
Literature review
Every research paper should use available published studies, especially peer-reviewed papers, as they are considered credible sources of information.
In this section, you need to mention previous studies on the subject and why using them is essential in your case.
You may also mention possible gaps in the existing literature and how you plan to fill in those gaps with your research project.
Usually, there is no required amount of literature you should use in your research paper.
However, as a rule of thumb, it is determined by the project’s scope and the availability of literature.
While you may use several books, journals, and other secondary data sources, your literature review should mention some essential ones.
As your research proposal needs to be concise, you should pick important literature for your project.
Mentioning something that does not have much in common with your research project is one of the mistakes that beginner researchers make.
Your literature review also indicates how well you know your research topic.
Research Methodology
Research is a dynamic and evolving activity that may be categorised into four distinct stages: Exploring, Investigating, Processing, and Creating.
During a research assignment, it is expected to transition between different stages as your comprehension develops.
Information gathered about a numerical variable will consistently be quantitative, whereas information collected regarding a categorical variable will consistently be qualitative.
Hence, it is possible to determine the nature of the data before gathering it by considering whether the variable is numerical or categorical.
Quantitative research uses unbiased, quantifiable data to address inquiries pertaining to “what” and “how frequently.
On the other hand, qualitative research aims to address inquiries related to “why” and “how,” with a specific focus on subjective experiences in order to comprehend motives and causes.
You may also use both research approaches in your proposed research project. Moreover, you must mention the methods and tools you will use to analyse your data.
Other details
You may include other details in your research proposal, depending on your aim.
As we already mentioned, some researchers are looking for funding; therefore, including the proposed budget you need to conduct your research is essential.
A timetable for a project is also necessary.
Another detail you may include in the proposal is details about your research partners if you plan to collaborate with others. Their roles and qualifications should also be mentioned.
Conclusion
The conclusion is an overview of the crucial details you included in the body part of the proposal.
It would help if you mentioned why you must conduct the research by using the points you made in your proposal.
The most crucial factor you must consider is that you cannot introduce any new idea/concept in the conclusion. If you plan to do so, you need to go back and add those ideas to the central body part, too.
Reference list/ Bibliography
In this section, you must reference all the sources you used in your research proposal. A reference list includes all sources you cited in your work.
The Bibliography is similar, but the only difference is that it contains all the references you used, plus extra reading you did but did not reference in the proposal.
Now that we’ve identified several forms of research proposals, the proposal should be 4-6 pages long (double-spaced).
This page restriction excludes references, extra figures, timelines, and so forth. Do not include a cover page or an abstract in your proposal paper.
Also, some main components of a research proposal include a title, abstract, table of contents, introduction, literature review, method, discussion, and budget.
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