Research Proposal Writing

research proposalResearch proposal is written for different reasons including requesting budget, academic requirement, thesis requirement, and business necessity or as business recommendation for profit, certification requirements for research and employment obligation. It should provide a description of the proposed project or program.  It serves as a summary of information included in the project. One should avoid broad topic areas that would be unmanageable and ambiguous descriptions of research area.

The following is a sample format of a research proposal:

 

  •  Title – it should be concise.
  • Abstract – it contains a summary of your research including the data collection methods and analysis as well as expected results or possible outcomes.
  • Problem Statement – it includes the problem you want to address.
  • Background of the Problem – it details the problems you are trying to solve using your proposed research or project.
  • Research Design or Research Methodology – it provides the method use in data collection and identifies the type of data to collect and justified it.  You should specify the approach being used in your data collection.
  • Expected Results – it shows how the data is analyzed and the expected results from your research.
  • References or Bibliography – it provides the sources of data and information in your research.

 

Research Proposal Format

Below is a suggested format of a research proposal

I.    Prefatory parts
a.    Title Page
b.    Letter of Transmittal
c.    Table of Contents
d.    List of Tables and/or figures(if any)
e.    Executive summary or abstract

II.    Body of Proposal
a.    Introduction
i.    Problem
ii.    Need
iii.    Background
iv.    Objectives or Purpose
b.    Procedure
i.    Methods and sources
ii.    Strategies
iii.    Equipment, facilities, products
c.    Personal qualifications
d.    Evaluation and benefits of project
e.    Budget of cost, prices, total bid

III.    Supplementary parts
a.    Agency forms
i.    Budget justification
ii.    References
b.    Tables, maps, graphs (if any)