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When you are applying for a research
degree, like the PhD, you will veryprobably have to write a research proposal
as a part of your application file. A PhD is awarded mainly as the result of
your making a genuine contribution to the state of knowledge in a field of your
choice. Even though this is not the Nobel Prize yet, getting the degree means
you have added something to what has previously been known on the subject you
have researched. But first you have to prove you are capable of making sucha
contribution, and therefore write a research proposal that meets certain standards.
The goal of a research proposal (RP) is to present and justify a research idea
you have and to present the practical ways in which you think this research
should be conducted.
When you are writing a RP, keep in mind
that it will enter a competition, being read in line with quite a few other
RPs. You have to come up with a document that has an impact upon the reader:
write clearly and well structured so that your message gets across easily.
Basically, your RP has to answer three big questions: what research project
will you undertake, why is important to know that thing and how will you
proceed to makethat research.
In order to draw the researcher’s attention
upon your paper, write an introduction with impact, and that leads to the
formulation of your hypothesis. The research hypothesis has to be specific,
concise (one phrase) and to lead to the advancement of the knowledge in the
field in some way.Writing the hypothesis in a concise manner and, first, coming
up with agood hypothesis is a difficult mission. This is actually
the core of your application: you’re going
to a university to do this very piece of research. Compared to this, the rest
of the application is background scenery. Take your time to think of it. When
you have an idea, be careful atthe formulation. A well-written hypothesis is
something of an essay’s thesis: it provides a statement that can be tested
(argues ahead one of the possible answers to a problem), it is an idea, a
concept, and not a mere fact, and is summed up in one phrase. In some cases,
you will have no idea what the possible answer to a problem worth being
researched is, but you will be able to think of a way to solve that problem,
and find out the answer in the meantime. It’s ok in this case, to formulate a
research question, rather than a hypothesis. Let those cases be rare, in
anyway.
Another piece of advice when writing your
hypothesis, regarding the trendy research fields: chances are great that
they’re trendy because somebody has already made that exciting discovery, or
wrote that splendid paper that awoke everybody’s interest in the first place.
If you’re in one of these fields, try to get a fresh point of view upon the
subject; make new connections, don’t be 100% mainstream. This will make the
project even more stimulating for the reader. Imagine that you are writing
about the trendiest subject, with absolutely no change in the point of view,
and you are given the chance to make the research. Trends come and go, fast;
what are the chances that, in four years’ time, when your research isdone and
you are ready to publish your results, one of those well-knownprofessors who
dispose of huge research grants has already said whatever you had to say?
Remember how, in a structured essay, right
after the thesis you would present the organisation of your essay, by
enumerating the main arguments you were going to present?
Same thing should happen in a RP. After
stating your thesis, you should give a short account of your answers to
thosethree questions mention earlier. State, in a few phrases, what will be
learned from your research, that your project will make a difference, and why
is that important to be known. You will have to elaborate on both of these
later in the paper.
The next step in writing your proposal is to
prove that that particular piece of research has not been done yet. This
section is usually called Literature Review. Inside it, you have to enumerate
and critically analyze an impressive list of boring bibliography. The
conclusion you should - objectively! - reach is that your idea of research has
not been undertaken yet. Even more, you use this opportunity to prove solid
theoreticalknowledge in the field, and build the theoretical bases of your
project. One tip: don’t review all the articles and books in the fields even
ifyou mention them in the bibliography list; pay attention in your analysis to
those you will build on. Another one: avoid jargon when writing your RP. The
chances are great that the person(s) who will read your and another 1000 research
proposals are not specialists in that very field - niche you are examining. If
you are applying for a grant with or foundation or something similar, it might
happen that those reading your paper are not even professors, but recruiters,
donors, etc. And even if they actually are professors, one of the reasons busy
people like them agree to undertake a huge, and sometimes voluntary, work, is
the desire to meetsome diversity, some
change from their work - so maybe they’ll
read applications for another specialisation. The capacity to get your message
across in clear, easy-to-grasp concepts and phrases is one of the
winningpapers’ most important advantages.
So far, you have proven you have a research
idea, that you are familiar with the field, and that your idea is new. Now, why
should your project be worth researching? Because it advances knowledge, ok.
But is this knowledge that anybody will need? Maybe nobody knows for sure how
the shoelaces were being tied in the XIXth century, but who cares, beyond two lace-tying
specialists? Find arguments to convince the reader that s/he should give you
money for that research: practical use, accelerating the development of
knowledge in your or other fields, opening new research possibilities, a better
understanding of facts that will allow a more appropriate course of action are
possible reasons. Be clear and specific. Don’t promise to save the world, it
might be too much to start with. Even James Bond succeeds that only towards the
end of the movie.
We approach now one of the most difficult
parts of writing a research proposal: the methodology. In short, what actions
are you going to take inorder to answer the question? When will you know
whether the hypothesishas been proven wrong, or has survived enough tests to be
considered, for now, valid? Those tests and the way you are supposed to handle
them to give rigor to your research is what is understood under methods.
Methods divide in qualitative (interviews, questionnaires) and quantitative
(statistics, stuff that deals intensively with numbers). For some projects
qualitative methods are more appropriate, for some quantitative, whilefor most
a mixture of the two is adequate. You should pick your methodsand justify your
choice. Research methodology, however, is too a complicated thing to be
explained here. And this is why it’s so tough: not much attention is given to
teaching it in Eastern Europe. Try, before writing your RP, to read a bit more
about methodology - on the Internet you will find for sure some articles - and
decide which methods suit your project best. Don’t forget: reading theoretical pieces
of your work and providing a critical analysis of those is also a kind of
research. It’s fine to provide a rough schedule of your research; some grant
programs willalso require a detailed budget, even though for scholarships this
is unlikely.
Conclusions: After working your way through
the difficult methodologicalpart, you only have to write your conclusions.
Shortly recap why your hypothesis is new, why it advances knowledge, why is it
worth researchingand how, from a practical point of view, are you going to do
that. Overall, the capacity of your project to answer the research question
shouldcome out crystal clear from the body of the paper, and especially from
the conclusions. If this happens, it means you have a well-written RP, and you
have just increased you chances for having a successful application.One last
word: how big should your RP be? In most cases, this is specified in the
application form. If it is not, we suggest that you keep it atabout 1500 words
(that’s 3 pages, single-spaced, with 12 size Times NewRoman). In fewer words it
can be really tough to write a good RP. With more you might bore your readers.
Which we hope will not happen.
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