Five Definitive Tips For Writing A Remarkable Research Proposal

Writing the perfect dissertation proposal is as important as perfecting every aspect of a dissertation. Research proposals act as the prelude to extant research literature. They have the dual tasks of preparing students for the challenging tasks ahead and informing evaluators about a student’s level of preparation & researching capabilities.

An excellent research proposal helps researchers deliver accurate details about the research work to be conducted, including the research question, the overall scope of the endeavor and the research methodologies. Research proposals usually follow the basic structure of their more expansive counterparts and tend to vary as per requirements.

Well-crafted research proposals help students develop excellent research papers. They are the perfect road maps for such complicated and extensive undertakings.

The following sections lay down five excellent tips that can help any researcher deliver an impressive research proposal with ease.

1. Showcasing the importance of the research work

The primary purpose of a research proposal is acting as the researcher’s statement of guarantee that their research is worthwhile.

• It should be able to highlight how the research will have a significant contribution in its concerned field.
• An essential section of every research proposal is the research implication section. The research implications section highlights the impact and probable consequences of the research endeavor.
• The theoretical framework of the research and the justification of current research work should also be mentioned in clarity.
• In a specific proposal framework, writers may need to mention the purposes and aims of their research in a particular section.
• The research aims and objectives in the proposal are going to be tentative, given the fact that everything is a work in progress. Outline the research aims & objectives in light of the research questions at hand.
• The research question & hypotheses, problem statement, research implication and justification sections serve the purpose of educating your readers about the vitality of your research endeavors.

2. Lay down the vital aspects of your research plan

Research proposals are a blueprint or a road-map of the fundamental research. Naturally, you will need to chalk out your research writing plans early on. In most cases, you may also need to carry out some preliminary research too.

• Scope out all the sources of relevant information, both primary and secondary.

• Write down your research questions and the research hypotheses too. Research proposals often require writers to deliver a tentative but well-thought-out hypothesis.

• Use your inherent ideas and preliminary knowledge to establish a relationship between the research variables and predict possible outcomes.​​​​​​​

• Add the research methodologies and the analysis methods you intend to utilize while conducting your research. ​​​​​​​

• Mention, in brief, how you intend to use your methodologies to validate your research hypotheses and answer the research questions.​​​​​​​

• Chalking out the perfect plan requires a preliminary search for relevant primary & secondary sources. Simultaneously, it also involves determining the most appropriate research methodology for the research topic in question.
• A proper research proposal must convince evaluators that the research work will be concluded within the scheduled date. This is the reason why every research proposal must contain a research schedule or the actual plan of work.​​​​​​​
• Briefly mention your data researching and data gathering methods, such as archival search, surveys, questionnaires, practical experimentation, etc. It would help in communicating your approach to the evaluators.

        3. Address the research implications and the literature gaps

• A principal aim of any research work is to address and fill the gaps in the research literature in its field.

• The problem statement is where one must identify the problem they need to address. A separate paragraph must be dedicated to explaining the problem statement and include all necessary background information.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

• ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The justification of the research must be in line with the problem statement and the literature review.​​​​​​​

• Literature reviews are critical for both the actual paper and the proposal. Critical literature reviews will help you pinpoint &
• highlight the research gaps you intend to address and showcase the extend & exhaustive nature of your research.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
• Analyze all relevant and essential literature. Note their observations, conclusions and the research methodologies. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
• Use the literature review, problem statement, and research implications to relay the impact of the research.
• Suggest scope for further research in the future.​​​​​​​

      4. Be clear, precise and formal

• Many find themselves at a loss regarding the length of their dissertation or research proposal. Well, the general word count of a proposal is about 2500-3000 words.

• Keep your tone formal and sentences short & emphatic. Do not add long-drawn descriptions.

• Make sure to maintain a formal tone throughout your proposal. Research endeavors are professional and academic. Keep your audience in mind while crafting your proposals.

• Define all critical technical terms clearly without overdoing it. This is essential for any non-technical readers who will be going through your dissertations.

       5. Revise, proofread and write freely

• Periodic revisions and proofreading are essential for developing a perfect research proposal & paper. The formal and highly academic nature of most research endeavors requires white papers to be perfect in every aspect.

• Revise at regular intervals to weed out any errors. Make every attempt to take note of any sort of error and eliminate them.

• Get your papers and proposals checked by your classmates, friends, teachers or hire a professional editor.

• Always start working with a rough draft. Gather your thoughts & ideas and start writing freely, whether you are using on the perfect hypothesis or thinking of the best way to analyze a given data. Start free writing and then go about refining it.

• Proofread the rough draft and then the final submission copy too. Tally with the guidelines given by your instructors

• And, that rounds up this particular article about five tips on crafting the perfect research proposal. Use the pointers above to impress evaluators with convincing proposals for your white papers, thesis and dissertations.

  All the best!