Research proposal holds the brief summary of a proposed research. Academic institutions generally follow specific format and guideline for proposal writing. Here the general headings with example and guideline has been mentioned.
Cover page
Make the cover page simpler. Many student thinks that if they can present the proposal attractively to the professor then they may get more marks or praise. But proposal is the base of a research. It is needed to give more attention on the proposal content rather than its design. You can follow this simple cover page design for your proposal-
Content page
Make a content page by providing major headings name and page number. If you have used multiple tables and figures then mention those at separate tables as “list of tables” and “list of figures” respectively.
Abstract
Abstract is the consolidated summary of your full proposal. Always limit your abstract in one page, however, an ideal abstract limits in half page. Here you should mention in first 2 to 3 line the introduction and objective of the proposal. At next 3 to 4 line discuss about the research/project area and methodology. For concluding the abstract mention the expected outcome of the project/research. A research proposal full abstract has been provided below as an example-
Introduction
Introduction describe about the area context on which you are going to work. Do not elaborate this part too much. Say little about the problems with reference from previous works.
Statement of the problem
Your research must be seeking for solutions of a problem. You should state the problems clearly in this section. By presenting the problems attempt to focus the importance of your work.
Review of Literature
Here you should try to mention most relevant scholarly articles brief. Try to proof what is the significance of your research and what is new in your research. Mention the scholarly article review in the light of your topic. Give at least 5 to 7 scholarly articles review. You can start to write the review of a scholarly article by referencing the author last name and year of study. For example you can start the line by saying that “A study of Karim et al.(2012) shows that………”
Objectives of the Study
Clarify the objective of the research between 1 and 2 lines. If the research contains multiple objective then use bullet points or numbering.
Rational of the study
Explain the purposes and reasons for conducting the research in this section.
Study Area
You can divide this section in to two category like selection of study area and description of study area. State the reasons for selecting the areas clearly and describe the details of the area. Mention the population, geographical position in map and topic relevant statistics of the area.
Research design and Methodology
In this section mention the study design, data source, sample size, data processing tools and data analysis plan. Clearly state your target population like male, female or specific groups you have chosen. This is the very important part of a proposal. You should mention here about what kind of research you are going to conduct as like qualitative or quantitative research. Also mention data management plan and data calculation methodology.
Time Framework
State the time requirement of your proposed research. You can divide the whole research in three parts like baseline, midline and end line research and set the time accordingly.
Budget
State the budget requirement for your research or project.
Conclusion
Conclude the proposal briefly by mentioning the whole research key contexts, research benefits and future opportunities.
Reference
Mention all the references you have used in your proposal. The format of reference varies such as APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, IEEE etc. Follow the format which your instructor suggested for citing the articles. Information that commonly remains for citing any scholarly articles are authors name, year of publication, article title, journal title, Volume (issue) number and location.
