Writing the Proposal Arguments presented in a proposal: • What do readers need to better understand the topic? • What do readers need to know about the topic? • What do you propose to study? • What is the setting, and who are the people you will study? • What methods do you plan to use to collect data? • How will you analyze the data? • How will you validate the findings? • What ethical issues will your study present? • What do preliminary results show about the practicability and

value of the proposed study?

C resw

ell,R esearch D

esign 5e SAG

E Publishing, 2018 1

Structure of a proposal u Introduction

u statement of the problem (issue, existing literature about problem, deficiencies in literature)

u purpose of the study u The research questions or hypothesis

u Review of the literature (include theories) u Methods

u Type of research design (experiment, survey) u Population, sample and participants u Data collection instruments, variables and materials u Data analysis procedures u Anticipated ethical issues

u References u Appendixes (instruments, budget)

2

Writing Ideas u Write ideas down early in the process rather than talking about them u Work through several drafts of a proposal rather than trying to polish

the first draft u Do not edit at the early draft stage

– Start with an outline – Write a draft and shift and sort ideas – Finally, edit and polish each sentence

u Make writing a daily activity u Write in small, regular amounts u Schedule writing tasks u Share your writing with supportive, constructive peers before going

public u Describe an object by its parts and dimensions u Write a conversation between two people u Take a subject and write about it three different ways u Choose a physical location for writing that is not a distraction