Writing a Top-Grade Research Proposal

A lot of students do not fully comprehend what a research proposal is and what it serves for. It should be stated that one can judge on your research by reading your academic paper. If your proposal is written poorly, it will definitely damage your academic writing project even if it is approved by the board. However, if you manage to produce a proposal of superior quality, you will achieve excellent results. The committee will understand that you are a successful prospective researcher. What is the main aim of your proposal? It should persuade readers that your academic work is worth their attention. Moreover, the committee should realize that you are well aware of different research methods and know how to carry out your project. Mind that your proposal should consist of all the required structural components and provide relevant information about the analyzed subject. No matter the research methods used, your research proposal should answer the following questions: What issue are you going to explore? Why have you decided to investigate the subject? How are you going to conduct research? Your proposal should be based on strong arguments to convince readers in its credibility. Readers should understand that you know what sources to use to gather accurate data and what approach to take to examine the subject in detail. Keep in mind that one should possess good writing skills to prepare a sound proposal. Remember that a piece of writing may be rejected because of its poor quality. That is why you need to strive to write a coherent and engaging work.

Structure of the Dissertation: Key Items

It is known that a proposal is one of the essential elements of a dissertation. Thus, it is necessary to find out what chief components a proposal should include. Such a piece of writing should contain all of the items mentioned below. Certainly, the set of structural components depends on the provided instructions. Thus, some elements may be either included or excluded.

Title Page

It presents:

1. paper title which in its turn indicates your field of study;
2. your name, contacts, and specification;
3. your educational establishment and department;
4. your professor’s name;
5. the degree you are going to obtain.

Table of Contents

The aim of this section is to:

• present the units of your proposal in a logical order by indicating headings and sub-headings;
• provide references for each paper unit.

Introductory Section

It should:

• give readers basic information about the topic, first, and then provide some specific details;
• present general data that will help readers understand the peculiar features of the context of your research proposal;
• explain readers why it is worth examining a particular subject. At this point, it is required to provide some theoretical data;
• convince readers that a current research project has a great meaning for the development of a specific field.

This section should provide readers with useful information about the analyzed subject. Thus, it will be easier for you to persuade them that your academic work is of profound significance to the scholars dealing with the same research area.

Aim of Writing

This unit should:

• succinctly present the purpose of your paper
• describe your goal and highlight the fundamental research questions you are going to address (make sure your aim of writing is closely related to the research question).

Literature Review

Its aim is to:

• show readers that you have undertaken detailed research and know the most popular researches of a specific field of study;
• state the points you are going to discuss in your paper;
• demonstrate that you know how to critically analyze the matter and pick the most important facts;
• show that you are able to critically evaluate the issue;
• prove that you can confirm the credibility of your research;
• define the theoretical direction you are going to move in.

Research Techniques applied to Examining the Subject

When producing this section, you need to clearly state your intentions and explain readers how you are going to investigate the subject. In other words, you should state what methods you will use when researching the topic. This unit should:

• properly explain why you have chosen a specific approach;
• identify the criteria according to which you have chosen participants for your research and methods for collecting and analyzing data;
• also state what measures you have taken to ensure your work is appropriate from the ethical point of view. At this point, you can set the limits for your research;
• establish a time frame for carrying out your research. Note that this point should be written clearly so that readers fully understand how much time is needed for achieving desirable research results.

Thesis Format

The essential elements of a thesis are the following:

• a brief description of the chapters of your proposal showing there is a direct connection between each of them;
• a table of contents created according to the rules mentioned above.

Research Results

This part should:

• present the expected research findings;
• illustrate the paragraphs highlighting the importance of your research.

Used Terms

This unit should present:

• the specific terms, word combinations or words and their definitions (for example, give explanations of foreign abbreviations, concepts, etc.).

Appendices

This part of your work should:

• present the documents you have referred to when writing your paper. You can provide the statistical data, interviews, questions and other material you have used for producing your successful research proposal.

Bibliography

The role of this part is to:

• indicate the sources you have used for creating your piece of writing;
• mention the used referencing guides adopted by different educational institutions;
• present the academic resources you have used when writing the paper provided by your professor.