Research Proposal: Definition, Purpose, & Writing Steps

Few students fully get the meaning and the importance of a research proposal. If you have a good research proposal, it means that you are going to carry out adequate research. A low-quality research proposal may be the reason your research will never start.

The main purpose of a research proposal is to convince the reader of your project’s value. You will have to prove that you have a plan for your work and that your project will be successful. Your reader has to be sure that it is not another useless piece of writing, but a profound research work that will be extremely important for science.

Want to learn more about the reasons why it is important to have a research plan? Continue reading this article by Custom-writing.org experts!

🔤 Research Proposal: Definition

A research proposal is a document that proposes a particular research project, usually in academia or sciences, intending to get funding from an institution. A typical research proposal addresses a range of points:

• A research question(s) that the proposed research seeks to answer
• The data & methods that will be used to answer the questions
• The time and financial costs for the research
• The prior research in the field
• Potential benefits for the sponsoring institution

Research proposals are usually required when one plans to write a thesis, dissertation, or research paper. The format is similar to that of a research paper, with an introduction, a literature review, a methods section, and a conclusion.

❗ Research Proposal: Purpose & Importance

The primary goal of any research proposal is to convince a sponsoring institution that a particular research project is worthwhile. The document usually aims to cover the aspects below.

👣 Making a Research Plan in 10 Steps

🔗 References

1. Writing a Research Proposal (USC Library Guides)
2. Writing a research proposal – Research & Learning Online
3. How to write a research proposal? – NCBI
4. How to Write a Research Proposal – University of Birmingham
5. How To Write an Academic Research Proposal
6. How to write a research proposal (Yale College)
7. How to write a research proposal for a strong PhD application (University of Sydney)