s you have
added something to what has previously been known on the subject you hav
e researched. But first you have to prove you are capable of making such
a contribution, and therefore write a research proposal that meets cert
ain standards. The goal of a research proposal (RP) is to present and ju
stify a research idea you have and to present the practical ways in whic
h you think this research should be conducted.

When you are writing a RP, keep in mind that it will enter a competition
, being read in line with quite a few other RPs. You have to come up wit
h a document that has an impact upon the reader: write clearly and well
structured so that your message gets across easily. Basically, your RP h
as to answer three big questions: what research project will you underta
ke, why is important to know that thing and how will you proceed to make
that research.

In order to draw the researcher's attention upon your paper, write an in
troduction with impact, and that leads to the formulation of your hypoth
esis. The research hypothesis has to be specific, concise (one phrase) a
nd to lead to the advancement of the knowledge in the field in some way.
Writing the hypothesis in a concise manner and, first, coming up with a
good hypothesis is a difficult mission. This is actually the core of yo
ur application: you're going to a university to do this very piece of re
search. Compared to this, the rest of the application is background scen
ery. Take your time to think of it. When you have an idea, be careful at
the formulation. A well-written hypothesis is something of an essay's t
hesis: it provides a statement that can be tested (argues ahead one of t
he possible answers to a problem), it is an idea, a concept, and not a m
ere fact, and is summed up in one phrase. In some cases, you will have n
o idea what the possible answer to a problem worth being researched is,
but you will be able to think of a way to solve that problem, and find o
ut the answer in the meantime. It's ok in this case, to formulate a rese
arch question, rather than a hypothesis. Let those cases be rare, in any
way.

Another piece of advice when writing your hypothesis, regarding the tren
dy research fields: chances are great t

hat they're trendy because somebo
dy has already made that exciting discovery, or wrote that splendid pape
r that awoke everybody's interest in the first place. If you're in one o
f these fields, try to get a fresh point of view upon the subject; make
new connections, don't be 100% mainstream. This will make the project ev
en more stimulating for the reader. Imagine that you are writing about t
he trendiest subject, with absolutely no change in the point of view, an
d you are given the chance to make the research. Trends come and go, fas
t; what are the chances that, in four years' time, when your research is
done and you are ready to publish your results, one of those well-known
professors who dispose of huge research grants has already said whateve
r you had to say?

Remember how, in a structured essay, right after the thesis you would pr
esent the organisation of your essay, by enumerating the main arguments
you were going to present? Same thing should happen in a RP. After stati
ng your thesis, you should give a short account of your answers to those
three questions mention earlier. State, in a few phrases, what will be
learned from your research, that your project will make a difference, an
d why is that important to be known. You will have to elaborate on both
of these later in the paper.

The next step in writing your proposal is to prove that that particular
piece of research has not been done yet. This section is usually called
Literature Review. Inside it, you have to enumerate and critically analy
ze an impressive list of boring bibliography. The conclusion you should
- objectively! - reach is that your idea of research has not been undert
aken yet. Even more, you use this opportunity to prove solid theoretical
knowledge in the field, and build the theoretical bases of your project
. One tip: don't review all the articles and books in the fields even if
you mention them in the bibliography list; pay attention in your analys
is to those you will build on. Another one: avoid jargon when writing yo
ur RP. The chances are great that the person(s) who will read your and a
nother 1000 research proposals are not specialists in that very field -
niche you are examining. If you are applying for a grant with or foundat
ion or something similar, it might happen that those reading your paper
are not even professors, but recruiters, donors, etc. And even if they a
ctually are professors, one of the reasons busy people like them agree t
o undertake a huge, and sometimes voluntary, work, is the desire to meet
some diversity, some change from their work - so maybe they'll read app
lications for another specialisation. The capacity to get your message a
cross in clear, easy-to-grasp concepts and phrases is one of the winning
papers' most important advantages.

So far, you have proven you have a research idea, that you are familiar
with the field, and that your idea is new. Now, why should your project
be worth researching? Because it advances knowledge, ok. But is this kno
wledge that anybody will need? Maybe nobody knows for sure how the shoel
aces were being tied in the XIXth century, but who cares, beyond two lac
e-tying specialists? Find arguments to convince the reader that s/he sho
uld give you money for that research: practical use, accelerating the de
velopment of knowledge in your or other fields, opening new research pos
sibilities, a better understanding of facts that will allow a more appro
priate course of action are possible reasons. Be clear and specific. Don
't promise to save the world, it might be too much to start with. Even J
ames Bond succeeds that only towards the end of the movie.

We approach now one of the most difficult parts of writing a research pr
oposal: the methodology. In short, what actions are you going to take in
order to answer the question? When will you know whether the hypothesis
has been proven wrong, or has survived enough tests to be considered, f
or now, valid? Those tests and the way you are supposed to handle them t
o give rigor to your research is what is understood under methods. Metho
ds divide in qualitative (interviews, questionnaires) and quantitative (
statistics, stuff that deals intensively with numbers). For some project
s qualitative methods are more appropriate, for some quantitative, while
for most a mixture of the two is adequate. You should pick your methods
and justify your choice. Research methodology, however, is too a compli
cated thing to be explained here. And this is why it's so tough: not muc
h attention is given to teaching it in Eastern Europe. Try, before writi
ng your RP, to read a bit more about methodology - on the Internet you w
ill find for sure some articles - and decide which methods suit your pro
ject best. D

上一页  [1]  on't forget: reading theoretical pieces of your work and pro
viding a critical analysis of those is also a kind of research. It's fin
e to provide a rough schedule of your research; some grant programs will
also require a detailed budget, even though for scholarships this is un
likely.

Conclusions: After working your way through the difficult methodological
part, you only have to write your conclusions. Shortly recap why your h
ypothesis is new, why it advances knowledge, why is it worth researching
and how, from a practical point of view, are you going to do that. Over
all, the capacity of your project to answer the research question should
come out crystal clear from the body of the paper, and especially from
the conclusions. If this happens, it means you have a well-written RP, a
nd you have just increased you chances for having a successful applicati
on.

One last word: how big should your RP be? In most cases, this is specifi
ed in the application form. If it is not, we suggest that you keep it at
about 1500 words (that's 3 pages, single-spaced, with 12 size Times New
Roman). In fewer words it can be really tough to write a good RP. With
more you might bore your readers. Which we hope will not happen.

Good luck

上一页  [1] [2] 

上一页  [1] [2]