Writing a Research Proposal

Research proposal forms the backbone for the research and its objective is to obtain approvals from various committees including ethics committee and to request for grants. A proposal needs to show how the research fits into what is already known about the topic and what new paradigm will it add to the literature. It specifies the question that the research will answer, establishes its significance, and the implications of the answer. The proposal should convince the evaluation committee about the credibility, and reproducibility of the research design.

A research proposal should be in a simple language for non-specialists to comprehend, without the use of jargons. The cover page of a research proposal contains the following: Title of the proposal, Name and affiliation of the researcher, Institutional affiliation (Name of institution where the study will be performed), Contact- phone numbers, or E-mail id’s and Signature of the investigator.

Contents of the proposal are as follows:

• Introduction: It is also termed as ‘need for study’ or ‘abstract’. It puts the research in context. The introduction is so designed as to create interest in the reader about the topic and proposal. It should convey to the reader,  what necessitates the study in addition to what has not been answered adequately in previous research and how the proposed research would add to knowledge in this area.
• Review of literature: It refers to all sources of evidence pertaining to the topic. Every article reviewed is summarized in a paragraph. The progression of review is from more general to the more focused ones. This section may also include supporting data, and controversies
• Aims and objectives: Aim indicates what the researcher wishes to achieve in the research. It can be the hypothesis too. The objectives relate to tools used to achieve the aim. There could be primary and secondary objectives.
• Research design and method: In this section, the methods and sources used to conduct the research is discussed. It also includes methodological approaches to gather information, techniques to be used to analyze it and the tests of external validity. The main components of this section are Population and sample, Data collection, Strength and robustness of the research with respect to its neutrality, consistency and applicability.
• Citation: It refers to all references cited in the research proposal.

References

1. McGranaghan M. Guidelines on Writing a Research Proposal. Available from: https://www.2.hawaii.edu/~matt/proposal.html .
2. Nte AR, Awi DD. Research proposal writing: Breaking the myth. Niger J Med. 2006;15:373–81.
3. Saunderlin G. Writing a research proposal: The critical first step for successful clinical research. Gastroenterol Nurs. 1994;17:48–56.
4. Klopper H. The qualitative research proposal. Curationis. 2008;31:62–72.
5. Singh MD, Cameron C, Duff D. Writing proposals for research funds. Axone. 2005;26:26–30.
6. Burns N, Grove SK. The Practice of Nursing Research: Conduct, Critique and Utilization. 5th ed. St. Louis: Elsevier Saunders; 2005. pp. 667–8.
7. Sandelowski M, Barroso J. Writing the proposal for a qualitative research methodology project. Qual Health Res. 2003;13:781–820.
8. Krathwohl DR. How to Prepare a Dissertation Proposal: Suggestions for Students in Education and the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press; 2005. pp. 45–7.
9. Balakumar P, Inamdar MN, Jagadeesh G. The Critical Steps for Successful Research: The Research Proposal and Scientific Writing: A Report on the Pre-Conference Workshop Held in Conjunction with the 64th Annual Conference of the Indian Pharmaceutical Congress-2012. J Pharmacol Pharmacother. 2013;4:130–18.