University students and their teachers probably face such challenges as writing proposals. And the main issue is not only the choice of the topic of the work, but also how to correctly plan the research work. In this article, we will consider the correct procedure for constructing a plan.
It is recommended to use the appropriate standard for writing a research proposal. The standard establishes general requirements for the structure and rules for the preparation of reports on research work. The general structural plan is as follows:
- title page;
- list of performers;
- abstract;
- contents;
- definitions;
- abbreviations and symbols;
- introduction;
- main part;
- conclusion;
- list of sources used;
- application.
If this is not a large proposal, you can reduce the structure for a report or presentation by including:
- title page (article header) with authors;
- abstract;
- list of sources used.
An abstract is a part of a scientific work, which contains the main essence of the entire research work. It should include the following items:
- object of research or development;
- goal of the work;
- method or methodology of the study;
- results and their novelty;
- basic structural, technological, and technical-operational characteristics;
- degree of implementation;
- recommendations on implementation or results of implementation;
- application area;
- economic efficiency or significance of the work;
- predictive assumptions about the development of the object of research.
If it is not intended to create additional structural elements in the proposal, it is recommended to indicate in the abstract the elements that are indicated in the main part:
- choice of research areas, including justification of the choice of the accepted research direction, possible methods for solving problems and their comparative
- evaluation, development of a general methodology for conducting research;
description of the study; - compilation and evaluation of research results, among other things, of which it is important to include an assessment of the solution of the tasks and achievement of the goal.
The final plan for writing a research proposal is as follows:
- header where the name, educational organization, year, and authors are indicated;
- object of research or development;
- goal of the work;
- choice of research direction;
- method or methodology of the study;
- description of the study;
- results and their novelty;
- basic structural, technological, and technical-operational characteristics;
- degree of implementation;
- recommendations on implementation or results of implementation;
- application area;
- economic efficiency or significance of the work;
- predictive assumptions about the development of the object of research;
- list of used literature.
Research projects are independent (or group) projects of students. Before writing proposals, several stages should be gone through:
- choice of topic;
- definition of purpose, tasks, hypothesis, object, and subject of research;
- selection and study of materials on the topic;
- compilation of bibliography;
- choice of research methods;
- development of the project plan.
The first stage is the choice of the topic.
How to Choose Research Proposal Topics? The choice of a topic for a research project should meet the following requirements:
- The topic should correspond to the inclinations of a particular student (that is, to correspond to the books read, as well as the political, ideological, spiritual culture of the student).
- The main texts should be achievable (that is, physically accessible to a particular student).
- The main texts should be comprehensible (that is, intellectually feasible for a particular student).
The second stage is the definition of the purpose, tasks, hypothesis, object, and subject of the research.
Any work requires a formulation of goals and tasks of research from the author. While defining the purpose of research it is necessary to answer the following questions:
- What is the expected result?
- How does this result look before it is received?
The tasks of the research are understood as what needs to be done to achieve the goal. A hypothesis is the scientific assumption put forward to explain any phenomena. The object and the subject of the project is also determined. The object of the study is a process or phenomenon that generates a problem situation and is selected for study. The main question in determining the object is to ask, “What is considered?”
The subject of the study is determined when answering the following questions:
- How to view an object?
- What kind of relationship does it have?
- What aspects and functions does the researcher allocate for the study of the object?
The third stage is the selection and study of materials on the topic.
While studying the materials on the chosen topic, it is common to divide them into the primary and secondary sources. While working with books, primary sources are the first or academic editions of texts. Translations, anthologies, and retelling done by other authors, even those that have long quotes, are not sources.
The fourth stage is the creation of the bibliography.
Bibliography writing is an important part of working on the research project. There are particular rules of writing a bibliography list, such as:
- The list is categorized alphabetically.
- Sources (documentary materials, memoirs, correspondence, etc.) are written at the beginning, followed by studies. So, for example, you can divide the bibliography into sources and literature.
- The rules used in the compilation of the list of references are the same as in the drafting of the footnote. The only difference is that at the end of the description the total number of pages in the book or the pages on which the article is published in the collection, the newspaper, and the journal is indicated.
The fifth stage is the choice of research methods.
It is obligatory in the research project to indicate the methods of research that serve as a tool for obtaining the actual material, being a necessary condition for achieving the stated goal.
The sixth stage is the development of the project plan.
When working on a research project, it is necessary to outline a work plan.
After you pass through the preparation stage, it is time to start writing a research project proposal. If you want to know how to do it correctly, check out our blog.