research proposal

● Introduction – 1 page

● Research question

● Summary of proposal

● Literature Review: find a hole, look for debates – 2 pages

● Literature on topic, method, or theoretical approach

● Methodology – 1 page

● Research design

● Kind of data

● Procedures

● Sampling

● Preliminary Data: – 1 page

● Evidence of importance; informs methodology

● Preliminary findings, descriptive statistics

● Important categories and relationships

● Statement of limitations – 1 page

● Alternatives

● Weaknesses

● What your research will do

● Conclusion: 1 page

● Contributions

● Importance

● 7 - 9 pages

Literature Review Outline

I. Introduction

a. Describe the overall topic that you have been investigating, why it is important to the field, and why you are interested in the topic.

b. Identify themes and trends in research questions, methodology, and findings. Give a “big picture” of the literature.

I. Theme A

a. Overview of characteristics of the theme (commonalities, differences, nuances) b. Sub-theme – narrow but grouped findings related to the theme

i. Study 1 (Research question(s), Methods/Participants, Related Findings) ii. Study 2 (Research question(s), Methods/Participants, Related Findings) iii. Study 3 (Research question(s), Methods/Participants, Related Findings)

c. Sub-theme – narrow but grouped findings related to the theme

i. Study 4 (Research question(s), Methods/Participants, Related Findings) ii. Study 5 (Research question(s), Methods/Participants, Related Findings) iii. Study 6 (Research question(s), Methods/Participants, Related Findings)

d. Etc., etc., etc. with other findings that fit Theme A; studies can be repeated if there are multiple findings that fit under more than one theme. However, no need to re-write methods/participants in detail (just enough to remind the reader about the study).

I. Theme B – follow a, b, c, and so on from above

I. Keep repeating with themes

I. Conclusion: An evaluation/critique of the existing literature. Write several paragraphs.

a. What are the contributions of this literature to the field? b. What are the overall strengths? c. What are the overall weaknesses? d. What might be missing? e. What are some next steps for research? The next steps should explicitly address how to “correct” for strengths,

weaknesses, and gaps.