Research Proposal
Many academic disciplines and programs ask students to write a research proposal before they launch a research project – a study or paper. Research proposals are also very common in
professional or corporate environments where supervisors may ask an employee to write up a project proposal before that project is launched.
Purpose
The purpose of this assignment, like any research proposal, is to ask permission to begin a project. For this assignment, you are asked to write a proposal for the research you will conduct on
your research question. This research question will continue to guide you through the rest of the semester, as we conduct primary and secondary research and ultimately argue persuasively for
a solution to the problem in the final Proposing a Solution essay. You will conduct your own primary research through field methods that may include surveys/questionnaires and interviews.
Note that field research is considered primary research, which means you are finding the data yourself. The field research you are conducting is the sort of research that scholars in social
sciences such as anthropology, linguistics, sociology,and political science often conduct. Still, field research is used in every field. Students from any academic field will find value in conducting
original primary research based on a subject matter question.
Layout and Formatting
Your research proposal is a formal, academic document with four major sections:
1. RESEARCH QUESTION
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
3. RESEARCH METHODS
4. REFERENCES
1: Research Question
In this section, pose your research question by explaining the problem to be investigated. You must show importance and significance of the problem and also pose the determinate research
questions to be investigated. I expect a research question that is clearly defined, appropriate in scope and appropriate for ENC1102 and feasible for investigation through your own field
research and secondary research.
Section 2: Literature Review
The literature review will survey the articles and texts that you have examined in your preliminary work. This should be 3-4 sources, cited in MLA style. A literature review should clearly and
concisely summarize the research you’ve conducted so far, showing your audience that you have some understanding of the academic conversation you’re proposing to enter.
Section 3: Research Methods
In this section, describe the primary and secondary research you plan to conduct. You may choose to conduct an interview, questionnaire or survey, or some combination of different field
methods for primary research. Your secondary research methods include what types of publications you will be looking for in your library and internet research; what academic fields, news
sources and discourse communities write about the questions you are researching. In your Methods section, you must:
• let readers know the purpose and scope of the field research you will be conducting
• ensure the data is being collected in a fair and ethical way, without leading questions or flawed methodology
• be very clear and detailed in the research you plan to conduct, so that readers can replicate your research
• discuss your plans for further secondary research
I expect a manageable research plan appropriate for the time period allotted. To do that, consider these questions: How are you planning to conduct the necessary research for this project?
How much time do you think you’ll have to dedicate to research? What research challenges do you anticipate? How will you meet those challenges? How will you handle your research notes, and
document your research?
• If you’re using a questionnaire, have you piloted it yet? What types of questions will you ask and how will you measure the results?
• Will you be looking at a random or focused sample of people? What is your method for finding people to survey? How large do you expect your sample size to be?
• How will you ensure that you’re following ethical standards?
If you’re conducting an interview:
• Who is the subject of your interview? Why are you interviewing this particular person?
• What questions do you plan to ask?
• What arrangements have you made to set up the interview?
• What materials will you be using to keep notes and document your interview? How will you organize these notes?
Section 4: References
Follow MLA guidelines to compose your works cited section, listing all cited sources in MLA format.
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