怎样写一篇好的research proposal.docx

怎样写一篇好的research proposal.docx

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怎样写一篇好的researchproposal

怎样写一篇好的researchproposal?

每个学术研究者必须经历的一道关卡，就是ResearchProposal的写作。

它大致对应中文里的“开题报告”、“选题报告”、“研究报告”，是一项研究开始之前的提纲、规划和陈述；既是为了帮助自己梳理文献、整理思路、廓清方向，也常常是写给相关他人的说明：

研究动机和意义何在？

可能有何成果？

为什么它值得你的资助/认可/支持/批准？

不知道是否可以说，好的proposal是研究成功的一半。

但实际而功利的说，如果你的proposal很烂，可能根本就不会有开始研究的机会。

Howtowritearesearchproposal?

能否写出漂亮的proposal，本质上取决于你对研究的思考深度和专业水准。

但形式也很重要。

英文的ResearchProposal自有一套“八股”。

程式化和结构化的好处就在于，可以让读者直接集中注意到最本质的内容上，而不是为形式分神。

对于非英语nativespeaker的我们，如何理解英文学术世界的规范或曰思维定势，也是写作proposal之前必备的背景知识。

下面这篇流传甚广的ResearchProposal写作指南，言简意赅，颇具启发，对我自己的写作有所帮助，也希望能给更多的学界同仁带来便利。

[点击这里，查看更多关于ResearchProposal以及GrantProposal、ProjectProposal写作的网上资源]

文章作者PaulT.P.Wong,Ph.D.,C.Psych.（ResearchDirector,GraduatePrograminCounsellingPsychology.TrinityWesternUniversityLangley,BC,Canada）.题为：

HowtoWriteaResearchProposal.全文转载如下：

Moststudentsandbeginningresearchersdonotfullyunderstandwhataresearchproposalmeans,nordotheyunderstanditsimportance.Toputitbluntly,one’sresearchisonlyasagoodasone’sproposal.Anill-conceivedproposaldoomstheprojectevenifitsomehowgetsthroughtheThesisSupervisoryCommittee.Ahighqualityproposal,ontheotherhand,notonlypromisessuccessfortheproject,butalsoimpressesyourThesisCommitteeaboutyourpotentialasaresearcher.

Aresearchproposalisintendedtoconvinceothersthatyouhaveaworthwhileresearchprojectandthatyouhavethecompetenceandthework-plantocompleteit.Generally,aresearchproposalshouldcontainallthekeyelementsinvolvedintheresearchprocessandincludesufficientinformationforthereaderstoevaluatetheproposedstudy.

Regardlessofyourresearchareaandthemethodologyyouchoose,allresearchproposalsmustaddressthefollowingquestions:

Whatyouplantoaccomplish,whyyouwanttodoitandhowyouaregoingtodoit.

Theproposalshouldhavesufficientinformationtoconvinceyourreadersthatyouhaveanimportantresearchidea,thatyouhaveagoodgraspoftherelevantliteratureandthemajorissues,andthatyourmethodologyissound.

Thequalityofyourresearchproposaldependsnotonlyonthequalityofyourproposedproject,butalsoonthequalityofyourproposalwriting.Agoodresearchprojectmayruntheriskofrejectionsimplybecausetheproposalispoorlywritten.Therefore,itpaysifyourwritingiscoherent,clearandcompelling.

Thispaperfocusesonproposalwritingratherthanonthedevelopmentofresearchideas.

Title:

Itshouldbeconciseanddescriptive.Forexample,thephrase,“Aninvestigationof...”couldbeomitted.Oftentitlesarestatedintermsofafunctionalrelationship,becausesuchtitlesclearlyindicatetheindependentanddependentvariables.However,ifpossible,thinkofaninformativebutcatchytitle.Aneffectivetitlenotonlypricksthereader’sinterest,butalsopredisposeshim/herfavourablytowardstheproposal.

Abstract:

Itisabriefsummaryofapproximately300words.Itshouldincludetheresearchquestion,therationaleforthestudy,thehypothesis（ifany）,themethodandthemainfindings.Descriptionsofthemethodmayincludethedesign,procedures,thesampleandanyinstrumentsthatwillbeused.

Introduction:

Themainpurposeoftheintroductionistoprovidethenecessarybackgroundorcontextforyourresearchproblem.Howtoframetheresearchproblemisperhapsthebiggestprobleminproposalwriting.

Iftheresearchproblemisframedinthecontextofageneral,ramblingliteraturereview,thentheresearchquestionmayappeartrivialanduninteresting.However,ifthesamequestionisplacedinthecontextofaveryfocusedandcurrentresearcharea,itssignificancewillbecomeevident.

Unfortunately,therearenohardandfastrulesonhowtoframeyourresearchquestionjustasthereisnoprescriptiononhowtowriteaninterestingandinformativeopeningparagraph.Alotdependsonyourcreativity,yourabilitytothinkclearlyandthedepthofyourunderstandingofproblemareas.

However,trytoplaceyourresearchquestioninthecontextofeitheracurrent“hot”area,oranolderareathatremainsviable.Secondly,youneedtoprovideabriefbutappropriatehistoricalbackdrop.Thirdly,providethecontemporarycontextinwhichyourproposedresearchquestionoccupiesthecentralstage.Finally,identify“keyplayers”andrefertothemostrelevantandrepresentativepublications.Inshort,trytopaintyourresearchquestioninbroadbrushesandatthesametimebringoutitssignificance.

Theintroductiontypicallybeginswithageneralstatementoftheproblemarea,withafocusonaspecificresearchproblem,tobefollowedbytherationalorjustificationfortheproposedstudy.Theintroductiongenerallycoversthefollowingelements:

1.Statetheresearchproblem,whichisoftenreferredtoasthepurposeofthestudy.

2.Providethecontextandsetthestageforyourresearchquestioninsuchawayastoshowitsnecessityandimportance.

3.Presenttherationaleofyourproposedstudyandclearlyindicatewhyitisworthdoing.

4.Brieflydescribethemajorissuesandsub-problemstobeaddressedbyyourresearch.

5.Identifythekeyindependentanddependentvariablesofyourexperiment.Alternatively,specifythephenomenonyouwanttostudy.

6.Stateyourhypothesisortheory,ifany.Forexploratoryorphenomenologicalresearch,youmaynothaveanyhypotheses.（Pleasedonotconfusethehypothesiswiththestatisticalnullhypothesis.）

7.Setthedelimitationorboundariesofyourproposedresearchinordertoprovideaclearfocus.

8.Providedefinitionsofkeyconcepts.（Thisisoptional.）

LiteratureReview:

Sometimestheliteraturereviewisincorporatedintotheintroductionsection.However,mostprofessorspreferaseparatesection,whichallowsamorethoroughreviewoftheliterature.

Theliteraturereviewservesseveralimportantfunctions:

1.Ensuresthatyouarenot“reinventingthewheel”.

2.Givescreditstothosewhohavelaidthegroundworkforyourresearch.

3.Demonstratesyourknowledgeoftheresearchproblem.

4.Demonstratesyourunderstandingofthetheoreticalandresearchissuesrelatedtoyourresearchquestion.

5.Showsyourabilitytocriticallyevaluaterelevantliteratureinformation.

6.Indicatesyourabilitytointegrateandsynthesizetheexistingliterature.

7.Providesnewtheoreticalinsightsordevelopsanewmodelastheconceptualframeworkforyourresearch.

8.Convincesyourreaderthatyourproposedresearchwillmakeasignificantandsubstantialcontributiontotheliterature（i.e.,resolvinganimportanttheoreticalissueorfillingamajorgapintheliterature）.

Moststudents’literaturereviewssufferfromthefollowingproblems:

*Lackingorganizationandstructure

*Lackingfocus,unityandcoherence

*Beingrepetitiveandverbose

*Failingtociteinfluentialpapers

*Failingtokeepupwithrecentdevelopments

*Failingtocriticallyevaluatecitedpapers

*Citingirrelevantortrivialreferences

*Dependingtoomuchonsecondarysources

Yourscholarshipandresearchcompetencewillbequestionedifanyoftheaboveappliestoyourproposal.

Therearedifferentwaystoorganizeyourliteraturereview.Makeuseofsubheadingstobringorderandcoherencetoyourreview.Forexample,havingestablishedtheimportanceofyourresearchareaanditscurrentstateofdevelopment,youmaydevoteseveralsubsectionsonrelatedissuesas:

theoreticalmodels,measuringinstruments,cross-culturalandgenderdifferences,etc.

Itisalsohelpfultokeepinmindthatyouaretellingastorytoanaudience.Trytotellitinastimulatingandengagingmanner.Donotborethem,becauseitmayleadtorejectionofyourworthyproposal.（Remember:

Professorsandscientistsarehumanbeingstoo.）

Methods:

TheMethodsectionisveryimportantbecauseittellsyourResearchCommitteehowyouplantotackleyourresearchproblem.Itwillprovideyourworkplananddescribetheactivitiesnecessaryforthecompletionofyourproject.

TheguidingprincipleforwritingtheMethodsectionisthatitshouldcontainsufficientinformationforthereadertodeterminewhethermethodologyissound.Someevenarguethatagoodproposalshouldcontainsufficientdetailsforanotherqualifiedresearchertoimplementthestudy.

Youneedtodemonstrateyourknowledgeofalternativemethodsandmakethecasethatyourapproachisthemostappropriateandmostvalidwaytoaddressyourresearchquestion.

Pleasenotethatyourresearchquestionmaybebestansweredbyqualitativeresearch.However,sincemostmainstreampsychologistsarestillbiasedagainstqualitativeresearch,especiallythephenomenologicalvariety,youmayneedtojustifyyourqualitativemethod.

Furthermore,sincetherearenowell-establishedandwidelyacceptedcanonsinqualitativeanalysis,yourmethodsectionneedstobemoreelaboratethanwhatisrequiredfortraditionalquantitativeresearch.Moreimportantly,thedatacollectionprocessinqualitativeresearchhasafargreaterimpactontheresultsascomparedtoquantitativeresearch.Thatisanotherreasonforgreatercareindescribinghowyouwillcollectandanalyzeyourdata.（HowtowritetheMethodsectionforqualitativeresearchisatopicforanotherpaper.）

Forquantitativestudies,themethodsectiontypicallyconsistsofthefollowingsections:

1.Design-Isitaquestionnairestudyoralaboratoryexperiment?

Whatkindofdesigndoyouchoose?

2.Subjectsorparticipants-Whowilltakepartinyourstudy?

Whatkindofsamplingproceduredoyouuse?

3.Instruments-Whatkindofmeasuringinstrumentsorquestionnairesdoyouuse?

Whydoyouchoosethem?

Aretheyvalidandreliable?

4.Procedure-Howdoyouplantocarryoutyourstudy?

Whatactivitiesareinvolved?