Preparing the Research Proposal
Introduction: Summarize in no more than one page the topic of your research, its importance and limitations.
For the purpose of our meeting write down:
1. Topic
2. Importance
3. What you will not study
Literature Review: Summarize what others have said about your topic and identify the limitations of prior analysis
For the purpose of our meeting write down:
1. Main point(s) of what others said. The challenge of this part is to look and "thematic" in other words you should not summarize once again what the article/books/data you examined said; rather, you should look at the point of view the literature you consulted look at the problem.
For example, write something such as "the relation between divorce and child custody has been analyzed from a sociological point of view but not a legal one. Specifically, Jeane Doe looked at how increasing rate of divorce are related to higher number of high schools dropouts.
However, the relation between child custody laws and increasing rate of divorce has not been analyzed by current literature."
Research Question: Clearly state what your research question is.
For the purpose of our meeting write down:
One sentence clearly stating your research question. A good research question should not be more than two sentences, preferably one.
Variables: Clearly state which variables you will be analyzing and clearly state which one is the independent and which one is the dependent variable.
For the purpose of our meeting write down:
1. Dependent variable(s) and short definition
2. Independent variable and short definition
Methodology: You must clearly state the methodology you will be using. For example, are you conducting interviews, administering a questionnaire, analyzing data or doing secondary research, library research?
For the purpose of our meeting write down:
1. How you plan to conduct your research in terms of the steps that you will be taking. Be very specific as per:
a. The type of research you are planning to do (library, interviews, questionnaire, data analysis, comparative)
b. How you are planning to do it (comparative analysis, case study)
c. If your methodology is inductive or deductive.
Limitations: Clearly state the limitations of your study.
For the purpose of our meeting write down:
1. What you will not be analyzing
2. Any methodology limitation of your study; for example, if you think that the research will benefit by extended time in collecting data
Conclusion: Summarize the topic of your research and its importance.
For the purpose of our meeting you do not need to write anything as per the conclusion as we will discuss it together.