What is a research proposal? 1)intended to convince others that -- you have a worthwhile 【1】______ -- you have the 【2】______ a

I think as seniors, you must be often required by your instructors to do some literary research on this topic or that. But do you fully understand what a research proposal means or how important it is? To put it bluntly, one’s research is only as good as one’s proposal. An ill-conceived proposal dooms the project even if it somehow gets through the Thesis Supervisory Committee. A high quality proposal, on the other hand, not only promises success for the project, but also impresses your Thesis Committee about your potential as a researcher. But how are we going to write one? In today’s lecture, I’ll try to answer these questions.
  A research proposal is intended to convince others that you have a worthwhile research project and that you have the competence and the work-plan to complete it. Generally, a research proposal should contain all the key elements involved in the research process and include sufficient information for the readers to evaluate the proposed study. Therefore, a research proposal is usually structured in the same way as a research paper, i.e. title, abstract, introduction, literature review, methods, results and discussion.
  The first thing you need to consider in writing a proposal is the Title, which should be concise and descriptive. For example, the phrase, "an investigation of..." could be omitted. Often titles are stated in terms of a functional relationship, because such titles clearly indicate the independent and dependent variables. However, if possible, think of an informative but catchy title. An effective title not only pricks the reader’s interest, but also predisposes him/her favorably towards the proposal.
  Then here comes the Abstract, which is often a brief summary of approximately 300 words. It should include the research question, the rationale for the study, the hypothesis ( if any), the method and the main findings.  Descriptions of the method may include the design, procedures, the sample and any instruments that will be used.
  As for the Introduction section, the main purpose of it is to provide the necessary background or context for your research problem. How to frame the research problem is perhaps the biggest problem in proposal writing. Firstly, try to place your research question in the context of either a current "hot" area, or an older area that remains viable. Secondly, you need to provide a brief but appropriate historical backdrop. Thirdly, provide the contemporary context in which your proposed research question occupies the central stage. Finally, identify "key players" and refer to the most relevant and representative publications. In short, try to paint your research question in broad brushes and at the same time bring out its significance. The introduction typically begins with a general statement of the problem area, with a focus on a specific research problem, to be followed by the rational or justification for the proposed study.
  After the Introduction section, there is usually the Literature Review. Sometimes the Literature Review is incorporated into the Introduction section, but most professors prefer a separate section, which allows a more thorough review of the literature. There are different ways to organize your Literature Review. Make use of subheadings to bring order and coherence to your review. For example, having established the importance of your research area and its current state of development, you may devote several subsections on related issues as: theoretical models, measuring instruments, cross-cultural and gender differences, etc.
  The Method section of the proposal is very important because it tells your Research Committee how you plan to tackle your research problem. It will provide your work plan and describe the activities necessary for the completion of your project.
  The guiding principle for writing the Method section is that it should contain sufficient information for the reader to determine whether methodology is sound. Some even argue that a good proposal should contain sufficient details for another qualified researcher to implement the study.
  You need to demonstrate your knowledge of alternative methods and make the case that your approach is the most appropriate and most valid way to address your research question.
  Please note that your research question may be best answered by qualitative research. However, since most mainstream psychologists are still biased against qualitative research, especially the phenomenological variety, you may need to justify your qualitative method.
  Furthermore, since there are no well-established and widely accepted canons in qualitative analysis, your method section needs to be more elaborate than what is required for traditional quantitative research. More importantly, the data collection process in qualitative research has a far greater impact on the results as compared to quantitative research. That is another reason for greater care in describing how you will collect and analyze your data.
  As for the Results section, obviously you do not have results at the proposal stage. However, you need to have some idea about what kind of data you will be collecting, and what statistical procedures will be used in order to answer your research question or test your hypothesis.
  At last, it is important to convince your reader of the potential impact of your proposed research, which is the main purpose of the Discussion section.  You need to communicate a sense of enthusiasm and confidence without exaggerating the merits of your proposal. That is why you also need to mention the limitations and weaknesses of the proposed research, which may be justified by time and financial constraints as well as by the early developmental stage of your research area.
  To sum up, in today’s lecture, we’ve looked at issue of proposal writing. Remember, the quality of your research proposal depends not only on the quality of your proposed project, but also on the quality of your proposal writing. A good research project may run the risk of rejection simply because the proposal is poorly written. Therefore, it pays if your writing is coherent, clear and compelling.