Writing a Research Proposal:  
An Overview 

	A research proposal involves detailing the reason for and design of an empirical research study.  Over the past two weeks, we have been working on elements necessary for your group to write such a research proposal.  The purpose of this handout is to now help you to write the thing! For this proposal, suppose that you confront no constraints of money or time, although you must uphold all ethical standards. 

	A research proposal has two sections: An Introduction and a Methods section.  The Introduction includes the general question motivating the research, a literature review, and the hypothesis and the Methods adds the details of the sample you plan to use and the procedure you plan to follow, and the analysis you plan to use to test your hypothesis.  I am also going to ask you to write a third Evaluation section in which you critically evaluate your own proposal. Your group proposal will be evaluated in terms of the quality of the proposed research and your evaluation of it.  Writing and presentation quality matter, although for the time being don’t worry too much about APA style.  

Introduction

	Central to writing a successful research proposal is first and foremost explaining the general idea being tested. This general idea, which I asked each group to think of first, will form the basis of the introductory paragraph. Present this idea as a question or issue along with the reasons why someone should care about it. All this is in the first paragraph.  Be general and non-technical and remember the first paragraph is meant to be a hook — to get someone to read on because they are so interested in the question you are asking or the issue you are addressing.

	In the next paragraph(s) you should present your literature review.  Think of this section as an opportunity to discuss what is known about the broad question or issue presented in the first paragraph.  For the purposes of this proposal, your literature review will involve one paper. Present the findings of the paper you found. Typically, this means presenting evidence of the relation between the IV and DV. But your presentation of the results should also feature the operationalization of key terms used to describe the big question or issue.  Present enough detail about the study so it is generally understood by the reader but not so much detail so it takes much more than one paragraph. One rule is to present just enough detail of the paper so you can critique it. 

	The third step is to write your critique of the previous research. There may be many things wrong with the research you cite, but you don’t have to go over everything.  You should provide details about only problems which you plan to fix – which should be the most significant problem you find!  For example, you may criticize the validity of the measurement devices used in the studies or how extraneous variables have not been carefully enough controlled.  However, again, bring up only these criticisms you plan to fix in your research project.  Think of this section as your time to point out the limits in the literature in answering the question or issue you presented in the first paragraph.  

Finally, you are in a position to present your hypothesis.  You need to specify your IV and DV and the relation between them. Carefully connect this final section of the introduction to the preceding section by explicitly pointing out how you are planning to run a study fixing all the problems you say exist in the literature.  You may notice how the introductory section is like a funnel: A general idea becomes a specific hypothesis. Is a sign of a well written introduction!

Method
	
	The method of a research proposal includes information about the participants in the study, procedure of the design, and analytic techniques which will best test your hypothesis.  You may wish to make extensive use of subheadings to present the information in a well organized manner.  Subheading like Participants (we no longer use the word Subjects) and Procedure are a must.  Other subheading may include Tasks and Design.  I also want you to write a very brief Data Analysis subsection. 

Participants

	Explain how (and how many) participants will be selected for your study. Specify any special characteristics of participants (e.g., age, gender, etc.) or rules (random sampling) of participant selection that you plan to use.  Also note that all ethical precautions will be taken that should be, including having consent forms completed.

Tasks

	 If necessary explain what tasks (questionnaires etc.) will be given to subjects. Details of task should be presented, if available.   This section would be a good place to present any validity and reliability data available for your task (if it is appropriate), particularly if you have previously criticized others for having used flawed measuring devices.  If you are using the same procedure as the previous study, say so without copying the previous procedure.  But explain why you decided to use the same procedure.

Procedure

	Explain exactly what will be done with and said to the participants. Assume that all the details of the procedure are relevant.  Also spend some time justifying your procedure, explaining why the procedure has the features it does.  This will be particularly important if you have previously criticized others for having used a flawed procedure.

Data Analysis
	
	Briefly explain how the data you collect will be coded and analyzed. Also, discuss the kind of results that would confirm your hypothesis.  
 
Critical Evaluation

	By way of conclusion, try to critically evaluate your study.  Discuss what you take to be the strengths and weaknesses of your study.  Comment on the internal and external validity of the study, what was done to increase each, and whether there are remaining problems (e.g., extraneous variables).