How to Develop an Effective Research Proposal

This is the fourth creative challenge that undergraduate students complete for Research Methods in Professional and Technical Communication. In the first challenge students learned about the vocabulary, concepts, epistemological foundations, and research methods of five major methodological communities: scholars/theorists; designers/creatives, quantitative empiricists; qualitative empiricists and mixed-methods researchers. Subsequently, in the second and third creative challenge, students learned about the discourse conventions, ethical and information literacy perspectives, rhetorical appeals, and methods these methodological communities use to collect, interpret , and present research studies. They also engaged in rhetorical analysis, textual analysis, and citation analysis of recently published articles in the PTC discipline. And then they speculated about the epistemological assumptions, ethical practices, rhetorical appeals, and discourse convention that characterize the work of professional and technical communicators. Now, for this challenge, students step beyond analyzing and critiquing studies: they develop and compose a proposal to research a question that interests them.

a young college student works intently on a research proposal. She stares intently at a draft of a paper on a computer.

Research proposals are acts of persuasion. You write a proposal because you want to solve a problem -- such as developing a new app to help people or to advance human knowledge. Before bosses, clients, universities or funding agencies are willing to fund your research, you need to prove it's significant, that you have the skills and qualifications necessary to complete the promised work, and that you're using the right research methods -- methods that are grounded in the ethical practices of a discipline.

Table of Contents

The Creative Challenge

For this project, you may work individually or collaboratively.

You may develop a topic to research by considering the articles published in PTC journals that you and your peers reviewed for the second and third creative challenges. The research question may be based on your critiques or their peers’ critiques of studies published in PTC journals. Alternatively, it may be based on gaps in scholarly conversations that interests of the PTC community. Or, if you wish, you may research a personal topic. For instance, if they want to write a historical novel, tiy may engage in archival or historiographical research methods. Or, if you want to attend graduate, law, medical, or professional school, you can research how to accomplish that objective.

Any research question is acceptable so long as it is rooted in scholarly conversations and the appropriate methods given your topic, question, and audience.

Step #1 – Report on the Scholarly Conversations You Found Most Interesting

Read through your research notes and your peers’ research notes to determine whether any of the studies you or your peers have reviewed have inspired you to learn more about a topic. Perhaps those other studies identified gaps in reasoning, faulty interpretations (in your view), or conversations that intrigued you. Or, perhaps you may may want to engage in a replication study/follow-up study.

In 250 words,

Title your reflection by naming it after the research question that interests you. For example, if you are interested in agency and AI, you could title your reflection “Does AI Diminish Human Agency?”
Provide the bibliographical information of the study you found most interesting
Explain why the topic interests you.

Submission & Commenting Guidelines

Post your reflection to the course sandbox by creating a link to it in gdocs

Step #2 — Write a Document Planner

Develop a document planner for the study you’d liked to conduct. Note that this study can be different from the one outlined above. Use this heuristic to develop your document planner:

Who is your audience?
- a journal? an audience of peers interested in your topic? a manager or client?
What is your research question?
- For whom is this question significant? Kairotic? Why?
What studies do you anticipate modeling your study after?
- Please provide the bibliographical information for the study (or studies) and, if possible, share it as a hyperlink or .pdf
What genre of discourse will your report your final results in (if you choose that option)?
- a peer-reviewed journal
- Magazine feature/work of creative nonfiction
- White paper
- Case study
- Technical report
- Industry blog post series
- Short story or novel chapter
What are your methods and why do they make sense given (1) your audience? and (2) question?
What precautions do you need to take in order to ensure you uphold the ethical standards of your audience?
What are your plans to come up to speed on scholarly conversations related to your research question?

Submission & Commenting Guidelines

Post your document planner to the course sandbox by creating a link to it in gdocs
Upload the url to Canvas for your reflection

Step #2 — Write a Research Proposal

Craft a compelling research proposal of 750-1000 words using the template and formatting guidelines below. Employ a professional writing style and place the word count at the top of your proposal. Include the proposal title in the left header margin.

Rhetorical Strategies

Narrative Approach: Craft your proposal as an engaging story rather than a question/response format.
Persuasiveness: Funded proposals should read like short stories, being both persuasive and engaging. Be sure to highlight the significance of your proposal.
Urgency: Demonstrate the timeliness and importance of your research (kairotic appeal).
Problem-Solving: Clearly articulate how your research addresses real-world issues or fills a gap in research.
Methodological Alignment: Ensure your methods align with the expectations of your audience (e.g., a client, a teacher, a funding agency).
Rhetorical Appeals: Incorporate appeals to logos, ethos, and pathos throughout your proposal.

Scope

Given the 4-week timeframe for this project, it’s crucial to limit the scope of your proposal to what can realistically be achieved in this period. Focus on a specific, well-defined research question that can be addressed effectively within these constraints. This question could address a real-world problem or, if you’re pursuing scholarship, a gap in existing research. This limitation will help you create a more focused, achievable, and persuasive proposal.

Methodology

Give careful thought to your research methods. Identify the methods you plan to use and provide a clear rationale for why these methods are appropriate given your audience, topic, and research goals. Consider the following approaches:

Rhetorical Moves	Question it answers	Notes
Title		Readers favor short titles
Abstract	What’s the gist of the proposal?	Provide a short-form version of your proposal. Have, on average, one sentence for each section of the proposal. Begin with your purpose/research questions and significance.
New Page	New Page	New Page
Purpose	What is the purpose of the proposed research?	In a sentence or two, define your research question and methods
Significance	Why is this proposal important	Clarify the significance of the question. How does this research contribute to the status of knowledge on a particular topic, the pertinent scholarly conversations: Whom will the research benefit? Let your readers know why this is a kairotic moment — to you and others. Be concrete and specific.
Organizational Structure	What content is included in the document?	In a sentence or two tell your readers how the proposal is organized. Or, provide a table of contents
New Page	New Page	New Page
Introduction	What problem(s) does the proposed research project address?	Problem statement: In one to three sentences, provide a clear, concise statement of problem your proposal addresses. (You may repeat language from above but rephrase it. Objectives: Concisely define the objectives of your proposed work. What research do you propose to perform? Background: Explain how, why, and for whom the problem exists. What circumstances led to its discovery, relationships or events that affect the problem/solutions, etc. Benefits: Describe potential benefits expected from the research in concrete, specific language. Scope: Describe what you are going to research and what you are not going to research Organization: Provide a roadmap to your proposal. Key terms: Define any specialized terms you will use in the report
Literature Review	How have other researchers tackled this problem? What is the status of the scholarly conversation on the topic?	As appropriate — as an intro section, spread throughout, or when engaged in interpretation — cite relevant literature.
Visual Representations		Provide visual representations to facilitate scanning.At a minimum, provide a visualization of the problem space you are researching
Methods	What work will be done? How will it be done?	Explain the methods you will employ. Enhance ethos by naming the methods you’ll use, such as scholarly, empirical, creative. Be specific and detailed. For example, if you’re doing interviews, say specifically whom you’ll be interviewing, why you are interviewing them, and what you want to find out.) Convince the reader that you know what you’re doing by presenting clear, specific plans with a rationale for each. Organize by tasks to show your audience what research you will doing.
Schedule + Visualization	How long will each proposed research step take?	Include a short summary/overview of the task schedule here. Make note of deadlines for major milestones. Provide a Gantt Chart for proposed Textual and Empirical Research
Qualifications	How are you qualified to lead this project?	If you are working collaboratively, provide biographical profiles of the members of your team who will be doing the work. Otherwise, provide your bio.
Budget	How much will it cost to do this research and deliver our final product?	This is the budget for doing this research project (not a budget for implementing the solution.) For this project, provide one clear sentence describing your budget requirements. In the real world, this section can be very lengthy and detailed, but for our purposes, the budget may just address your time.
Bibliography	Provide references for cited work.	At a minimum, provide six references.

Your choice of method(s) should align with your research question, the nature of the data you need to collect, and the expectations of your audience or field of study. Be prepared to justify your methodological choices in your proposal.

Step #5 – Final Reflection

Write a 100 to 200 word summary of your use of AI to complete this creative challenge

Final Deliverables

Place a gdoc link to your report at the course sandbox regarding the scholarly conversations you found most interesting
Upload to Canvas the link to your gdoc report on interesting scholarly conversations
Place a gdoc link to your document planner to the course sandbox
Upload to Canvas the gdoc link to your document planner
Place a gdoc link to your annotated bibliography to the course sandbox
Upload to Canvas the gdoc link to your annotated bibliography
Place a gdoc link to your proposal at the course sandbox
Upload to Canvas the gdoc link to your proposal.