Show that you understand the current state of research on your topic.
The length of a research proposal can vary quite a bit. A bachelor’s or master’s thesis proposal can be just a few pages, while proposals for PhD dissertations or research funding are usually much longer and more detailed. Your supervisor can help you determine the best length for your work.
One trick to get started is to think of your proposal’s structure as a shorter version of your thesis or dissertation , only without the results , conclusion and discussion sections.
Download our research proposal template
Writing a research proposal can be quite challenging, but a good starting point could be to look at some examples. We’ve included a few for you below.
Like your dissertation or thesis, the proposal will usually have a title page that includes:
The first part of your proposal is the initial pitch for your project. Make sure it succinctly explains what you want to do and why.
Your introduction should:
To guide your introduction , include information about:
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As you get started, it’s important to demonstrate that you’re familiar with the most important research on your topic. A strong literature review shows your reader that your project has a solid foundation in existing knowledge or theory. It also shows that you’re not simply repeating what other people have already done or said, but rather using existing research as a jumping-off point for your own.
In this section, share exactly how your project will contribute to ongoing conversations in the field by:
Following the literature review, restate your main objectives . This brings the focus back to your own project. Next, your research design or methodology section will describe your overall approach, and the practical steps you will take to answer your research questions.
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To finish your proposal on a strong note, explore the potential implications of your research for your field. Emphasize again what you aim to contribute and why it matters.
For example, your results might have implications for:
Last but not least, your research proposal must include correct citations for every source you have used, compiled in a reference list . To create citations quickly and easily, you can use our free APA citation generator .
Some institutions or funders require a detailed timeline of the project, asking you to forecast what you will do at each stage and how long it may take. While not always required, be sure to check the requirements of your project.
Here’s an example schedule to help you get started. You can also download a template at the button below.
Download our research schedule template
Research phase | Objectives | Deadline |
---|---|---|
1. Background research and literature review | 20th January | |
2. Research design planning | and data analysis methods | 13th February |
3. Data collection and preparation | with selected participants and code interviews | 24th March |
4. Data analysis | of interview transcripts | 22nd April |
5. Writing | 17th June | |
6. Revision | final work | 28th July |
If you are applying for research funding, chances are you will have to include a detailed budget. This shows your estimates of how much each part of your project will cost.
Make sure to check what type of costs the funding body will agree to cover. For each item, include:
To determine your budget, think about:
If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.
Methodology
Statistics
Research bias
Once you’ve decided on your research objectives , you need to explain them in your paper, at the end of your problem statement .
Keep your research objectives clear and concise, and use appropriate verbs to accurately convey the work that you will carry out for each one.
I will compare …
A research aim is a broad statement indicating the general purpose of your research project. It should appear in your introduction at the end of your problem statement , before your research objectives.
Research objectives are more specific than your research aim. They indicate the specific ways you’ll address the overarching aim.
A PhD, which is short for philosophiae doctor (doctor of philosophy in Latin), is the highest university degree that can be obtained. In a PhD, students spend 3–5 years writing a dissertation , which aims to make a significant, original contribution to current knowledge.
A PhD is intended to prepare students for a career as a researcher, whether that be in academia, the public sector, or the private sector.
A master’s is a 1- or 2-year graduate degree that can prepare you for a variety of careers.
All master’s involve graduate-level coursework. Some are research-intensive and intend to prepare students for further study in a PhD; these usually require their students to write a master’s thesis . Others focus on professional training for a specific career.
Critical thinking refers to the ability to evaluate information and to be aware of biases or assumptions, including your own.
Like information literacy , it involves evaluating arguments, identifying and solving problems in an objective and systematic way, and clearly communicating your ideas.
The best way to remember the difference between a research plan and a research proposal is that they have fundamentally different audiences. A research plan helps you, the researcher, organize your thoughts. On the other hand, a dissertation proposal or research proposal aims to convince others (e.g., a supervisor, a funding body, or a dissertation committee) that your research topic is relevant and worthy of being conducted.
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Nur 401: introduction to nursing research, creating a research plan.
The following sample research plans illustrate how a Research Plan can help you develop and keep track of search terms that are useful in finding information sources on your topic. (For a blank form, and instructions on how to use it, see the Creating a Research Plan box below.)
Why use a research plan.
A Research Plan can help you strategize about what are the most successful search terms to use in library databases to find books, articles, government documents, and more for your papers/assignments.
What usually happens when you do this is that one of two equally bad options, either
To get an idea of how this form might look, see the Sample Research Plan in the box to the left below,
To get started creating your own plan, see the Creating a Research Plan box directly below, which contains a link to a blank Research Plan form for you to print off and fill in as needed, along with instructions on how to use this tool to help you in your research. .
Make your search for resources more productive by using the following blank Research Plan worksheet:
Tip : For ideas for synonyms/related terms, write down in the Synonyms/Related Terms column any subject headings from a helpful book or article citation record to use as potential search terms.
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Department of Anaesthesiology, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Writing the proposal of a research work in the present era is a challenging task due to the constantly evolving trends in the qualitative research design and the need to incorporate medical advances into the methodology. The proposal is a detailed plan or ‘blueprint’ for the intended study, and once it is completed, the research project should flow smoothly. Even today, many of the proposals at post-graduate evaluation committees and application proposals for funding are substandard. A search was conducted with keywords such as research proposal, writing proposal and qualitative using search engines, namely, PubMed and Google Scholar, and an attempt has been made to provide broad guidelines for writing a scientifically appropriate research proposal.
A clean, well-thought-out proposal forms the backbone for the research itself and hence becomes the most important step in the process of conduct of research.[ 1 ] The objective of preparing a research proposal would be to obtain approvals from various committees including ethics committee [details under ‘Research methodology II’ section [ Table 1 ] in this issue of IJA) and to request for grants. However, there are very few universally accepted guidelines for preparation of a good quality research proposal. A search was performed with keywords such as research proposal, funding, qualitative and writing proposals using search engines, namely, PubMed, Google Scholar and Scopus.
Five ‘C’s while writing a literature review
A proposal needs to show how your work fits into what is already known about the topic and what new paradigm will it add to the literature, while specifying the question that the research will answer, establishing its significance, and the implications of the answer.[ 2 ] The proposal must be capable of convincing the evaluation committee about the credibility, achievability, practicality and reproducibility (repeatability) of the research design.[ 3 ] Four categories of audience with different expectations may be present in the evaluation committees, namely academic colleagues, policy-makers, practitioners and lay audiences who evaluate the research proposal. Tips for preparation of a good research proposal include; ‘be practical, be persuasive, make broader links, aim for crystal clarity and plan before you write’. A researcher must be balanced, with a realistic understanding of what can be achieved. Being persuasive implies that researcher must be able to convince other researchers, research funding agencies, educational institutions and supervisors that the research is worth getting approval. The aim of the researcher should be clearly stated in simple language that describes the research in a way that non-specialists can comprehend, without use of jargons. The proposal must not only demonstrate that it is based on an intelligent understanding of the existing literature but also show that the writer has thought about the time needed to conduct each stage of the research.[ 4 , 5 ]
The contents or formats of a research proposal vary depending on the requirements of evaluation committee and are generally provided by the evaluation committee or the institution.
In general, a cover page should contain the (i) title of the proposal, (ii) name and affiliation of the researcher (principal investigator) and co-investigators, (iii) institutional affiliation (degree of the investigator and the name of institution where the study will be performed), details of contact such as phone numbers, E-mail id's and lines for signatures of investigators.
The main contents of the proposal may be presented under the following headings: (i) introduction, (ii) review of literature, (iii) aims and objectives, (iv) research design and methods, (v) ethical considerations, (vi) budget, (vii) appendices and (viii) citations.[ 4 ]
It is also sometimes termed as ‘need for study’ or ‘abstract’. Introduction is an initial pitch of an idea; it sets the scene and puts the research in context.[ 6 ] The introduction should be designed to create interest in the reader about the topic and proposal. It should convey to the reader, what you want to do, what necessitates the study and your passion for the topic.[ 7 ] Some questions that can be used to assess the significance of the study are: (i) Who has an interest in the domain of inquiry? (ii) What do we already know about the topic? (iii) What has not been answered adequately in previous research and practice? (iv) How will this research add to knowledge, practice and policy in this area? Some of the evaluation committees, expect the last two questions, elaborated under a separate heading of ‘background and significance’.[ 8 ] Introduction should also contain the hypothesis behind the research design. If hypothesis cannot be constructed, the line of inquiry to be used in the research must be indicated.
It refers to all sources of scientific evidence pertaining to the topic in interest. In the present era of digitalisation and easy accessibility, there is an enormous amount of relevant data available, making it a challenge for the researcher to include all of it in his/her review.[ 9 ] It is crucial to structure this section intelligently so that the reader can grasp the argument related to your study in relation to that of other researchers, while still demonstrating to your readers that your work is original and innovative. It is preferable to summarise each article in a paragraph, highlighting the details pertinent to the topic of interest. The progression of review can move from the more general to the more focused studies, or a historical progression can be used to develop the story, without making it exhaustive.[ 1 ] Literature should include supporting data, disagreements and controversies. Five ‘C's may be kept in mind while writing a literature review[ 10 ] [ Table 1 ].
The research purpose (or goal or aim) gives a broad indication of what the researcher wishes to achieve in the research. The hypothesis to be tested can be the aim of the study. The objectives related to parameters or tools used to achieve the aim are generally categorised as primary and secondary objectives.
The objective here is to convince the reader that the overall research design and methods of analysis will correctly address the research problem and to impress upon the reader that the methodology/sources chosen are appropriate for the specific topic. It should be unmistakably tied to the specific aims of your study.
In this section, the methods and sources used to conduct the research must be discussed, including specific references to sites, databases, key texts or authors that will be indispensable to the project. There should be specific mention about the methodological approaches to be undertaken to gather information, about the techniques to be used to analyse it and about the tests of external validity to which researcher is committed.[ 10 , 11 ]
The components of this section include the following:[ 4 ]
Population refers to all the elements (individuals, objects or substances) that meet certain criteria for inclusion in a given universe,[ 12 ] and sample refers to subset of population which meets the inclusion criteria for enrolment into the study. The inclusion and exclusion criteria should be clearly defined. The details pertaining to sample size are discussed in the article “Sample size calculation: Basic priniciples” published in this issue of IJA.
The researcher is expected to give a detailed account of the methodology adopted for collection of data, which include the time frame required for the research. The methodology should be tested for its validity and ensure that, in pursuit of achieving the results, the participant's life is not jeopardised. The author should anticipate and acknowledge any potential barrier and pitfall in carrying out the research design and explain plans to address them, thereby avoiding lacunae due to incomplete data collection. If the researcher is planning to acquire data through interviews or questionnaires, copy of the questions used for the same should be attached as an annexure with the proposal.
This addresses the strength of the research with respect to its neutrality, consistency and applicability. Rigor must be reflected throughout the proposal.
It refers to the robustness of a research method against bias. The author should convey the measures taken to avoid bias, viz. blinding and randomisation, in an elaborate way, thus ensuring that the result obtained from the adopted method is purely as chance and not influenced by other confounding variables.
Consistency considers whether the findings will be consistent if the inquiry was replicated with the same participants and in a similar context. This can be achieved by adopting standard and universally accepted methods and scales.
Applicability refers to the degree to which the findings can be applied to different contexts and groups.[ 13 ]
This section deals with the reduction and reconstruction of data and its analysis including sample size calculation. The researcher is expected to explain the steps adopted for coding and sorting the data obtained. Various tests to be used to analyse the data for its robustness, significance should be clearly stated. Author should also mention the names of statistician and suitable software which will be used in due course of data analysis and their contribution to data analysis and sample calculation.[ 9 ]
Medical research introduces special moral and ethical problems that are not usually encountered by other researchers during data collection, and hence, the researcher should take special care in ensuring that ethical standards are met. Ethical considerations refer to the protection of the participants' rights (right to self-determination, right to privacy, right to autonomy and confidentiality, right to fair treatment and right to protection from discomfort and harm), obtaining informed consent and the institutional review process (ethical approval). The researcher needs to provide adequate information on each of these aspects.
Informed consent needs to be obtained from the participants (details discussed in further chapters), as well as the research site and the relevant authorities.
When the researcher prepares a research budget, he/she should predict and cost all aspects of the research and then add an additional allowance for unpredictable disasters, delays and rising costs. All items in the budget should be justified.
Appendices are documents that support the proposal and application. The appendices will be specific for each proposal but documents that are usually required include informed consent form, supporting documents, questionnaires, measurement tools and patient information of the study in layman's language.
As with any scholarly research paper, you must cite the sources you used in composing your proposal. Although the words ‘references and bibliography’ are different, they are used interchangeably. It refers to all references cited in the research proposal.
Successful, qualitative research proposals should communicate the researcher's knowledge of the field and method and convey the emergent nature of the qualitative design. The proposal should follow a discernible logic from the introduction to presentation of the appendices.
Conflicts of interest.
There are no conflicts of interest.
An research proposal examples on nursing is a prosaic composition of a small volume and free composition, expressing individual impressions and thoughts on a specific occasion or issue and obviously not claiming a definitive or exhaustive interpretation of the subject.
Some signs of nursing research proposal:
The goal of an research proposal in nursing is to develop such skills as independent creative thinking and writing out your own thoughts.
Writing an research proposal is extremely useful, because it allows the author to learn to clearly and correctly formulate thoughts, structure information, use basic concepts, highlight causal relationships, illustrate experience with relevant examples, and substantiate his conclusions.
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Current Nursing research proposal topics. Nursing research proposal topics can vary greatly, depending on the type of research you're looking to conduct. Some common topics include: The effects of sleep deprivation on nurses. The use of technology in nursing care. The effect of patient communication skills on nurses' outcomes.
A nursing research proposal is a document that outlines the planned research project in the field of nursing. It provides details about the research question, study design, methodology, sample size determination, and ethical considerations.
Methods: The research method chosen and best suited to this study is descriptive qualitative research. The proposed method for data collection is open-ended semi-structured interviews which will be audio taped to maintain accurate accounts of information given. Sample: The researcher intends to use 6-8 registered nurses who fit the outlined
The proposal should be divided into sections that are easy to read and follow. Use headings to organize your ideas. For example, you might have one heading for "Background" followed by "Objective," "Scope of Research," and so on. This will help readers easily see what the proposal is about and where it is going.
By structuring your proposal in a clear and organized manner, you make it easier for readers to follow your thought process and understand the value of your proposal. 4. Write with Clarity and Precision. When writing your nursing proposal, strive for clarity and precision. Use clear and concise language to convey your ideas effectively.
Pediatric Nursing Research Topics. Assess the impact of parental involvement in pediatric asthma treatment adherence. Explore challenges related to chronic illness management in pediatric patients. Review the role of play therapy and other therapeutic interventions that alleviate anxiety among hospitalized children.
Clearly define your objectives and research questions. Outline your methodology, including data collection methods, sampling strategy, and statistical analysis plan. Include information on how to analyze data once it is collected. The proposal should clearly and concisely summarize your research goals, objectives, methods, and expected outcomes.
A nursing research proposal should include a clear research question, a review of relevant literature, a detailed methodology, potential implications for nursing practice, and a list of references. 3. What is the purpose of a nursing research proposal? The purpose of a nursing research proposal is to outline a potential research study and gain ...
Dear aspiring nurse researchers, Welcome to your comprehensive guide on nursing research proposals! Whether you're a nursing student taking your first steps into the world of research or a seasoned nurse looking to contribute to the field, this guide is designed to spark your curiosity, expand your horizons, and help you develop a research proposal that could make a real difference in ...
THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL What is a research proposal? A research proposal is intended to convince others that you ... Examples - the research topic is "the History of Mental Illness in Natal in the period up to 1945": A Successful Literature Review "This study will draw on diverse approaches to the history of psychiatry, and to the origins of ...
Nursing Research Proposals. What is a Research Proposal? The goal of a research proposal is to present and justify the need to study a research problem and to present the practical ways in which the proposed study should be conducted. The design elements and procedures for conducting the research are governed by standards within the predominant ...
Nursing Research Topic Ideas. Nursing Research Topic Ideas are as follows: The effectiveness of telemedicine in providing nursing care. The relationship between nurse staffing levels and patient outcomes. The impact of nurse-led interventions on medication adherence in chronic disease management.
A research protocol clearly and plainly provides an overview of a proposed study in order to satisfy an organization's guidelines for protecting the safety of human subjects who might be impacted by the work. Research protocols are typically submitted to Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) within universities and research centers.
Below is an example of a dissertation proposal structure tailored specifically for a nursing research topic: Title: Harmonizing Care: Assessing the Impact of Music Therapy on Depression Among Elderly Residents in Nursing Homes. Introduction. The prevalence of mental health issues among elderly patients in nursing homes is a growing concern.
To write a good nursing research proposal, it is important to check the nursing research proposal sample. Nursing Research Paper Format For Masters Students. It is important to write the nursing research proposal by following the format in a given sequential order. Students can check the format and follow it accordingly. Title page: Covers ...
A guide to writing grant proposals for nursing research. A guide to writing grant proposals for nursing research Res Nurs Health. 2021 Aug;44(4):596-597. doi: 10.1002/nur.22137. Epub 2021 May 11. Authors Hyochol Ahn 1 , Elizabeth Reifsnider 2 Affiliations 1 Cizik ...
Download the 2016 application. All materials must be formatted using APA format. I. Quantitative Research Proposal 1. Title and Abstract A 200-word abstract are to accompany the proposal. The abstract should include the study aim, significance, the population and sample description and a statement of the design and analysis.
This comprehensive research proposal provides a detailed roadmap for investigating the impact of simulation-based learning on critical thinking skills in nursing education. It addresses a significant gap in current knowledge and has the potential to influence educational practices in nursing programs worldwide.
In the concepts section of your DNP project proposal, you will define and operationalize the key concepts relevant to your project. Identifying the main concepts in your project. - These may include terms related to your population, intervention, outcome measures, or theoretical framework. For each concept, provide a clear definition that is ...
Research proposal examples. Writing a research proposal can be quite challenging, but a good starting point could be to look at some examples. We've included a few for you below. Example research proposal #1: "A Conceptual Framework for Scheduling Constraint Management".
NUR 401: Introduction to Nursing Research. A guide to assist nursing students to demonstrate the utilization of the research processes to build evidence-based practice in nursing. ... To get an idea of how this form might look, see the Sample Research Plan in the box to the left below,
A proposal needs to show how your work fits into what is already known about the topic and what new paradigm will it add to the literature, while specifying the question that the research will answer, establishing its significance, and the implications of the answer. [2] The proposal must be capable of convincing the evaluation committee about ...
In our online database you can find free Nursing Research Proposal work for every taste: thesis, essays, dissertations, assignments, research and term papers etc. - easy and free. Choose any document below and bravely use it as an example to make your own work perfect! Samples List. An research proposal examples on nursing is a prosaic ...