At the bottom of the page, you can find sample research proposals, as well as a blank research proposal template for you to kick start your own!
The research proposal is due in week 4 of the program.
The research proposal is a 2-3 page document outlining your plan for the final research paper. It will help you articulate what you are researching, what your path is going forward, and what roadblocks you may face. A good research proposal will have material that you can develop and directly use in your final paper!
Use the following structure for your research proposal, and make sure to include all sections. If you think you have a compelling reason to follow a different structure, please check in with your mentor.
In clear language, write out the specific research question being addressed. This is ideally short and punchy - a North star for the rest of the research project.
What methods will you use to approach this research question? Will this require data collection, qualitative surveys, or literature review?
Remember that a research paper needs to participate in an academic conversation. What does the world already know about this topic, and what have other researchers already discovered? In this section, list the top 3-4 papers that have already been published on this topic, and write down a 2-sentence summary of each of them.
Given the existing research you have mentioned above, how does your research fit in? What does your research add to the existing knowledge? If you are doing a literature review, how are you planning to structure the material so that the reader derives additional insights?
What do you hope to do each week over the next 7 weeks, to successfully complete your research paper? Please create a table like the one below: