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PROPOSAL
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
The date
III. A BASIC STRUCTURE FOR A RESEARCH
PROPOSAL
2. Abstract (1 paragraph - 1 page)
The abstract should summarize:
The importance of the proposed research
Your methods
Expected results
If you know the general region in which you will be working but
will need to select specific research sites once you arrive,
describe as best you can how those sites will be selected. What
criteria will you use? What resources will be available (i.e.
satellite images, maps, historical records, the prior work of other
researchers)? Site selection is a critically important part of any
research project. Be sure that you realistically address what
factors you will or will not be able to control across study sites (if
you will be working in more than one), and what factors at each
site will facilitate or confound your research. Feel free to include
maps or other information to support this section.
III. A BASIC STRUCTURE FOR A RESEARCH
PROPOSAL
7. Methodology (2 - 5 pages)
The Methodology section should describe what you plan to do,
how you plan to do it, and what equipment and techniques you
plan to use both to gather and later analyze information. The
methodology section should be very specific, containing all of
the details you are able to provide on how you will conduct
specific research activities. It may be helpful to break your
methodology section down into the following subsections:
Research design
Sampling plan
Measurement
Data Collection
Data Analysis
III. A BASIC STRUCTURE FOR A RESEARCH
PROPOSAL
9. Bibliography
Include a complete bibliography for all works cited. If you
expect your proposal to be reviewed by a scientist familiar
with your field the bibliography can be an important part of
your proposal – reviewers often examine the bibliography to
see if you’ve included important works. For some topics there
may be one or two seminal works that reviewers may expect
to see included.
More commonly, reviewers will simply check to see that it is
thorough, and that the works seem to be a well-balanced
representation of the relevant literature.
III. A BASIC STRUCTURE FOR A RESEARCH
PROPOSAL
10. Budget
Describe all expenses associated with your research,
even if the total need is greater than the maximum award
given by a particular funding agency. List all matching
support, including both financial and in-kind support, and
list other pending applications and the amounts sought.
Your budget must also support the objectives and methods
you’ve proposed. Reviewers check the budget to see that
it is reasonable given the work proposed.
III. A BASIC STRUCTURE FOR A RESEARCH
PROPOSAL
11. Work plan or timeline
Your work plan or timeline should explain when you will
accomplish each task (as described in your methods) and
how long each will take. A chart, with a list of tasks in the left
hand column (perhaps grouped by the objective they
support), and a list of months or seasons across the top (as
appropriate) can be an effective means of displaying this
information.
Objective 1
Task 1 • • •
Task 2 • • • •
III. A BASIC STRUCTURE FOR A RESEARCH
PROPOSAL