Research Proposal Support
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The research proposal statement should be written in collaboration with the faculty member you identify as your Faculty Research Mentor. The following template is the basic outline for what applicants should include in their research proposal statements, though it is not intended to be prescriptive, because research proposals vary based on discipline. Your Faculty Research Mentor should specialize in the field in which you are conducting research. Your research proposal statement should be no more than seven (7) pages, not including works cited.
Paragraph 1: Abstract
Summarize your project so that someone reading only this paragraph would know what you propose to research and why it is important.
a. Purpose Statement (1 Sentence)
“The purpose of my proposed graduate research is to [verb, synonym of ‘research’] the relationships between [noun, abstract concept 1] and [noun, abstract concept 2] through a focus on [noun phrase, concrete text/phenomenon/object of study].”
b. Background and Context (1 Sentence)
Offer more specific parameters and additional context about your concrete text/phenomenon/object of study like geographic location(s), time period(s), historical figure(s), author(s), text(s), or theories.
c. Contribution Statement (2 Sentences)
Articulate briefly what other scholars have done in proximity to your subject and what you will do differently.
“Other scholars have [existing knowledge in relevant fields], but the following question remains: [central research question of your proposed project]. I aim to [what you will be pursuing/studying that’s different + what kind of study will you undertake].”
Paragraph 2: Literature Review
Connect what is already known to what you seek to know.
a. Literature Review (5-8 Sentences)
Mention three (3) academic fields or disciplines with which your proposed research engages.
For each field, one at a time, indicate:
- What are key arguments or findings in that field?
- What does that field handle particularly well?
- What does that field not get at or address effectively?
Cite particular scholars only if their work is formative to the field or foundational for your research.
Identify what you gain from bringing those three fields into conversation with one another.
Articulate what is still lacking when you do that, and how your research will seek to fill the gaps.
b. Research Questions (1-2 Sentences)
Indicate how your project aims to fill those gaps, by detailing additional research questions.
These may be sub-questions that further specify the research question in your first paragraph.
Or they may be distinct from, but related to, that primary research question.
Paragraph 3: Methodology
Explain how you will go about answering your questions, and justify your choices.
a. Methodology (2-4 Sentences)
What are the primary sources or empirical data that you will need, to answer your questions?
What are the best methods to employ to collect and analyze those sources or data?
For each method, describe how the method is used to collect and analyze information.
And explain how that method will help you answer your question(s) and why that method is best.
b. Researcher Preparation (1-2 Sentences)
Indicate what preparation you have that makes you well-suited to conduct research with those methods.
Include any relevant research methods you’ve learned, languages you speak, connections you have, etc.
c. Project Needs (1-2 Sentences)
Explain what you now need to know in order to employ the methods described above.
Identify what other methods, theories, or skills you still need to learn to conduct your research successfully.
Enumerate what sources (texts, data, etc.) you will need to use.
Propose how you might access those, including who can help you identify or find them.
Paragraph 4: Significance
Close out by reminding readers of why this project would be important to do.
a. Motive and Contribution (2-4 Sentences)
Summarize how the project you are proposing and what you hope to find is significant in all three ways below:
- To you,
- To the fields you listed in paragraph 2, and
- To people outside of those fields.
This is a conclusion that brings you back around to the “argument” that you ended your first paragraph on.