Research proposal

Last time we spoke about creating an interest inventory as a helpful method in choosing a topic. Today we are going to take the ideas from last time and generate a research question, this should be a question that summaries what you intend to write about, influencing the way you read your sources and how you approach your first draft.

The way we can do this is through creating a research proposal. This will outline your research plan and should include the follow:

1.     Inquiry/research question

2.     There are two main purposes of the research question, namely:

Explore - what are additional questions that most interest you and might help you discover the answer to your research question?

Argue - what theory or hypothesis about your topic are you testing? What is your tentative main claim or thesis?

3.     What, if any, prior beliefs, assumptions, preconceptions, ideas, or prejudices do you bring to this project? What personal experiences may have shaped the way you feel? Before you began developing working knowledge on the topic, what were you thinking about it? What are you think about it now?

Keeping to my previous example of depression, I will demonstrate how to create a research proposal.

Research Proposal

1.     What is the relationship between depression and the death of a loved one (grief)?

2.     Explore:

·      What are the effects of grief?

·      What is the percentage of adolescence that suffers with depression?

·      What is depression?

·      Is depression curable?

·      How do people deal with grief?

·      Who suffers with depression?

·      What is the medical science behind depression?

            Argue:

I am testing whether or not grief, particularly the death of a loved one, has a direct influence on causing depression in all people, with a partial focus on the effect of adolescences verses adults.

3.     Personally this is a topic of great interest to me because I have dealt with death of a loved one before and the effects that came along with it, namely depression. The toll it took on my family was significant and being able to do a research paper on this might help bring insight and clarity of grief and depression, in return, hopefully allowing me to help others who are going through similar problems. My views on depression, before I learnt it first hand, were that only the weak-minded suffered with it and it was a sign of weakness. However, now I know this is a wrong perception as depression is a serious issue that can affect anyone, weak or strong, rich or poor, old or young.

Research proposals are a great way to question yourself and help steer your paper in a successful and meaningful direction. I hope that my example brought you insight on how to create you own research proposal.

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