英国大学教授告诉你怎样写proposal

proposal

，本质上取决于 你对研究的思考深度和专业水准。但形式也很重

要。英文的

Re search Proposal

自有一套

“

< br>八股

”

。程式化和结构化的好处就在于，可以让读

者直接集中注意到最本质的内容上，

而不是为形式分神。

对于非英语

native speaker

的我们，

如何理解英文学术世界的规范或曰思维定势，也是写作

prop osal

之前必备的背景知识。下

面这篇流传甚广的

写作指南，

言简意赅，

颇具启发，

对我自己的写作有

所帮助，也希望能给更多的学界同仁带来便利。

文章作者

Paul

T.

P

.

Wong

,

Ph.D.,

.

(Research

Director,

Graduate

Program

in

Counselling Psychology. Trinity Western University Langley, BC, Canada).

题为：

How to

Write a Research Proposal

.

全文转载如下：

Most

students

and

beginning

researchers

do

not

fully

understand

what

a

research

proposal means, nor do they understand its importance. To put it bluntly, one

’

s research is

only as a good as one

’

s proposal. An ill- conceived proposal dooms the project even if it

somehow gets through the Thesis Supervisory Committee. A high quality proposal, on the

other

hand, not

only

promises

success

for

the project,

but also

impresses

your Thesis

Committee about your potential as a researcher.

A research proposal is intended to convince others that you have a worthwhile research

project and that you have the competence and the work-plan to complete it. Generally, a

research proposal should contain all the key elements involved in the research process

and include sufficient information for the readers to evaluate the proposed study.

Regardless

of

your

research

area

and

the

methodology

you

choose,

all

research

proposals must address the following questions: What you plan to accomplish, why you

want to do it and how you are going to do it.

The proposal should have sufficient information to convince your readers that you have an

important

research

idea,

that

you

have a

good

grasp

of

the

relevant

literature

and the

major issues, and that your methodology is sound.

The quality of your research proposal depends not only on the quality of your proposed

project, but also on the quality of your proposal writing. A good research project

may run

the risk of rejection simply because the proposal is poorly written. Therefore, it pays if your

writing is coherent, clear and compelling.

This paper focuses on proposal writing rather than on the development of research ideas.

Title:

It should be concise and descriptive. For example, the phrase,

“

An investigation of . . .

”

could be omitted. Often titles are stated in terms of a functional relationship, because such

titles clearly indicate the independent and dependent variables. However, if possib

le, think

of an informative but catchy title. An effective title not only pricks the reader

’

s interest, but

also predisposes him/her favourably towards the proposal.

Abstract:

It is a brief summary of approximately 300 words. It should include the research

question,

the

rationale

for

the

study

,

the

hypothesis

(if

any),

the

method

and

the

main

findings.

Descriptions

of

the

method

may

include

the

design,

procedures,

the

sample

and

any

instruments that will be used.

Introduction:

The main purpose of the introduction is to provide the necessary background or context

for

your

research problem.

How

to

frame

the

research

problem

is

perhaps the

biggest

problem in proposal writing.

If the research problem is framed in the context of a general, rambling literature rev

iew

,

then

the

research

question

may

appear

trivial

and

uninteresting.

However,

if

the

same

question

is

placed

in

the

context

of

a

very

focused

and

current

research

area,

its

significance will become evident.

Unfortunately, there are no hard and fast rules

on how to frame your research question

just

as

there

is

no

prescription

on how

to

write

an

interesting

and

informative

opening

paragraph. A lot depends on your creativity, your ability to think clearly and the depth of

your understanding of problem areas.

However, try to place your research question in the context of either a current

“

hot

”

area,

or an older area that remains viable. Secondly, you need to provide a brief but appropriate

historical

backdrop.

Thirdly,

provide

the

contemporary

context

in

which

your

proposed

research question occupies the central stage. Finally, identify

“

key players

”

and refer to

the

most

relevant

and

representative

publications.

In

short,

try

to

paint

your

research

question in broad brushes and at the same time bring out its significance.

The

introduction

typically

begins

with

a

general

statement

of

the

problem

area,

with

a

focus on a specific research problem, to be followed by the rational or justification for the

proposed study. The introduction generally covers the following elements:

1. State the research problem, which is often referred to as the purpose of the study.

2. Provide the context and set the stage for your research question in such a way as to

show its necessity and importance.

3. Present the rationale of your proposed study and clearly indicate why it is worth doing.

4. Briefly describe the major issues and sub-problems to be addressed by your research.

5. Identify the key independent and dependent variables of your experiment. Alternatively,

specify the phenomenon you want to study.

6. State your hypothesis or theory, if any. For exploratory or phenomenological research,

you

may

not

have

any

hypotheses.

(Please

do

not

confuse

the

hypothesis

with

the

statistical null hypothesis.)

7. Set the delimitation or boundaries of your proposed research in order to provide a clear

focus.

8. Provide definitions of key concepts. (This is optional.)

Literature Review:

Sometimes

the

literature

review

is

incorporated

into

the

introduction

section.

However,

most professors prefer a separate section, which allows a more thorough review of the

literature.

The literature review serves several important functions:

1. Ensures that you are not

“

reinventing the wheel

”

.

2. Gives credits to those who have laid the groundwork for your research.

3. Demonstrates your knowledge of the research problem.

4. Demonstrates your understanding of the theoretical and research issues related to your

research question.

5. Shows your ability to critically evaluate relevant literature information.

6. Indicates your ability to integrate and synthesize the existing literature.

7.

Provides

new

theoretical

insights

or

develops

a

new

model

as

the

conceptual

framework for your research.

8.

Convinces

your

reader

that

your

proposed

research

will

make

a

significant

an

d

substantial

contribution to

the

literature

(i.e.,

resolving

an

important

theoretical

issue or

filling a major gap in the literature).

Most students

’

literature reviews suffer from the following problems:

* Lacking organization and structure

* Lacking focus, unity and coherence

* Being repetitive and verbose

* Failing to cite influential papers

* Failing to keep up with recent developments

* Failing to critically evaluate cited papers

* Citing irrelevant or trivial references

* Depending too much on secondary sources

Your scholarship and research competence will be questioned if any of the above applies

to your proposal.

There are different ways to organize your literature review

. Make use of subheadings to

bring

order

and

coherence

to

your

review

.

For

example,

having

established

the

importance of your research area and its current state of development, you may devote

several

subsections

on

related

issues

as:

theoretical

models,

measuring

instruments,

cross-cultural and gender differences, etc.

It is also helpful to keep in mind that you are telling a story to an audience. Try to tell it in a

stimulating and engaging manner. Do not bore them, because it may lead to rejection of

your worthy proposal. (Remember: Professors and scientists are human beings too.)

Methods:

The Method section is very important because it tells your Research Committee how you

plan

to

tackle

your

research

problem.

It

will

provide

your

work

plan

and

describe

the

activities necessary for the completion of your project.

The

guiding

principle

for

writing

the

Method

section

is

that

it

should

contain

sufficient

information for the reader to determine whether methodology is sound. Some even argue

that a good proposal should contain sufficient details for another qualified researcher to

implement the study.

You need to demonstrate your knowledge of alternative methods and make the case that

your

approach

is

the

most

appropriate

and

most

valid

way

to

address

your

research

question.

Please note that your research question may be best answered by qualitative research.

However,

since

most

mainstream

psychologists

are

still

biased

against

qualitative

research, especially the phenomenological variety, you may need to justify your qualitative

method.

Furthermore,

since

there

are

no

well-established

and

widely

accepted

canons

in

qualitative

analysis,

your

method

section

needs

to

be

more

elaborate

than

what

is

required for traditional quantitative research. More importantly, the data collection process

in qualitative research has a far greater impact on the results as compared to quantitative

research. That is another reason for greater care in describing how you will collect and

analyze your data. (How to write the Method section for qualitative research is a topic for

another paper.)