如何写研究计划范文.doc

如何写研究计划范文 How toWrite aResearch Proposal自然游侠xx-05-0509:06发表By PaulT.P.Wong,Ph.D.,C.Psych.(Research Director,Graduate Programin CounsellingPsychology.Trinity WesternUniversity Langley,BC,Canada).Most studentsand beginningresearchers do not fullyunderstand whata research proposal means,nor dothey understand its importance.To putit bluntly,ones research is onlyas a good asones proposal.An ill-conceived proposaldooms theproject evenif itsomehow getsthrough theThesis SupervisoryCommittee.A highquality proposal,on theother hand,not onlypromises suessfor theproject,but alsoimpresses yourThesis Committeeabout yourpotential asa researcher.A researchproposal isintended to convince othersthat youhave aworthwhile research project and that youhave thepetence and the work-plan toplete it.Generally,a researchproposal shouldcontain allthe keyelements involvedin the research processand includesufficient information for the readers toevaluate theproposed study.Regardless of your research area and the methodologyyou choose,all researchproposals mustaddress the following questions:What you plan toaomplish,why youwant todo itand how you aregoing todo it.The proposal should havesufficient informationtoconvince your readersthat youhave animportant researchidea,that youhave agood graspof therelevant literatureandthe major issues,andthat your methodologyis sound.The quality of your researchproposaldepends notonly on the qualityof your proposed project,but alsoon thequalityof your proposal writing.A goodresearchprojectmay runthe riskof rejectionsimply becausethe proposalis poorlywritten.Therefore,it paysif yourwriting iscoherent,clear andpelling.This paperfocuses onproposal writingrather thanon thedevelopment ofresearch ideas.Title:It shouldbe conciseand descriptive.For example,the phrase,“An investigationof.”could beomitted.Often titlesare statedin termsof afunctional relationship,because suchtitles clearly indicate theindependent and dependent variables.However,if possible,think ofan informativebut catchytitle.An effectivetitle notonly pricksthe readers interest,but alsopredisposes him/her favourablytowards theproposal.Abstract:It isa briefsummary ofapproximately300words.It shouldinclude the research question,the rationalefor thestudy,the hypothesis(if any),the methodandthemain findings.Descriptions of the methodmay includethe design,procedures,the sampleand anyinstruments thatwill beused.Introduction:The mainpurpose of the introductionis to provide thenecessary backgroundor contextfor your research problem.How to frame theresearch problemis perhapsthe biggestproblem inproposalwriting.If theresearch problemis framedin thecontext ofa general,rambling literature review,then theresearch questionmay appeartrivial anduninteresting.However,if thesame questionis placedin thecontext ofa veryfocused andcurrent researcharea,its significancewill beeevident.Unfortunately,there are no hardand fastrules on how toframe your research questionjust asthere isno prescriptiononhowto writean interestingand informativeopening paragraph.A lotdepends onyour creativity,your ability to thinkclearly andthe depthof yourunderstanding ofproblem areas.However,try toplace your research question in thecontext ofeither acurrent“hot”area,or anolder areathat remainsviable.Secondly,you need toprovide a briefbut appropriatehistorical backdrop.Thirdly,provide thecontemporary contextin whichyour proposed research questionoupies thecentral stage.Finally,identify“key players”and referto themost relevantand representativepublications.In short,try topaint your research questionin broadbrushes andat thesame timebring outits significance.The introductiontypically beginswith ageneral statementof theproblem area,with afocus ona specificresearch problem,to befollowed by the rationalor justificationfor theproposed study.The introductiongenerally coversthe followingelements:1.State theresearch problem,which isoften referredto asthe purposeof thestudy.2.Provide thecontext andset thestage for yourresearch questioninsuch away asto showits necessityand importance.3.Present therationale of your proposedstudy andclearlyindicatewhy itis worthdoing.4.Briefly describethemajorissues andsub-problems to be addressedby yourresearch.5.Identify thekey independentanddependentvariables of your experiment.Alternatively,specify thephenomenon youwant tostudy.6.State yourhypothesis ortheory,if any.For exploratoryor phenomenologicalresearch,you maynot haveany hypotheses.(Please donot confusethe hypothesiswith thestatistical nullhypothesis.)7.Set thedelimitation orboundaries ofyour proposed research inorder toprovideaclear focus.8.Provide definitionsof keyconcepts.(This isoptional.)Literature Review:Sometimes theliteraturereviewis incorporatedinto theintroduction section.However,most professorsprefer aseparate section,which allowsa morethorough reviewof theliterature.The literaturereview servesseveral importantfunctions:1.Ensures thatyou arenot“reinventing thewheel”.2.Gives creditsto thosewho havelaid thegroundwork foryourresearch.3.Demonstrates your knowledge oftheresearch problem.4.Demonstrates yourunderstanding ofthe theoreticaland researchissues relatedto yourresearch question.5.Shows yourability tocritically evaluaterelevant literatureinformation.6.Indicates yourabilitytointegrate andsynthesize theexisting literature.7.Provides newtheoretical insightsor developsa newmodel asthe conceptualframework foryourresearch.8.Convinces yourreader that your proposedresearch willmake asignificant andsubstantial contributionto theliterature(i.e.,resolving animportant theoreticalissue orfilling amajor gapin theliterature).Most studentsliterature reviewssuffer fromthe followingproblems:*Lacking organizationand structure*Lacking focus,unity andcoherence*Being repetitiveand verbose*Failing tocite influentialpapers*Failing to keep upwith recentdevelopments*Failing tocritically evaluatecited papers*Citing irrelevantor trivialreferences*Depending toomuch onsecondary sourcesYour scholarshipand researchpetence will be questionedif anyoftheabove appliesto yourproposal.There aredifferent waysto organizeyour literaturereview.Make useof subheadingsto bringorder andcoherence toyour review.For example,having establishedthe importanceofyourresearchareaanditscurrent stateof development,you maydevote severalsubsections onrelated issuesas:theoretical models,measuring instruments,cross-cultural andgender differences,etc.It isalso helpfultokeepin mindthatyouare tellinga storyto anaudience.Try totell itin astimulating andengaging manner.Do notbore them,because itmay leadto rejectionofyourworthy proposal.(Remember:Professors andscientists arehuman beingstoo.)Methods:The Method section isvery importantbecause ittells yourResearch Committeehowyouplan totackle yourresearchproblem.It willprovide yourwork planand describethe activitiesnecessary for the pletionofyourproject.The guidingprinciple forwriting theMethod sectionis thatit shouldcontain sufficientinformationforthereaderto determinewhether methodologyis sound.Some evenargue thatagoodproposalshouldcontain sufficientdetails for another qualifiedresearcher toimplement thestudy.You needto demonstrateyourknowledgeof alternativemethods andmake thecase thatyour approachis themost appropriateand mostvalid wayto addressyourresearch question.Please notethatyourresearch questionmay bebest answeredby qualitative research.However,since mostmainstream psychologistsare stillbiased againstqualitativeresearch,especially thephenomenological variety,you mayneedtojustify yourqualitative method.Furthermore,since therearenowell-established andwidely aeptedcanons in qualitative analysis,your methodsection needstobemore elaboratethan whatis requiredfor traditionalquantitative research.More importantly,the datacollection processinqualitativeresearch hasa fargreater impacton theresults aspared toquantitative research.That isanother reasonfor greatercare indescribing howyou willcollect andanalyze yourdata.(How towrite theMethodsectionfor qualitativeresearchisa topicforanotherpaper.)For quantitativestudies,the methodsection typicallyconsists ofthefollowingsections:1.Design-Is ita questionnairestudy ora laboratoryexperiment?What kind of designdo you choose?2.Subjects orparticipants-Who willtake partin yourstudy?What kindof samplingprocedure doyou use?3.Instruments-What kindof measuringinstruments orquestionnaires doyou use?Why doyouchoosethem?Are theyvalid andreliable?4.Procedure-How doyouplanto carryout yourstudy?What activitiesare involved?How longdoes ittake?Results:Obviously youdonothave resultsat theproposal stage.However,you needto havesome ideaabout whatkindofdata youwill becollecting,and whatstatistical procedureswillbeused inorder toanswer yourresearchquestionor testyou hypothesis.Discussion:It isimportant toconvinceyourreader ofthe potentialimpact ofyourproposedresearch.You needto municatea senseof enthusiasmand confi