RESEARCH PROPOSAL

(SUGGESTED FORMAT)
Nguyen Ngoc Nhat Minh, Faculty of English, UFLS-UD
Objectives

▪ Get informed of elements of a research proposal

▪ Understand a research proposal
What is a research proposal ?

▪ A research proposal serves as a guide for your research plan,

helping you get organized and feel confident in the path forward
you choose to take.
▪ The length of a research proposal can vary quite a bit, depending
on the field and the degree you are doing research on. But 4-7
pages should be appropriate length for a student research
proposal.
▪ Briefly, your research proposal can be considered a shorter version
of your research report, only without the Results, Discussions and
Conclusion.
 Suggested format for Research Proposal
(English version)
I. Introduction III. Methodology
1. Rationale / Lý do, vấn đề nghiên cứu (including Statement of a. Research design
research problem) b. Participants (including description
2. Research aims & objectives and/or Research questions and selection procedures/sampling)
3. [Optional ] Hypothesis c. Data collection plan
4. [Optional ] Definition of terms (materials/instruments used?
5. [Optional ] Scope of the study collection procedure? pilot study ?)
II. Brief review of relevant literature d. Data analysis plan (methods?
Style 1: (traditional) instruments?)
1. Theoretical background e. Reliability and validity of methods
2. Previous studies and/or instruments (can also be integrated
Style 2: (divided into sections with specific contents) in Data collection)
* [Strongly recommended] LR should explain the relation of your topic IV. [Optional] Expected results
and research aims to significant literature and recent (and current) V. Possible limitations
research in your field. VI. Timeline
* LR will lay the basis for the discussions of your research methods. VII. References
* You will continue to expand and update the literature as your
VIII. [Optional] Appendices
research progresses and as you locate new publications.
 1. Rationale
(including Statement of research
problem)
CHAPTER 1: 2. Research aims & objectives
and/or Research questions
INTRODUCTION 3. [Optional ] Hypothesis
4. [Optional ] Definition of terms
5. [Optional ] Scope of the study
Rationale
▪ Rationale is an account of Why your topic is important to be studied.
Therefore, this part should involve information regarding:
a) How much is already known about the topic
b) What is missing from the current knowledge about the topic
c) What new insights your research will contribute to the field
d) Why you believe this research is worth doing
▪ Rationale can be written separately, or written together with the
Statement of research problem to form Introduction of the research.
▪ TASK: Read the Rationale of Proposal 1 and identify which part
provides the information regarding (a), (b), (c), or (d) presented
above
Aim & Objectives
▪ Aim is the largest purpose of our research which more specific
objectives are trying to clarify.
▪ Example:
This study explores the challenges that Chinese students encounter in
the formation of English plurals. To this end, the authors (a) examine
linguistic features of Chinese and English that may affect plural
formation in English, (b) highlight specific areas of challenge for
Chinese learners, and (c) present an array of recommended
instructional practices.
(Jing, Tindall, & Nisbet, 2006)
 Research question(s)
▪ Normally, the number of research questions closely follows that of research
objectives.
→ Some research just states Objectives and skip Research Questions, but this
is not recommended since it is not clear enough.
▪ TASK: Write the research questions based on the following research objectives.
Research objectives:
➢ (a) examine linguistic features of Chinese and English that may affect plural
formation
in English,
➢ (b) highlight specific areas of challenge for Chinese learners, and
➢ (c) present an array of recommended instructional practices.
Research questions:
1) …. ?
 Research question(s)
▪ TASK: Write the research questions based on the following research objectives.
Research objectives:
➢ (a) examine linguistic features of Chinese and English that may affect plural
formation in English,
➢ (b) highlight specific areas of challenge for Chinese learners, and
➢ (c) present an array of recommended instructional practices.
Research questions:
1) What are some/the linguistic features of …. ?
2) What are some specific areas of challenge….?
3) What are some recommended instructional practices? / What are some
recommended activities for teaching and learning English plural formation for Chinese
learners ? / What can be done to improve ..... ?
Hypothesis (optional)
Definition of terms (optional)

▪ In this section, we can define

the terms that are important to
understand our research topic.
▪ The terms to define are
usually not very popular at
the time we are carrying out
the research, or they have
some unfamiliar meanings /
aspects that we wish to draw
others’ attention to.
Scope of study (optional)

▪ This section presents the scope of our study regarding the research object and
participants.
▪ Ví dụ:
This study covers only the area of integrated writing section of the TOEFL iBT
test. The study will be conducted among Vietnamese junior and senior students of
English language major at the University of Foreign Language Studies,
University of Danang. This is because junior and senior students have already
completed the advanced writing course (equivalent to the C1 level, CEFR), so
their writing skills are more appropriate with the skill level required for
undertaking a proficiency test and therefore would add more value to the
research validity.
 Style 1 (traditional)
2. a.Theoretical background
b. Prior studies/research
LITERATURE REVIEW
Style 2 (divided into sections with
specific contents)
Literature review
▪ The term 'Literature’ here has nothing to do with art, but rather
refers to texts and information.
▪ This section is to review and discuss published information in a
particular subject area.
▪ Purposes of LR:
➢ To provide background information needed to understand the
study (more detailed than the Rationale of Introduction)
➢ To justify your research questions and methods
➢ To establish the research gap (that your research is expected to
fill in)
Literature review

▪ Literature review can be presented / written in 2 styles:

➢ Style 1: (traditional)
a.Theoretical background
b.Previous studies
➢ Style 2: (divided into sections with specific contents)
 1. Research design
2. Participants
(including description and selection
procedures/sampling)
3. 3. Data collection plan
(materials/instruments used? collection procedure?
RESEARCH pilot study ?)
METHODOLOGY 4. Data analysis plan
(methods? instruments?)
5. Reliability and validity of methods
(can also be integrated in Data collection)
Research methodology
▪ This part is the heart of the research proposal. The activities should be
described with as much detail as possible.
▪ Some common terms of this section:
❖ Sampling
❖ Instrument: a tool (a questionnaire, a physical tool/machine, software)
used in the process of collecting data and analysing data.
❖ Data collection: methods ? Procedure ? Timeline ?
❖ Pilot study: a mini test of an instrument / a procedure on a small group of
subjects or even on a subject in order to check its reliability and validity and
then modify if necessary.
❖ Data analysis: instrument? Procedure ? Coding (numbering, naming, color-
coding, categorising..) ?
Participants
▪ This section provides information on the participants of our research,
such as their characteristics, selecting criteria, and/or selecting process.
▪ Example:
Participants
The participants are from two English skill classes of first-year Vietnamese
learners at the university. As the purpose of using Aron et al.’s (1997)
closeness-generating questions is to help improve interpersonal closeness,
it is necessary to ensure that the participants do not know each other
well, and thus, they should be first-year students. The two classes will be
randomly assigned as the experimental group and the non-experimental
group.
Data collection plan
▪ This section should be described with as much detail as possible. It usually
includes following parts:
➢Materials: any materials that will be used to collect information/data
(textbook lesson, a test, a questionnaire… (sometimes this part is written
as a separate part from Data collection)
➢Instruments: the tools/device/software that will be used to collect data
(this part can be integrated in Materials)
➢Collection procedure: steps/process of collecting data.
➢Pilot study/pilot test: is a small-scale preliminary study (phép thử)
conducted to evaluate feasibility, duration, cost, challenges to make
necessary modifications before a full-scale research project is conducted.
Data analysis plan

▪ This section should also be described with as much detail as

possible. It usually includes following parts:
➢ Instruments: the tools/device/software that will be used to
analyze data
➢ Analysis procedure: steps/process of analyzing data to answer the
research question(s).
Reliability and validity (of research methods)
LIMITATIONS
▪ A limitation = potential weakness of the study.
▪ This part can be written at the end of the proposal (just before References) or at the
end of the Methodology section
▪ In the research report (once the research is completed), limitations should be
followed by HOW to possibly deal with them / recommendations for future
research.
Examples:
Another problem worth mentioning is the participants are allowed to skip several
questions they do not feel comfortable enough to answer. ... . As a result,
individuals’ scores might suffer, thereby affecting the research internal validity. It
would be useful if future research could examine this factor to verify whether
participants’ choice of omitting certain items they feel uncomfortable with may
have an impact on their attitude towards collaborative work.
TIMELINE
to schedule stages of your research to make sure you are still on track
▪ List ALL publications cited in your proposal.
▪ Use the style recommended by the college or your supervisor (APA,
Chicago..).

N.N. Nhat Minh, Faculty of Eng lish, UFLS-UD, 2022

APPENDICES (optional)

▪ This section include the materials or information that are often too
long to be placed in the main content of the proposal. E.g: images,
test, questionnaire, marking rubric, interview questions, etc.

N.N. Nhat Minh, Faculty of Eng lish, UFLS-UD, 2022

I. Introduction III. Methodology
1. Rationale / Lý do, vấn đề nghiên cứu (including Statement of a. Research design
research problem) b. Participants (including description and
2. Research aims & objectives and/or Research questions selection procedures/sampling)
3. [Optional ] Hypothesis c. Data collection
4. [Optional ] Definition of terms (materials/instruments used? collection
5. [Optional ] Scope of the study procedure? pilot study ?)
II. Full review of relevant literature d. Data analysis (methods?
Style 1: (traditional) instruments?)
1. Theoretical background e. Reliability and validity of methods and/or
2. Previous studies instruments (can also be integrated in Data
Style 2: (divided into sections with specific contents) collection)
* [Strongly recommended] LR should explain the relation of your IV. Results (and Discussions)
topic and research aims to significant literature and recent (and V. Possible limitations
current) research in your field. VI. Conclusion
* LR will lay the basis for the discussions of your research methods.
VII. References
* You will continue to expand and update the literature as your
VIII. [Optional] Appendices
research progresses and as you locate new publications.