MEMORANDUM
To: UWP 104A Students
From: Dr. Andy Jones, Instructor
Date: October 27, 2010
Subject: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH PROJECT—RESEARCH PROPOSAL
For this assignment, your team will write a 2-4 page proposal that requests approval to research a real-world problem and to present your research results in the form of a formal report. The “real-world” problem should be a refined version of the problem that you defined in your team problem statement.
Assignment Overview
For this assignment, you are writing a proposal to conduct research, not to implement a solution that you already think is possible. A research proposal requests approval (or the “go ahead”) from a specific audience to conduct research that will point to the most effective solution to the problem. Proposals to do research to address a problem with hopes to find solutions to it are different from proposals to implement a solution, which, in most cases, would be the end product of a research period. This is why I have identified specific sections in the “Content” section of this assignment that your proposal should address. Please also see the section “Grant and Research Proposals” in the entry “proposals” in the Handbook of Technical Writing.
Proposing to implement a solution before one has conducted research to find what the best solution is makes little sense. Thus, think of this proposal as a plan to explore the problem you have identified and to convince your audience that you have defined the problem clearly and thoroughly and know the ways of addressing it effectively.
To effectively address your research problem, your work in both primary research (first-hand collection of your own data) and secondary research (your review and critical analysis of others’ published work in the area of interest) is essential. Please see the “Research Requirements” section of the Collaborative Research Project assignment prompt.
Audience
Please address your proposal to a decision maker who might be in a position to support and/or fund your research (the person who would approve or reject your proposal). However, assume that your proposal will have a multiple audience and will be shown to other decision makers. You will need to provide background and context for readers not familiar with the problem you wish to address. Remember, though, that it will be your team’s choice whether to actually submit your proposal to your target reader. Some teams in the past have actually received funding for their research; this is always an exciting experience because these students have a real reader for their report who is in a position to act on the report’s final recommendations.
As I read your proposals, I’ll assume the role of a supervisor who is new to the organization (e.g., local business, campus department) at which your target reader works and/or is a member. I will be part of the multiple audiences who must also review your proposal. Don’t address your proposal to me, but do realize that I would be reading your proposal with only slight knowledge of the topic and yet with a strong interest in the organization’s overall stability, health, and welfare. Also, realize that my opinion would have a big impact on the decision maker’s thinking.
Content
Include the following sections in your research proposal. You may use the headings listed here for each of your sections, or you may come up with more specific, descriptive headings.
1. Introduction—Provide a “hook” to capture the reader’s interest and explain the reasons for your proposal. Be sure to tell the reader what he or she can expect as a result of the research and use persuasive appeals (e.g., focusing on benefits to the reader) right away.
2. Background—Identify the problem, convince the reader that the problem exists and convince the reader that you understand the problem completely. Also, convince the reader that your proposed research plan will work best to solve or address it effectively.
To make this section convincing, you need to closely analyze the audience of your proposal. What does the reader already know? What does the reader want to know? What does reader need to know? This is also the section where you need to point out how both the target audience (the decision maker to whom you have addressed your proposal) and beneficiary audience (those who will directly benefit from a solution to the problem you have identified) will stand to benefit from your proposed research of the problem (e.g., better reputation, more $, more customers, less work in the future, fewer accidents, etc.)
3. Proposed Research Plan—Discuss your plan for conducting research on the problem in detail. First, focus on your research objectives—what you hope to determine about the problem and the situation or environment surrounding the problem. Then, focus on your research methods—how you plan to achieve your objectives.
- Objectives. The objectives are goals you have set for the research project (what you are proposing to do about the problem and why and what you expect to ultimately result from doing the proposed work). Objectives generally contain verbs such as “to determine,” “to investigate,” “to measure,” “to find out,” and “to calculate.”
- Methods. The methods specifically state how you will achieve your research objectives. They address how you plan “to determine” or “to calculate” something—through a questionnaire, interviews, analysis of published studies, and so on. In this section, discuss your plan for gathering the information you need to sufficiently analyze the problem and ultimately recommend what should be done about it. To do this, you will need to discuss in great detail the kinds of primary and secondary research that you plan conduct and why.
4. Work Schedule—Outline which specific research tasks need to be completed and when for the proposed research plan to work out. When drafting your schedule, set realistic deadlines. At a minimum, your team should address the following in your schedule: completion of research objectives, completion of analysis of research (analyzing data and drawing conclusions), completion of report drafting, designing, revising, and editing tasks.
5. Qualifications—Describe your team’s collective and individual credentials and expertise; mention relevant experience, education, or even specific courses that qualify you to conduct the proposed research and address the problem.
6. Budget—Provide a list of projected costs for your research project. Costs for research often include the following: printing, gas, reservation of conference rooms, postage, technology use, labor (time spent conducting research), and/or any occurred fees. Even if you do not plan to actually submit your proposal to your target audience or your target audience may not be in a position to pay for your research, it is always good practice to include a budget section in a proposal.
NOTE: Please do not confuse the budget of your proposal to research the problem with a budget to implement a solution to the problem. Those are different kinds of budgets; the latter—the costs of implementing a solution—needs to be included in your final report, which will be based on your research.
7. Benefits & Authorization—Remind the reader of the benefits that will result from your team’s research on the problem and, ultimately, from your formal report. Also, remind the reader of the benefits that the audience affected by the problem (the beneficiary audience) will see as a result of your research and any action taken based on your ultimate recommendations. Close with a request for approval and motivate your reader to action.
Format
Please use the either memo format or letter format for your proposal. If you are addressing your proposal to an external audience, use letter format; if you are addressing your proposal to an internal audience, use memo format. The proposal should be single-spaced (double-spaced between paragraphs) and use headings, lists, and other graphical elements when appropriate. The sample proposal on pages 415-417 of the Handbook of Technical Writing is good example of a short proposal in memo format.
Your team proposal will be as long as it needs to be to thoroughly and convincingly address each major section. Remember, your audience and purpose in writing the research proposal should determine whether or not your proposal has effectively accomplished its goal—to gain approval and support for your proposed research project. I suspect that a well-written, persuasive, and thorough proposal will be 2-4 pages in length.
Due Dates
Wednesday, November 3—Rough draft of proposal
- Post to SmartSite using the Assignments tool by 8:00 a.m.
- Bring four print copies to your scheduled team conference in our classroom at classtime
Monday, November 8—Final draft of proposal
Please submit the following in a manila folder at the beginning of class (one copy per team):
- Your final proposal
- One copy of the draft that you brought to your team conference
Grading
Your research proposal is worth 10 percent of your final grade. Your team grade will reflect the quality of writing and research, not the time and effort expanded, and will be based on how you would be expected to write in a business context. See the specific grading rubric for the research proposal below.
Research Proposal
Content
/80
- Introduction/Background
- Objective/Methods
- Support Sections
- Completeness
- Clarity/Conciseness
- Accuracy
- Persuasiveness
- Soundness of Plan
- Tone/Style/Goodwill Effect
Format
/10
- Logical Organization
- Layout and Design
- Readability
- Consistency
- Headings
Mechanics
/10
- Spelling/Typos
- Grammar/Punctuation
Total Percentage
/100
