sociology research proposal example

Professional Sociology Research Proposal Writing Example

A research proposal is a draft that is made up of what your original research work would contain. If you’re writing a research paper that should get approval from your supervisor, your proposal becomes equally important. This is because it would determine if your research work would be approved and given an affirmation for you to begin working. Hence, your proposal must be professional and perfect.

Different sociology research paper examples are available for different professional purposes. You may be looking to get examples on Ph.D., Master’s, or a workplace research proposal. While the sociology research proposal example in this article may not be detailed, it gives a general outline of how a professional sociology research proposal should be.

A Good Combination Sociology Research Proposal Example Would Feature:

• The title of your research work

These are often known as sociology research paper topics and it is the base of your research. A good research proposal topic should aim to answer a relevant question. Some sociology research proposal topics include topics on religion, racism, sex, education, etc.

• An Introduction

This is also known as the abstract of your work. It is a summary of what your research would entail. The abstract should not be too lengthy, rather you want your work to be concise and give out the right information.

• Aims and objectives of your research

This is usually an outline of the primary goals that you hope to achieve by carrying out your research. You may need to be creative in this area because it gives your work purpose. Your supervisor would not approve a research work that will not achieve useful results.

• Literature review and research methodology

Sociological research proposal topics need to be decided based on the availability of materials for your research. Your research methodology may include field works, the use of books, or the internet. Either way, it is important that you briefly state how you wish to carry out your research. For books, you should give a brief review of what the books contain and how they will help you in your research work. If your research would require that you use specific resources or get some extra fundings, you might have to state it in your proposal.

Your research proposal would require references to back up the information that you give. This is similar to endnotes or footnotes contained in your original research paper. The more your references, the more your work is considered factual and valid.

The concluding notes of your proposal are a summary of everything that your research must achieve. You must be optimistic and write your conclusion like you have achieved what you wanted to achieve.

A Sociology Research Proposal Example

The internet as a unifying factor: The Role of the Internet in the “Black Lives Matter” Campaign of 2020.

This research project aims to address the role that the internet plays as a platform for unity. The specific area of study is the global unrest fuelled by the black lives matter campaign of 2020. In May 2020, a singular event that occurred in the United States of America, speedily metamorphosed into a significant event in world history. Nations across the globe formed a united front against police brutality and racism in general. This topic is of great fascination as the protests were organized even amid lockdowns and restrictions from the outbreak of the COVID-19.

Some of the characteristics of these protests are; their method of assembly, and universal symbols and phrases irrespective of language barriers. The black lives matter also piqued the interest of celebrities who joined in the cry for justice. This was evident several times when celebrities joined in kneeling or laying on the ground, as well as taking to their large platform to express their support.

For days, the angry crowd gathered in front of strategic places, seeking justice for the death of George Floyd. This research project will examine how the internet helped the spread of the campaign across continents, even amid a restriction of movements. It will also examine the outcome of the protest, to see if it yielded the results that the people clamored for.

Research Description and Goals

The internet performs many roles today and its importance cannot be undermined. Many people would argue that the internet has been a curse as much as it has been a blessing from the time of its emergence. This research topic is highly sensitive because it expands beyond internet activities. It also covers different fields that have contributed to the outcome of the 2020 black lives matter campaign. Some of these fields include racism and police brutality at their peak.

This research work is unique because it touches important aspects of human behavior, and helps determine if the unifying factor of the internet is indeed a blessing or a curse. For this research, I will be examining:

• Past scenarios where the internet have been a yardstick to appeal for important issues
• Past protests in comparison to the 2020 black lives matter protests
• Past black lives matter protests in comparison to the 2020 black lives matter protest

The black lives matter campaign of 2020 appears to have been the outburst of years’ worth of frustration bottled up on the inside. The primary goals of this research are:

• To describe and analyze one of the many effects of the internet in our everyday lives, using a highly significant event in world history
• To examine how people took to virtual protests to express their discomfort on the issue.
• To discuss how certain symbols and converging points were unanimously agreed
• To outline the different ways that the internet has been used as a force to achieve set goals.
• To weigh the power of the internet and foretell the height of its power

Research Methodology

The broadness of this topic is such that it touches the internet, social movements, as well as the fight against racism. Many of the facts are contained on the internet. However, the following methods will be applied:

• Oral interviews

Oral interviews will be conducted both physically and virtually with participants of the movement. Although there are fewer available books on the subject matter, physical interviews with key activists in strategic points of convergence will be carried out. The virtual protestors will also be interviewed, and their views on how they were involved through the internet will be used in this research project.

• Questionnaires

Online and physical questionnaires will be given out to persons concerning the topic. Data gathered will be compiled to aid the research work.

• Internet research

The data analysis of the internet within the time frame of the protest will be a primary source of research.

• Extra fundings

Extra fundings will be needed to access the data analysis of the internet within the course of the research.

https://www.npr.org/2020/12/30/950053607/in-2020-protests-spread-across-the-globe-with-a-similar-message-black-lives-matter (accessed on October 10)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_George_Floyd_protests_outside_the_United_States ( accessed on October 10)

At the end of this research project, information gathered would portray how the internet has proven to break barriers and facilitate unity. Also, there will be facts as to how the internet aided the speedy popularity of the 2020 black lives matter. We should also be able to analyze the different ways that the internet can be explored for the benefit of man to produce wanted results.

Your Professional Research Proposal

Finally, you now know that the research proposal is extremely important. However, a good professional research proposal is more important. Hence, you should carefully construct yours with the guidelines listed above to get the best research proposal for you.

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• Department of Sociological Studies

Writing a research proposal

Guidelines on preparing a thesis proposal to support your application.

These guidelines are intended to assist you in developing and writing a thesis proposal. Applications for admission to a research degree cannot be dealt with unless they contain a proposal.

Your proposal will help us to make sure that:

• The topic is viable
• That the department can provide appropriate supervision and other necessary support
• You have thought through your interest in and commitment to a piece of research
• You are a suitable candidate for admission

The process of producing a proposal is usually also essential if you need to apply for funding to pay your fees or support yourself whilst doing your research. Funding bodies will often need to be reassured that you are committed to a viable project at a suitable university.

The research proposal – an outline

Your proposal should be typed double-spaced, if possible, and be between 1,000 and 2,000 words. Your PhD proposal can be added under the 'Supporting Documents' section of the Postgraduate Applications Online System .

Your proposal should contain at least the following elements:

• A provisional title
• A key question, hypothesis or the broad topic for investigation
• An outline of the key aims of the research
• A brief outline of key literature in the area [what we already know]
• A description of the topic and an explanation of why further research in the area is important [the gap in the literature - what we need to know]
• Details of how the research will be carried out, including any special facilities / resources etc. which would be required and any necessary skills which you either have already or would need to acquire [the tools that will enable us to fill the gap you have identified]
• A plan and timetable of the work you will carry out

For more detailed information on each element of your research proposal, see our extended guidance document .

Three additional points:

• Try to be concise. Do not write too much – be as specific as you can but not wordy. It is a difficult balance to strike.
• Bear in mind that the proposal is a starting point. If you are registered to read for a PhD you will be able to work the proposal through with your supervisor in more detail in the early months.
• Take a look at the Department’s staff profiles, research centres, and research clusters. Can you identify possible supervisors and intellectual support networks within the Department?

Examples of Successful PhD Proposals

• PhD sample proposal 1
• PhD sample proposal 2
• PhD sample proposal 3
• PhD sample proposal 4
• PhD sample proposal 5
• PhD sample proposal 6
• PhD sample proposal 7
• PhD sample proposal 8

Related information

Applying for a PhD

Our Research Themes

Our Research Areas

Search for PhD opportunities at Sheffield and be part of our world-leading research.

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• Proposal writing

The goal of a research proposal is to present and justify the need to study a research problem and to present the practical ways in which the proposed study should be conducted. The design elements and procedures for conducting the research are governed by standards within the predominant discipline in which the problem resides, so guidelines for research proposals are more exacting and less formal than a general project proposal. Research proposals contain extensive literature reviews. They must provide persuasive evidence that a need exists for the proposed study. In addition to providing a rationale, a proposal describes detailed methodology for conducting the research consistent with requirements of the professional or academic field and a statement on anticipated outcomes and/or benefits derived from the study's completion.

Krathwohl, David R. How to Prepare a Dissertation Proposal: Suggestions for Students in Education and the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2005.

"Document that is typically written by a scientist or academic which describes the ideas for an investigation on a certain topic. The research proposal outlines the process from beginning to end and may be used to request financing for the project, certification for performing certain parts of research of the experiment, or as a required task before beginning a college dissertation."

Web Finance Inc. (c. 2019). What is research proposal? definition and meaning. Retrieved July 1, 2019, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/research-proposal.html

Your professor may assign the task of writing a research proposal for the following reasons:

• Develop your skills in thinking about and designing a comprehensive research study;
• Learn how to conduct a comprehensive review of the literature to ensure a research problem has not already been answered [or you may determine the problem has been answered ineffectively] and, in so doing, become better at locating scholarship related to your topic;
• Improve your general research and writing skills;
• Practice identifying the logical steps that must be taken to accomplish one's research goals;
• Critically review, examine, and consider the use of different methods for gathering and analyzing data related to the research problem; and,
• Nurture a sense of inquisitiveness within yourself and to help see yourself as an active participant in  the process of  doing scholarly research.

A proposal should contain all the key elements involved in designing a completed research study, with sufficient information that allows readers to assess the validity and usefulness of your proposed study. The only elements missing from a research proposal are the findings of the study and your analysis of those results. Finally, an effective proposal is judged on the quality of your writing and, therefore, it is important that your writing is coherent, clear, and compelling.

Regardless of the research problem you are investigating and the methodology you choose, all research proposals must address the following questions:

• What do you plan to accomplish?  Be clear and succinct in defining the research problem and what it is you are proposing to research.
• Why do you want to do it?  In addition to detailing your research design, you also must conduct a thorough review of the literature and provide convincing evidence that it is a topic worthy of study. Be sure to answer the "So What?" question.
• How are you going to do it?  Be sure that what you propose is doable. If you're having trouble formulating a research problem to propose investigating,  go here .

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Failure to be concise; being "all over the map" without a clear sense of purpose.
• Failure to cite landmark works in your literature review.
• Failure to delimit the contextual boundaries of your research [e.g., time, place, people, etc.].
• Failure to develop a coherent and persuasive argument for the proposed research.
• Failure to stay focused on the research problem; going off on unrelated tangents.
• Sloppy or imprecise writing, or poor grammar.
• Too much detail on minor issues, but not enough detail on major issues.

Procter, Margaret. The Academic Proposal.  The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Sanford, Keith. Information for Students: Writing a Research Proposal. Baylor University; Wong, Paul T. P. How to Write a Research Proposal. International Network on Personal Meaning. Trinity Western University; Writing Academic Proposals: Conferences, Articles, and Books. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing a Research Proposal. University Library. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Beginning the Proposal Process

As with writing a regular academic paper, research proposals are generally organized the same way throughout most social science disciplines. Proposals vary between ten and twenty-five pages in length. However, before you begin, read the assignment carefully and, if anything seems unclear, ask your professor whether there are any specific requirements for organizing and writing the proposal.

A good place to begin is to ask yourself a series of questions:

• What do I want to study?
• Why is the topic important?
• How is it significant within the subject areas covered in my class?
• What problems will it help solve?
• How does it build upon [and hopefully go beyond] research already conducted on the topic?
• What exactly should I plan to do, and can I get it done in the time available?

In general, a compelling research proposal should document your knowledge of the topic and demonstrate your enthusiasm for conducting the study. Approach it with the intention of leaving your readers feeling like--"Wow, that's an exciting idea and I can’t wait to see how it turns out!"

In general your proposal should include the following sections:

I.  Introduction

In the real world of higher education, a research proposal is most often written by scholars seeking grant funding for a research project or it's the first step in getting approval to write a doctoral dissertation. Even if this is just a course assignment, treat your introduction as the initial pitch of an idea or a thorough examination of the significance of a research problem. After reading the introduction, your readers should not only have an understanding of what you want to do, but they should also be able to gain a sense of your passion for the topic and be excited about the study's possible outcomes. Note that most proposals do not include an abstract [summary] before the introduction.

Think about your introduction as a narrative written in one to three paragraphs that succinctly answers the following four questions :

• What is the central research problem?
• What is the topic of study related to that problem?
• What methods should be used to analyze the research problem?
• Why is this important research, what is its significance, and why should someone reading the proposal care about the outcomes of the proposed study?

II.  Background and Significance

This section can be melded into your introduction or you can create a separate section to help with the organization and narrative flow of your proposal. This is where you explain the context of your proposal and describe in detail why it's important. Approach writing this section with the thought that you can’t assume your readers will know as much about the research problem as you do. Note that this section is not an essay going over everything you have learned about the topic; instead, you must choose what is relevant to help explain the goals for your study.

To that end, while there are no hard and fast rules, you should attempt to address some or all of the following key points:

• State the research problem and give a more detailed explanation about the purpose of the study than what you stated in the introduction. This is particularly important if the problem is complex or  multifaceted .
• Present the rationale of your proposed study and clearly indicate why it is worth doing. Answer the "So What? question [i.e., why should anyone care].
• Describe the major issues or problems to be addressed by your research. Be sure to note how your proposed study builds on previous assumptions about the research problem.
• Explain how you plan to go about conducting your research. Clearly identify the key sources you intend to use and explain how they will contribute to your analysis of the topic.
• Set the boundaries of your proposed research in order to provide a clear focus. Where appropriate, state not only what you will study, but what is excluded from the study.
• If necessary, provide definitions of key concepts or terms.

III.  Literature Review

Connected to the background and significance of your study is a section of your proposal devoted to a more deliberate review and synthesis of prior studies related to the research problem under investigation . The purpose here is to place your project within the larger whole of what is currently being explored, while demonstrating to your readers that your work is original and innovative. Think about  what questions other researchers have asked, what methods they have used, and what is your understanding of their findings and, where stated, their recommendations. Do not be afraid to challenge the conclusions of prior research. Assess what you believe is missing and state how previous research has failed to adequately examine the issue that your study addresses. For more information on writing literature reviews,  GO HERE .

Since a literature review is information dense, it is crucial that this section is intelligently structured to enable a reader to grasp the key arguments underpinning your study in relation to that of other researchers. A good strategy is to break the literature into "conceptual categories" [themes] rather than systematically describing groups of materials one at a time. Note that conceptual categories generally reveal themselves after you have read most of the pertinent literature on your topic so adding new categories is an on-going process of discovery as you read more studies. How do you know you've covered the key  conceptual categories  underlying the research literature? Generally, you can have confidence that  all of the significant conceptual categories  have been identified if you start to see repetition in the conclusions or recommendations that are being made.

To help frame your proposal's literature review, here are the "five C’s" of writing a literature review:

• Cite , so as to keep the primary focus on the literature pertinent to your research problem.
• Compare  the various arguments, theories, methodologies, and findings expressed in the literature: what do the authors agree on? Who applies similar approaches to analyzing the research problem?
• Contrast  the various arguments, themes, methodologies, approaches, and controversies expressed in the literature: what are the major areas of disagreement, controversy, or debate?
• Critique  the literature: Which arguments are more persuasive, and why? Which approaches, findings, methodologies seem most reliable, valid, or appropriate, and why? Pay attention to the verbs you use to describe what an author says/does [e.g., asserts, demonstrates, argues, etc.] .
• Connect  the literature to your own area of research and investigation: how does your own work draw upon, depart from, synthesize, or add a new perspective to what has been said in the literature?

IV.  Research Design and Methods

This section  must  be well-written and logically organized because you are not actually doing the research, yet, your reader must have confidence that it is worth pursuing . The reader will never have a study outcome from which to evaluate whether your methodological choices were the correct ones. Thus, the objective here is to convince the reader that your overall research design and methods of analysis will correctly address the problem and that the methods will provide the means to effectively interpret the potential results. Your design and methods should be unmistakably tied to the specific aims of your study.

Describe the overall research design by building upon and drawing examples from your review of the literature. Consider not only methods that other researchers have used but methods of data gathering that have not been used but perhaps could be. Be specific about the methodological approaches you plan to undertake to obtain information, the techniques you would use to analyze the data, and the tests of external validity to which you commit yourself [i.e., the trustworthiness by which you can generalize from your study to other people, places, events, and/or periods of time].

When describing the methods you will use, be sure to cover the following:

• Specify the research operations you will undertake and the way you will interpret the results of these operations in relation to the research problem. Don't just describe what you intend to achieve from applying the methods you choose, but state how you will spend your time while applying these methods [e.g., coding text from interviews to find statements about the need to change school curriculum;  running a regression to  determine if there is a relationship between  campaign advertising on social media sites and election outcomes in Europe ].
• Keep in mind that a methodology is not just a list of tasks; it is an argument as to why these tasks add up to the best way to investigate the research problem. This is an important point because the mere listing of tasks to be performed does not demonstrate that, collectively, they effectively address the research problem. Be sure you explain this.
• Anticipate and acknowledge any potential barriers and pitfalls in carrying out your research design and explain how you plan to address them. No method is perfect so you need to describe where you believe challenges may exist in obtaining data or accessing information. It's always better to acknowledge this than to have it brought up by your reader.

V.  Preliminary Suppositions and Implications

Just because you don't have to actually conduct the study and analyze the results, doesn't mean you can skip talking about the analytical process and potential implications . The purpose of this section is to argue how and in what ways you believe your research will refine, revise, or extend existing knowledge in the subject area under investigation. Depending on the aims and objectives of your study, describe how the anticipated results will impact future scholarly research, theory, practice, forms of interventions, or policymaking. Note that such discussions may have either substantive [a potential new policy], theoretical [a potential new understanding], or methodological [a potential new way of analyzing] significance.   When thinking about the potential implications of your study, ask the following questions:

• What might the results mean in regards to the theoretical framework that underpins the study?
• What suggestions for subsequent research could arise from the potential outcomes of the study?
• What will the results mean to practitioners in the natural settings of their workplace?
• Will the results influence programs, methods, and/or forms of intervention?
• How might the results contribute to the solution of social, economic, or other types of problems?
• Will the results influence policy decisions?
• In what way do individuals or groups benefit should your study be pursued?
• What will be improved or changed as a result of the proposed research?
• How will the results of the study be implemented, and what innovations will come about?

NOTE :  This section should not delve into idle speculation, opinion,  or be formulated on the basis of unclear evidence . The purpose is to reflect upon gaps or understudied areas of the current literature and describe how your proposed research contributes to a new understanding of the research problem should the study be implemented as designed.

VI.  Conclusion

The conclusion reiterates the importance or significance of your proposal and provides a brief summary of the entire study . This section should be only one or two paragraphs long, emphasizing why the research problem is worth investigating, why your research study is unique, and how it should advance existing knowledge.

Someone reading this section should come away with an understanding of:

• Why the study should be done,
• The specific purpose of the study and the research questions it attempts to answer,
• The decision to why the research design and methods used where chosen over other options,
• The potential implications emerging from your proposed study of the research problem, and
• A sense of how your study fits within the broader scholarship about the research problem.

VII.   Citations

As with any scholarly research paper, you must cite the sources you used in composing your proposal. In a standard research proposal, this section can take two forms, so consult with your professor about which one is preferred.

• References --  lists only the literature that you actually used or cited in your proposal.
• Bibliography --  lists everything you used or cited in your proposal, with additional citations to any key sources relevant to understanding the research problem.

In either case, this section should testify to the fact that you did enough preparatory work to make sure the project will complement and not duplicate the efforts of other researchers. Start a new page and use the heading "References" or "Bibliography" centered at the top of the page. Cited works should always use a standard format that follows the writing style advised by the discipline of your course [i.e., education=APA; history=Chicago, etc] or that is preferred by your professor. This section normally does not count towards the total page length of your research proposal.

Develop  a Research Proposal: Writing the Proposal . Office of Library Information Services. Baltimore County Public Schools;  Heath, M. Teresa Pereira and Caroline Tynan. “Crafting a Research Proposal.”  The Marketing Review  10 (Summer 2010): 147-168; Jones, Mark. “Writing a Research Proposal.” In  MasterClass in Geography Education: Transforming Teaching and Learning . Graham Butt, editor. (New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015), pp. 113-127; Juni, Muhamad Hanafiah. “Writing a Research Proposal.” International Journal of Public Health and Clinical Sciences  1 (September/October 2014): 229-240; Krathwohl, David R.  How to Prepare a Dissertation Proposal: Suggestions for Students in Education and the Social and Behavioral Sciences . Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2005; Procter, Margaret.  The Academic Proposal . The Lab Report. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Punch, Keith and Wayne McGowan. "Developing and Writing a Research Proposal." In  From Postgraduate to Social Scientist: A Guide to Key Skills . Nigel Gilbert, ed. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2006), 59-81; Wong, Paul T. P.  How to Write a Research Proposal . International Network on Personal Meaning. Trinity Western University;  Writing Academic Proposals: Conferences, Articles, and Books . The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University;  Writing a Research Proposal . University Library. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Proposal Writing

The advice given in this section is geared towards the proposals you will be required to submit when applying for OUR programs and funding opportunities. Though much of this information will be useful when writing proposals or personal statements for non-OUR applications, we recommend you refer to the guidelines in the application you are working on and the advice provided by the  UConn Writing Center  to guide the development of your proposal. If you are applying for OUR Programs you should also review the criteria specific to the program to which you are applying to ensure your proposal is appropriately tailored.

Where to Begin

Start by brainstorming answers to the following questions:

• Why am I doing this project? What issues, problems, or questions will I explore and answer?
• What am I hoping to gain or learn from this experience? Why is this project important to me?
• What are my goals for the project and how will I accomplish those goals? What do I hope to realize as a result of my efforts?
• Is my topic too broad or too narrow? Is it feasible?

Use your answers, in conjunction with the guidelines below, to develop the first draft of your proposal. Once you have a draft, plan to seek feedback from trusted sources. You should also plan to attend a workshop at the Writing Center and review their  resources on writing personal statements .

Guidelines for a Successful Proposal

While there is no magic formula to follow for a successful proposal, following these general guidelines will help you develop a thorough, well-developed proposal.

Guideline 1: Review the prompts

The applications for OUR programs will ask you to answer specific questions relating to your project, including some combination of the following:

• the purpose of the work
• the steps you intend to take to complete the project
• why the work is meaningful to you
• how participating in this project will contribute to your educational and career goals

A good proposal clearly outlines the project or research question and convinces others of its merits. The proposal should demonstrate why the project is worthy of support, and why the topic is of interest to you, the applicant. Avoid simply writing a summary of what you’ve done (unless specifically asked to do so); rather, focus on your project or research, and what you’re hoping to accomplish.

Each application is a different, and you need to carefully read and understand all the questions being asked to assure your proposal addresses them. Stay focused on your topic and make sure to fully answer the questions that are asked. Neglecting to answer or not focusing on the questions at hand will hurt your proposal.

Guideline 2: Follow directions

Word and character limits, as well as format requirements, are given for a reason. Stay within the guidelines and parameters. Though you may think it won’t matter if you are 10 words over the limit, or your font size is .5 smaller than instructed, it does matter. Not following the guidelines indicates to the reviewers that you are either unable to follow directions or that you did not read the directions carefully. This is not the impression you want to make.

Guideline 3: Consider your audience

At UConn, the review committees are composed of faculty and professional staff from across the University. They are not experts in every field of study and may not be familiar with the topic of study or type of project you are proposing. Therefore, your aim should be to write your proposal for a well-educated audience that does not have the in-depth technical knowledge associated with your field.

Do not assume the reader will know what you’re talking about or what contribution your project may make to your field of study.  Give the reader enough background information to understand the importance of the research or project without overwhelming them with technical details.

Guideline 4: Be specific

You can have a well-developed idea or solid research question, but if you fail to clearly articulate how you plan to execute your idea or answer your research question, the feasibility of your proposal will be questioned. Be as specific as possible. If you intend to bring speakers to campus, indicate who you hope to bring and why you chose those individuals. If you propose to travel to archives to conduct research, describe why you chose those archives and what special collections you plan to access at the archives. If you intend to conduct focus groups, indicate why you chose to do focus groups and how you plan to recruit participants.

It’s not enough to only state what you intend to do, you need to indicate why and how. Explain the thought process behind the steps you will take to execute your project or answer your research question.

Guideline 5: Allow time for revisions and rewrites

Plan ahead; a well-written proposal doesn’t emerge overnight. Perfunctory proposals rarely excite anyone, and if your proposal comes across as a last-minute endeavor it may signal a lack of sincere investment in your project.

Starting early will also give you time to seek feedback, which is a necessary part of proposal writing. Ask for a critique from faculty mentors, advisors, and writing tutors to assure your intended message is clear and that your proposal addresses the key points. Take feedback into consideration, but make sure that you don’t lose your voice in the process. Your proposal needs to be genuine and sincere, accurately representing your interests, goals, and intentions, and not those of well-meaning reviewers.

Proofread your proposal. Spell check does not catch all errors. Read your proposal aloud; this will help you catch spelling, grammatical, and word use errors. Spelling errors, grammatical errors, and poor word choice are the quickest ways to undermine the effectiveness of your proposal.

Thank you to the University of Southern California Libraries  for a great resource!

Additional resources

• The Research Proposal - video
• Writing a research proposal video
• Example from Psychology Today
• Writing for psychology

This is a video produced at Massey University in New Zealand for GRADUATE STUDENTS. It is the model which your assignment is based. It is a useful introduction to proposals as one type of undergraduate paper. 

The opening discusses doing graduate work.  You can start the video at 2:40.

Yes, this is a long video (1 hour). However, the presenter makes good points. There is a link to the documents he uses in the presentation.

How to Write a Psychology Research Proposal : Writing a brief research proposal cultivates all kinds of intellectual skills.

A PDF of the document is available at the end of the article.

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Sociology Research Proposal Final

possibilities with this one shortcoming many suffer in their region. The important fact of the matter is the seemingly impossibility to unhinge any urban city's ghetto from poverty to prosperity. This existing dilemma is found in almost any urban area, or city. The alarming increase of the matter is still existent today; a constant persistence for solutions is needed.

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Journal of Urban Affairs

Edward Goetz

IntroductionFor at least the past 20 years, the urban development field has put forth a substantial effort on investigating the merits (and shortfalls) of mixed-income housing. A key assumption that the field makes is that low-income people somehow benefit when high-, middle-, and low-income people live within the same neighborhood, census tract, or building (Joseph, 2006; Wilson, 1996). Scholars struggle with demonstrating whether this assumption and components of it are correct, however (Bacque et al., 2011; DeFilippis and Fraser, 2010; Fraser and Kick, 2007; Graves, 2011; Joseph and Chaskin, 2010; Kleinhans, 2004; Tach, 2009). This timely symposium and, specifically, the two preceding articles, attempt to unpack, both domestically and abroad, some of the mechanisms by which mixed-income housing potentially produces favorable outcomes for neighborhoods and, in particular, low-income residents.My brief remarks present a mixed-income housing background and glean what we have learned...

John N Robinson III

Abigail A Sewell

Journal of Race, Ethnicity and the City

Preston H Smith II , Rob Paral

Chicago’s third ghetto is a cluster of “thinned out,” outlying neighborhoods that resulted from the demolition of public housing in “second ghetto” neighborhoods surrounding the central business district. The third ghetto shares some of the characteristics of the first and second ghettos—namely, the racial and economic segregation of the resident population. However, it also reveals notable, contemporary features. While the second ghetto was not deprived of public investment such as CHA developments, schools, police stations, and other public works, the third ghetto, in contrast, is a vacuum of private and public investment. It is also increasingly separated, spatially, from neighborhoods of rising prosperity. This disinvestment has created the underlying conditions for poor and working-class Black residents to feel either heavily policed or abandoned. This article traces the national and local sources of the neoliberal urban reforms of the 1990s and 2000s that ushered in a third ghetto in Chicago.

Housing Policy and Vulnerable Families in The Inner City

Brigitte Zamzow

Carlos de Albuquerque Oliveira

This paper seeks to analyze the set of characteristics that can explain the existence of slums (favelas) in Brazilian cities, based upon microdata from the 1999 edition of the National Household Survey (Pnad), published by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The paper is divided in 2 main parts. In the first part, we make a brief description of the urbanization trends, the process of slum formation and the poverty profile in Brazil and present a survey of the empirical literature on social exclusion and spatial segregation. The second part of the article describes a logit regression designed to test the hypothesis if local, regional and personal attributes such as immigration, income level, household size, schooling, tenure conditions, gender, race, age, labor market insertion, sector of activity, city size and other locational variables are important to explain the existence of slums and residential segregation in the housing markets of the major Brazilian c...

Journal of Housing and the Built Environment

Patrick Simon

Sociology Compass

Deirdre Oakley

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The field of struggle for state power to understand of ethnic group in the southeast turkey.

The Kurdish community is a minority group living in Turkey. They are believed to be the largest ethnic group that are not recognized by any state. Because of this reason, they have been involved in a continuous struggle with the government of Turkey. They have been fighting for the right to be recognized and appreciated by the Turkish government (Kaya, 2011, p.15). This paper will give an insight look into the causes behind the struggle in relation to Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of the field.

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Transnational non-profit organizations are non-governmental organizations that transcend government’s boundary and have an international scope. They include organizations such as the World Organization of the Scout Movement and the International Committee of the Red Cross. Social capital is the collective benefits that accrue from people in a society pulling their resources together. These resources could be economic, infrastructure, natural, human, tangible or biological (Boyer, 1990). The civil society is the domestic sphere which excludes the government and business society.

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