Main difference between research proposal and research report

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Home » Education » Difference Between Research Proposal and Research Report
Difference Between Research Proposal and
Research Report
January 24, 2017 • by Hasa • 3 min read
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Main Difference – Research
Proposal vs Research Report
Research proposal and research report are two terms that often
confuse many student researchers. A research proposal
describes what the researcher intends to do in his research
study and is written before the collection and analysis of data.
A research report describes the whole research study and is
submitted after the competition of the whole research project.
Thus, the main difference between research proposal and
research report is that a research proposal describes the
proposed research and research design whereas a research report describes the completed research, including
the findings, conclusion, and recommendations.
This article explains,
1. What is a Research Proposal?
– Definition, Purpose, Content, and Characteristics
2. What is a Research Report?
– Definition, Purpose, Content, and Characteristics
3. What is the difference between Research Proposal and Research Report?
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What is a Research Proposal
A research proposal is a brief and coherent summary of the proposed research study, which is prepared at the
beginning of a research project. The aim of a research proposal is to justify the need for a specific research proposal
and present the practical methods and ways to conduct the proposed research. In other words, a research proposal
presents the proposed design of the study and justifies the necessity of the specific research. Thus, a research proposal
describes what you intend to do and why you intend to do it.
A research proposal generally contains the following segments:
Introduction/ Context/ Background
Literature Review
Research Methods and Methodology

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Research question
Aims and Objectives
List of Reference
Each of these segments is indispensable to a research proposal. For example, it’s impossible to write a research
proposal without reading related work and writing a literature review. Similarly, it’s not possible to decide a
methodology without determining specific research questions.
What is a Research Report
A research report is a document that is submitted at the end
of a research project. This describes the completed research
project. It describes the data collection, analysis, and the
results as well. Thus, in addition to the sections mentioned
above, this also includes sections such as,
Findings
Analysis
Conclusions
Shortcomings
Recommendations
A research report is also known as a thesis or dissertation. A research report is not research plan or a proposed design.
It describes what was actually done during the research project and what was learned from it. Research reports are
usually longer than research proposals since they contain step-by-step processes of the research.

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Difference Between Research Proposal and Research Report
Purpose
Research Proposal: Research Proposal describes what the researcher intends to do and why he intends to do it.
Research Report: Research report describes what the researcher has done, why he has done it, and the results he has
achieved.
Order
Research Proposal: Research proposals are written at the beginning of a research proposal before the research project
actually begins.
Research Report: Research reports are completed after the completion of the whole research project.
Content
Research Proposal: Research proposals contain sections such as introduction/background, literature review, research
questions, methodology, aims and objective.
Research Report: Research reports contain sections such as introduction/background, literature review, research
questions, methodology, aims and objective, findings, analysis, results, conclusion, recommendations, citation.
Length
Research Proposal: Research proposals are shorter in length.
Research Report: Research reports are longer than research proposals.

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About the Author: Hasa
Hasa has a BA degree in English, French and Translation studies. She is currently reading for a
Masters degree in English. Her areas of interests include literature, language, linguistics and also
food.
Image Courtesy:
“Thesis complete!”by Victoria Catterson (CC BY 2.0) via Flickr
“7112” (Public Domain) via PEXELS
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