This document provides guidance on how to write a research proposal. It begins by explaining that a research proposal is important to convince others that the proposed research project is worthwhile and that the researcher is competent to complete it. The document notes that a research proposal should include all key elements of the research process and provide enough information for readers to evaluate the study. It advises that a well-conceived proposal is crucial for a successful research project, while a poorly developed one could doom the project from the start. In conclusion, a good research proposal demonstrates a student's potential as a researcher and impresses the thesis committee.

1. Grammar
1 Underline the words which are not needed.
0 The book which was written in just a few weeks was published to critical acclaim.
1 Maria enjoys wearing dresses which are designed by Victoria Beckham.
2 The singer played a guitar which was given to him by his father.
3 Roger Federer is a man who is well-known for his charity work.
4 I went to a charity concert which was attended by lots of celebrities.
5 An appeal which was shown on television last week raised millions of dollars.
2 Match the two parts of the questions.
A B
0 You don’t really want to sell your piano, 0 do you?
1 They’d consider playing for free, .... do they?
2 They don’t do much for charity, .... isn’t it?
3 You’ll make a donation later, .... has he?
4 It’s important to help if you can, .... wouldn’t they?
5 John hasn’t got much time to help, .... won’t you?
3 Underline the correct words.
0 Could you find / take out when the lesson starts?
1 If I were you, I’d bring / go for a monolingual dictionary. They’re far more reliable.
2 How do you think you’ll come / get away with your plan?
3 It’s so easy to look / get up information on the internet.
4 I wonder why Esperanto never took / went off as an international language.
5 I’d like you to take / come up with some ideas for an English project.
4 Put the words in the correct order.
0 in / has / about / Global / sea / rise / warming / brought / a / levels
Global warming has brought about a rise in sea levels.
1 Ben / get / it / How / always / away / does / with
........................................................................................................................ ?
2 dictionary / If / it / understand / look / don’t / you / up / the / in
........................................................................................................................ .
3 old / other / across / We / some / day / came / photos / the
........................................................................................................................ .
4 spicy / going / I’m / the / pizza / for / go / to
........................................................................................................................ .
5 in / across / I / interesting / an / newspaper / came / article / the
........................................................................................................................ .
5 Put the words in the correct order.
0 you / competition / I / the / wonder / won / how
I wonder how you won the competition.
1 music / to / why / easy / so / this / popular / It’s / see / is
........................................................................................................................ .
2 Tim / with / know / I / why / won’t / don’t / me / come
........................................................................................................................ .

2. 3 the / Joni / guitar / whether / I / can / wonder / play
........................................................................................................................ .
4 sing / know / like / where / I’d / to / learned / he / to
........................................................................................................................ .
5 concert / to / easy / where / It’s / find / the / happening / is / out
........................................................................................................................ .
6 Underline the correct words.
0 Can you tell me which band you like / do you like best?
1 Can I ask you where you went / did yougo after the concert?
2 Can I ask you what you thought / did you think of the concert?
3 Do you know what is the song about / the song is about?
4 Do you know why Robbie left / did Robbie leavethe band?
5 Could you tell me when willTake That record / Take That will record another album?
Vocabulary
7 Match the two parts of the sentences.
A B
0 A cover band 0 plays the music of other groups.
1 A track .... is a song originally sung by someone else.
2 A composer .... has got several pieces of music on it.
3 A soundtrack .... is a song or piece of music on an album.
4 An album .... writes music.
5 A cover version .... is the music that is played during a film.
8 Choose the correct answer: a, b or c.
0 I wish you’d ______ an opinion for once! You must be thinking something.
a) express b) consider c) matter
1 It is my _____ opinion that you’d be making a mistake to marry Ben.
a) considered b) considerate c) considering
2 The latest opinion ______shows a swing to the left.
a) poll b) polling c) questionnaire
3 Don’t just accept what the doctor says. Get a(n) ______ opinion.
a) another b) alternative c) second
4 Adam’s quite conceited. He has a really ______ opinion of himself.
a) tall b) high c) important
5 As we’ll never agree, let’s just say we have a ______ of opinion.
a) differing b) different c) difference
9 Choose the correct answer: a, b or c.
0 I wish you wouldn’t sing _____ to everything!
a) on b) with c) along
1 There’s nothing better than ____ music, in my opinion.
a)live b) alive c)living
2 I prefer songs to _______ music.
a)instrument b) instrumental c) instrumentally
3 What are they singing about? I can’t understand any of the ____.
a) lyric b) lyrics c)lyricals
4 How can you dance to music that hasn’t got a good _____?
a) beat b) beating c)beats
5 Do you remember that Kylie Minogue song ‘I can’t get you ____ my head’?
a)off b) under c) out of

3. 10 Choose the correct answer: a, b or c.
0 I ____ a lot of what was being said, but not everything.
a) listened b) got c) made
1 If you listen carefully, I’m sure you’ll be able to pick ____ a few words.
a) off b) out c) over
2 I’m afraid you’ve ____ me. I have no idea what you’re talking about.
a) missed b) caught c) lost
3 I couldn’t ____ out what Simon was saying.
a) make b) take c) get
4 I didn’t quite ____ what James said. Did you?
a) catch b) take c) listen
5 You didn’t understand a ____ of what I just said, did you?
a) meaning b) sentence c) word
11 Underline the correct words.
0 Wayne Rooney is a household person / name in the world of football.
1 David Beckham is famous for / by his private life as well as his football.
2 I wonder if you’ll ever do/ makeit big.
3 Justin Bieber is a singing sensation / excitementfor teenagers.
4 Nina made / dida name for herself by marrying a billionaire.
5 Michael Jackson liked / enjoyeda lot of success when he was a child.
12 Put the letters in the correct order and make words.
0 There are a lot of really colourful smodii in English. idioms
1 nalgS goes out of fashion very quickly. ....................
2 ‘Go to work on an egg’ was a well-known advertising angols. ....................
3 To be a medical secretary you need to know a lot of inroltomegy. ....................
4 This manual is so full of granoj. I don’t understand a word. ....................
5 Honestly, everything you say is such a chécli. ....................
RESEARCH PROPOSAL MAKING
How to Write a Research Proposal
Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D., C.Psych.
Research Director, Graduate Program in
Counselling Psychology
Trinity Western University
Langley, BC, Canada
Most students and beginning researchersdo not fully understand what a research
proposal means, nor do they understand itsimportance. To put it bluntly, one's researchis
only as a good as one's proposal. An illconceivedproposal dooms the project evenif it
somehow gets through the ThesisSupervisory Committee. A high qualityproposal, on the
other hand, not only promises success for the project, but also impresses yourThesis
Committee about your potential as a researcher.
A research proposal is intended to convince others that you have a worthwhile research
projectand that you have the competence and the work-plan to complete it. Generally,
a researchproposal should contain all the key elements involved in the research process
and include sufficientinformation for the readers to evaluate the proposed study.
Regardless of your research area and the methodology you choose, all research
proposals mustaddress the following questions: What you plan to accomplish, why you
want to do it and how youare going to do it.

4. The proposal should have sufficient information to convince your readers that you have
animportant research idea, that you have a good grasp of the relevant literature and the
major issues,and that your methodology is sound.
The quality of your research proposal depends not only on the quality of your proposed
project, butalso on the quality of your proposal writing. A good research project may run
the risk of rejectionsimply because the proposal is poorly written. Therefore, it pays if your
writing is coherent, clearand compelling.
This paper focuses on proposal writing rather than on the development of research ideas.
Title:
It should be concise and descriptive. For example, the phrase, "An investigation of . . ."
could beomitted. Often titles are stated in terms of a functional relationship, because such
titles clearlyindicate the independent and dependent variables. However, if possible, think
of an informative butcatchy title. An effective title not only pricks the reader's interest, but
also predisposes him/herfavourably towards the proposal.
Abstract:
It is a brief summary of approximately 300 words. It should include the research question,
therationale for the study, the hypothesis (if any), the method and the main findings.
Descriptions ofthe method may include the design, procedures, the sample and any
instruments that will be used.
Introduction:
The main purpose of the introduction is to provide the necessary background or context
for yourresearch problem. How to frame the research problem is perhaps the biggest
problem in proposalwriting.
If the research problem is framed in the context of a general, rambling literature review,
then theresearch question may appear trivial and uninteresting. However, if the same
question is placed inthe context of a very focused and current research area, its
significance will become evident.
Unfortunately, there are no hard and fast rules on how to frame your research question just
asthere is no prescription on how to write an interesting and informative opening
paragraph. A lotdepends on your creativity, your ability to think clearly and the depth of
your understanding ofproblem areas.
However, try to place your research question in the context of either a current "hot" area,
or anolder area that remains viable. Secondly, you need to provide a brief but
appropriate historicalbackdrop. Thirdly, provide the contemporary context in which your
proposed research questionoccupies the central stage. Finally, identify "key players" and
refer to the most relevant andrepresentative publications. In short, try to paint your
research question in broad brushes and at
the same time bring out its significance.
The introduction typically begins with a general statement of the problem area, with a
focus on aspecific research problem, to be followed by the rational or justification for the
proposed study. Theintroduction generally covers the following elements:
1. State the research problem, which is often referred to as the purpose of the study.
2. Provide the context and set the stage for your research question in such a way as to
showits necessity and importance.
3. Present the rationale of your proposed study and clearly indicate why it is worth doing.
4. Briefly describe the major issues and sub-problems to be addressed by your research.
5. Identify the key independent and dependent variables of your experiment.
Alternatively,specify the phenomenon you want to study.
6. State your hypothesis or theory, if any. For exploratory or phenomenological research,
youmay not have any hypotheses. (Please do not confuse the hypothesis with the
statistical nullhypothesis.)
7. Set the delimitation or boundaries of your proposed research in order to provide a
clearfocus.
8. Provide definitions of key concepts. (This is optional.)

5. Literature Review:
Sometimes the literature review is incorporated into the introduction section. However,
mostprofessors prefer a separate section, which allows a more thorough review of the
literature.The literature review serves several important functions:
1. Ensures that you are not "reinventing the wheel".
2. Gives credits to those who have laid the groundwork for your research.
3. Demonstrates your knowledge of the research problem.
4. Demonstrates your understanding of the theoretical and research issues related to
yourresearch question.
5. Shows your ability to critically evaluate relevant literature information.
6. Indicates your ability to integrate and synthesize the existing literature.
7. Provides new theoretical insights or develops a new model as the conceptual
framework foryour research.
8. Convinces your reader that your proposed research will make a significant and
substantialcontribution to the literature (i.e., resolving an important theoretical issue or
filling a majorgap in the literature).
Most students' literature reviews suffer from the following problems:
Lacking organization and structure
Lacking focus, unity and coherence
Being repetitive and verbose
Failing to cite influential papers
Failing to keep up with recent developments
Failing to critically evaluate cited papers
Citing irrelevant or trivial references
Depending too much on secondary sources
Your scholarship and research competence will be questioned if any of the above applies
to yourproposal.There are different ways to organize your literature review. Make use of
subheadings to bring orderand coherence to your review. For example, having
established the importance of your researcharea and its current state of development,
you may devote several subsections on related issuesas: theoretical models, measuring
instruments, cross-cultural and gender differences, etc.
It is also helpful to keep in mind that you are telling a story to an audience. Try to tell it in
astimulating and engaging manner. Do not bore them, because it may lead to rejection
of yourworthy proposal. (Remember: Professors and scientists are human beings too.)
Methods:
The Method section is very important because it tells your Research Committee how you
plan totackle your research problem. It will provide your work plan and describe the
activities necessaryfor the completion of your project.The guiding principle for writing the
Method section is that it should contain sufficient information for the reader to determine
whether methodology is sound. Some even argue that a good proposalshould contain
sufficient details for another qualified researcher to implement the study.You need to
demonstrate your knowledge of alternative methods and make the case that
yourapproach is the most appropriate and most valid way to address your research
question.
Please note that your research question may be best answered by qualitative research.
However,since most mainstream psychologists are still biased against qualitative research,
especially thephenomenological variety, you may need to justify your qualitative method.
Furthermore, since there are no well-established and widely accepted canons in
qualitativeanalysis, your method section needs to be more elaborate than what is
required for traditionalquantitative research. More importantly, the data collection
process in qualitative research has a fargreater impact on the results as compared to
quantitative research. That is another reason forgreater care in describing how you will
collect and analyze your data. (How to write the Method

6. section for qualitative research is a topic for another paper.)For quantitative studies, the
method section typically consists of the following sections:
1. Design -Is it a questionnaire study or a laboratory experiment? What kind of design do
youchoose?
2. Subjects or participants - Who will take part in your study ? What kind of sampling
procedure do you use?
3. Instruments - What kind of measuring instruments or questionnaires do you use? Why
doyou choose them? Are they valid and reliable?
4. Procedure - How do you plan to carry out your study? What activities are involved?
Howlong does it take?
Results:
Obviously you do not have results at the proposal stage. However, you need to have
some ideaabout what kind of data you will be collecting, and what statistical procedures
will be used in orderto answer your research question or test you hypothesis.
Discussion:
It is important to convince your reader of the potential impact of your proposed research.
You needto communicate a sense of enthusiasm and confidence without exaggerating
the merits of yourproposal. That is why you also need to mention the limitations and
weaknesses of the proposedresearch, which may be justified by time and financial
constraints as well as by the earlydevelopmental stage of your research area.
Common Mistakes in Proposal Writing
1. Failure to provide the proper context to frame the research question.
2. Failure to delimit the boundary conditions for your research.
3. Failure to cite landmark studies.
4. Failure to accurately present the theoretical and empirical contributions by
otherresearchers.
5. Failure to stay focused on the research question.
6. Failure to develop a coherent and persuasive argument for the proposed research.
7. Too much detail on minor issues, but not enough detail on major issues.
8. Too much rambling -- going "all over the map" without a clear sense of direction. (The
bestproposals move forward with ease and grace like a seamless river.)
9. Too many citation lapses and incorrect references.
10. Too long or too short.
11. Failing to follow the APA style.
12. Sloppingwriting.
Reference :
http://www.meaning.ca/archives/archive/art_how_to_write_P_Wong.htm