1.  Elements of a Research Proposal

2. Goals of a research proposal  guideline and “security blanket” for yourself  contract between you and your thesis committee/advisor  acquire funding

3. Questions your audience should be able answer by reading your proposal Thackrey’s:  What do you want to do, how much will it cost, and how much time will it take?  How does the proposed project relate to the sponsor's interests?  What difference will the project make to: your university, your students, your discipline, the state, the nation, the world, or whatever the appropriate categories are?  What has already been done in the area of your project?  How do you plan to do it?  How will the results be evaluated?  Why should you, rather than someone else, do this project?

4. Questions your audience should be able answer by reading your proposal—cont’d Przeworski’s:  What are we going to learn as the result of the proposed project that we do not know now?  Why is it worth knowing?  How will we know that the conclusions are valid?

5. Constraints of your audience  huge pool of applicants  ?  not enough time  ?  not trained specialist  ?  usually have agendas and are placed in a particular field and conflict  ?

6. What you need to convince your audience of? #1. Explicitly:  There are good reasons to study this topic  There is not enough or not good (recent/local, etc.)enough scholarship on this topic  YOU are the best person to carry out this research  You know how to complete this project (collect all the right kinds of data)  The project is feasible  You will be able to demonstrate that your conclusions are valid  Your topic is a good fit for the funding agency

7. What you need to convince your audience of? #2. Implicitly:  You have sufficient training and expertise to carry out the project (theory, method, language)  You are enthusiastic about the project  You have thought deep and hard about the challenges of the project  You are someone who can get things done  You have good communication skills (which indicate the presence of intelligence and logic necessary for research and analysis)  You have an eye and patience for details (as demonstrated by the more formal and external aspects of the proposal, such as precision in citation, consistent use of fonts, spelling, translation)  You have sufficient self-confidence  You have support from your mentors, institution, or peers to complete project

8. Which section does what convincing? GoalsSection There are good reasons to study this topicProblem statement There is not enough or not good (recent/local, etc.)enough scholarship on this topic Literature review YOU are the best person to carry out this research CV or bio; Research questions, work plan, recommendation letters, the entire document You know how to complete this project (collect all the right kinds of data) Research questions, work plan The project is feasibleResearch questions, work plan You will be able to demonstrate that your conclusions are valid Research questions, work plan Your topic is a good fit for the funding agency Problem statement

9. Most general structure 1. Statement of topic or problem 2. Merit of studying the topic or problem 3. Literature review 4. Research questions 5. Methods 6. Work plan 7. Bibliography (vs. References)

10. Additional or optional elements:  Title and cover page  Abstract  Preparation and research qualifications  Results section  Dissemination and Impact  Budget  IRB (research ethics) approval  Appendix

11. Exercise  Identify which section of the research proposal each sample was taken from?

12. To-do list  research funding agencies  contact staff at potential funding agencies  research models in your institutions  find out deadlines for both your institution and funding agencies  find out qualification requirements  find out application procedure

13. “goodness of fit”  Is your topic within the profile or current theme of the funding agency? – this must be shown rather than simply stated, see example on pp. 7-19 in Grant Proposal Makeover  Is the type of research (policy, scholarly, community) you propose the kind the agency seeks to fund?  Does the agency fund in the geographical area where you want to do research?  Does the grant amount you seek fall in the range of grants the agency gives out? If answer to any of these questions is no  don’t bother to apply If answer to any of these questions is unclear  contact staff

14. Examples  SSRC Abe Fellowship SSRC Abe Fellowship  ESRC guide ESRC guide

15. Rhetoric and Language  confidence  overstate enthusiasm  emphasize your training and level of preparation (as I have demonstrated in my co-authored article with John Smith,…; or: according to my findings in the preliminary research I have conducted…)  avoid arrogance  avoid apology  market the applicability of your findings: example at ESRC: social science impactsocial science impact  stay within page or word limit, use the right font

16. Homework  Read the proposal by Ben Goldfrank  Find and underline the sections where the author :  establishes a paradox or puzzle  makes the proposal stand out for readers  articulates the research questions  establishes the merit of the topic  explains why the case chosen is a particularly strategic one for the topic  avoids unnecessary lingo  defines or makes clear what he means by specialized (unavoidable) lingo or technical terms  articulates expected findings and patterns  criticizes existing scholarship  demonstrates the relevance of each type of data or method for answering a particular question We will go through this at the beginning of next class.