✦Research · 14 recordsWrite a research proposal

Proposals go wrong at the question, not the writing: too broad to answer in the time, or with a method chosen before the question was settled. This narrows the question first, reads just enough to show the gap, and puts a rough draft in front of a supervisor weeks before it is due.

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Free on any plan. You will see this list again in the app, and nothing is created until you press install.

✦ Everything it creates

The whole plan, before you install it

Goal

A proposal submitted, with a question worth answering Week 6

Narrow enough to finish, with a method chosen to fit it.

Settle the question Week 3

The part proposals actually go wrong at.

  • Write the question in one sentenceDo firstDay 3
  • Read enough to show the gap, noting sources as I goDo firstDay 12
  • Narrow the question until it fits the time availableDo firstWeek 2
  • Choose the method that answers itDo firstWeek 2

Write and submit Week 6

A rough draft early, so there is time to change it.

  • Write a rough full draft of every sectionDo firstWeek 3
  • Send the draft to my supervisorDo firstWeek 4
  • Revise the question and method from the feedbackDo firstWeek 5
  • Write the timeline and budgetWeek 5
  • Check the format, word count and references, then submitDo firstWeek 6

Routines

  • Proposal writing sessiondaily
✦ It comes with a note

Proposal outline

Title Research question Why it matters What is already known, and the gap Method, and why it fits the question Feasibility: time, access, budget, ethics Timeline References

The question and the method are what gets judged. Everything else is there to support them.

✦ Questions

Write a research proposal, answered.

A question, why it matters, what is already known, how you will answer it, and whether that is feasible in the time and budget. Most formats also ask for a timeline and references, but the question and the method are what reviewers actually judge.
This plan runs on six weeks, most of which is narrowing the question and reading. The writing itself is quick once those are settled, and very slow if it starts before they are.
As a rough draft, about halfway through. A supervisor can fix a question that is too broad in a ten-minute conversation, and cannot fix it at all in the week before the deadline.
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