Speak clearly in your Methodology

In the previous articles introducing about a research proposal and why you need one, it was mentioned that Methodology section is one of the most important section of a research proposal and thus has to be written clearly.What is meant by 'written celarly'?

Remember that the Methodology section is basically describes what material you will use in your research and how you will conduct the research. These have to be, again, clearly written so that everyone reading your research proposal (and research report after completing the research) will be able to follow exactly what you have done in the research. In a more scientific term, the methodology has to be reproducible. This is a must in scientific community that we have to tell genuinely everything we do in our research to our readers once the research results enter the publication. This genuine attitude has to be started during the writing of a research proposal.

A research proposal with a detailed methodology will have a higher scientific level than the one written with unclear methodology. People reading your research proposal (including the one assessing your research proposal for scholarship application) will expect this in your proposal. Unclearly written methodology will eventually downgrade the academic quality of a research proposal. Detailed and clear written methodology is especially the case for specific processes and actions that you perform particularly in your research. There are times, however, that a specific method is very well known in a particular research topic and you may just need to mention the method name and give reference to it. In this case, do not forget to include that reference in your list of reference.

Do you have to construct a research proposal?

The general education system in overseas universities for postgraduate study usually is divided into three different categories. The first one is a course based in which you pursue your postgraduate study by taking prescribed courses for a particular degree. The second one is research based in which you complete your postgraduate study by carrying out research, while the third one is the combination of the two or a course-research mix. In the latter category, you are expected to take a certain number of courses while also are obliged to undertake a research during the period of your study. The extent of research in this third category is usually less than the one in the second category in which your degree is expected to be completed by doing a more rigorous research program.

When you are planning to undertake your study through the second or third category, it is normally a requirement for you to construct a research proposal and this has to be done during your international scholarship application. As an international student coming from a different country, you have to be well aware of this and prepare yourself to construct the proposal as earlier as possible during the preparation of your international scholarship application. During the scholarhip interview, interviewers may even ask about your research proposal.

So, what are in a research proposal? A research proposal is a document that describes things that are related to research plan. A good research proposal will have al least Introductory and Methodology sections. These are the most important parts of any research proposal, including the one that you prepare for your postgraduate study. The Introduction section of a research proposal will cover things such as the background and rationale of the research. In this section of your proposal, you should provide answers to the following questions: why is you research important? what have others done on that research topic before? what is missing in that topic? and what is the scope your research? You have to provide a sound background to your research plan based on the previous research results on the similar topic. This will ensure that your research is genuine and provide a real contribution to the current knowledge in your topic of interest.

The Methodolgy section of research proposal basically describes and provides answers to the following questions: what things are you going to use in your research and how are you going to perform your research or what techniques are you going to use?

The Introduction and Methodology are the most important sections of your research proposal, and this post describes them briefly. There are other parts of a proposal, too, including research title, research objectives, bibliographical matters, etc. But, these are usually much more easier to be incorporated into the proposal when you are done with your Introduction and Methodology. The Introduction and Methodology is the soul of your proposal and serve to provide direction of your researh proposal.