How to Prepare a Persuasive Research Proposal

Tips for Writing a Successful Proposal

Task:

This assignment, which will help you learn how to prepare a persuasive research proposal, is a follow-up to Assignment 8 (the proposal worksheet) and a precursor to the recommendation report.

In the working world, knowing how to write a successful proposal will help you because most resources are allocated in response to proposals. You will routinely identify problems and opportunities, propose plans of action, calculate budgets, and create task schedules. This assignment will introduce you to these tasks. Suggestions for Responding Successfully Keep in mind the following 10 tips for writing a successful proposal.

• Review the work you did on Assignment 8, the proposal worksheet. In that assignment, you sketched out the logic of the proposal and outlined the primary and secondary research that you would need to conduct in order to answer the questions you need to answer. In the proposal, you will present a good percentage of the data generated by your research. For example, if you will present in the recommendation report the results of a questionnaire you administered to company employees, present in the proposal the questionnaire itself (without its results). Present in the proposal references to the literature you have uncovered through your secondary research.

• Although you are free to write an external proposal, an internal proposal is less complicated because it does not call for you to demonstrate that your organization is reputable. For an internal proposal, you merely have to make the case that you (and any other personnel) are qualified and that you have the other necessary resources.

• This is a research proposal, not a goods-and-services proposal. You are seeking permission to carry out a research project in exchange for the organization’s granting you time and, perhaps, other resources. Do not write a goods-and-services proposal: for example, a proposal to renovate a house.

• The key to writing a successful proposal is to show that you understand the readers' needs. Audience analysis is critical here. What do you know about your audience that can help you present the problem or opportunity in terms that the audience will understand and appreciate? How can you justify to your audience the need to implement your proposal?

• Integrate your research into the discussion of the problem and the rest of the proposal. Perhaps the most common weakness in student proposals is the failure to carry out secondary research and to use it in framing the discussion of the problem or the opportunity. Don’t just toss in a few citations. Use the literature as the starting point for your discussion of what is known and not known about your subject.

• Cite your sources correctly at the end of the proposal.

• Be specific in describing what you plan to do. It is not sufficient merely to assert that you will carry out research. When you describe a research methodology, be prepared to justify why you have chosen that method rather than other available methods. Don't let your audience wonder why you would do what you propose or what the outcome of the procedure would be.

• Explain and demonstrate your professionalism. A lot of people have good ideas but don't follow through on them. Show that you are a professional by including the kinds of information your audience seeks, such as task schedules. In addition, be sure that the proposal looks professional.

• If you don't use a standard structure, explain your decision. I am less concerned that you follow the structure provided than that you provide the kinds of information presented in the sample in the Handout on Proposals. If you choose a different structure, justify your choice.

• Take note of the rubric below so that you are aware of the expectations of the document that you submit.