Research Proposal: Academic Writing Guide for Graduate Students

by Grant Andrews

A quick and easy guide to writing a research proposal Includes a Free example research proposal template for you to download. This short guide will give you the tools you need write a research proposal, no matter what your field of study is. If you're doing your master's or doctoral thesis, you need to present a good, detailed proposal before your study is approved. Often, this can be confusing, and it's hard to find simple, clear instructions on what should go into your proposal. In this short guide, you'll learn how to choose a research design and theoretical framework, write your methodology and literature review, and present your research plan. You'll also find a useful template which you can rework to easily complete your research proposal. Whether you're writing an essay or a master's or doctoral thesis, this guide will be useful for making sure that you start your journey of academic writing on the right foot. You'll be able to master this skill in just over 30 minutes. The guide is written by Dr. Grant Andrews, who has been teaching academic writing for years, and who knows the common pitfalls that students experience in academic writing. This book is part of the Essay and Thesis Writing Series. You can find out more about the series at www.writeyourthesis.com.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction, Research, Academia, Education

29 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 10, 2017

About the author

Grant Andrews is a lecturer, editor and writer who currently lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. He teaches courses on media studies, critical literacy, visual literacy, South African literature and film. His research interests include queer studies and South African queer media.

He spends his time walking his two dogs, Coby and Billy, writing, listening to music and relaxing with his partner, Malan.

Reviews

[Said AlMaskery · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very short and useful guide for writing your research proposal. However, I would suggest reading more thoroughly and deeply from other resources and using this as a guide for the actual writing process.

[Walker Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview

Pros: This book gives you an overview of the way papers should be formatted. It also gives examples of things to be aware of, and what instructors as looking for. Something good to refer to often, but nothing to actually get you motivated when it comes to structure or action.

Cons: There is a lot of selling and directions to different websites. Every other sentence said to visit something or another and it was very distracting.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I tend to think that this is probably more relevant to a US audience than a UK one - certainly the length of a Research Proposal as discussed by Andrews is far in excess of anything which would be submitted to a UK university, at either Masters or prospective PhD level.

That aside, the actual guidance regarding *what* your proposal should say is highly useful, and has helped me in structuring two proposals I have been working on recently.

I am also going to dispute that this can be read in 30 minutes - more like 90 minutes would be better guidance, otherwise you will never have the 'head space' to consider any of the guidance and tips offered.

[Kiz Moncrieff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a better book to the previous ones by Grant Andrews which I have read. In the previous book I read on Essay Writing Skills there were a lot of faults I found, not with the information but with the quality the information was provided in. This book did not have many of the same issues, while there were some issues, as there are with every book, I believed this book was a much better book than the previous ones I have read.

[Tara Brabazon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short book that is solid. It offers predictable if useful headings to structure a research proposal. It is clear that this book is part of an 'academic coaching' business, so the book sells the service.

But it is solid and does provide headings and strategies, particularly for the social sciences.

[Jennifer Napier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well Written

I like the way the author structured the short report. It helped clear my mind to prepare my PhD journey.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical

This is very brief, but is very practical in a way that many other publications are not. You can use it almost as an explanatory checklist while you write your proposal.

[Paul Borres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Succinct review of thing you need to remember when writing your thesis/research proposal

[Lottie C · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25⭐️

a very short and handy guide on how to write research proposals for grad students