Chapter Summary

[Skip Breadcrumb Navigation]

Chapter 6 introduces the genre of the research proposal, working from examples of successful grant proposals; proposal guidelines published by federal agencies; and recent research on the proposal-writing process. The chapter focuses on proposals to government funding agencies. Unlike the research report, there is less consensus on a generic research proposal form. Chapter 6 focuses on the three primary components that appear (under various headings) in most funding agency guidelines: introducing the research problem and objectives, explaining background and rationale for the project, and describing proposed methods.

Chapter 6 also emphasizes the importance of choosing a funding agency early in the process, analyzing its goals and values in the Requests for Proposals (RFPs) as well as on its Web site, and adhering to the agency's specific guidelines in developing, organizing, and labeling sections of the proposal argument. Several sets of guidelines are included in the chapter. The final sections of Chapter 6 describe writing and reviewing processes associated with the research proposal.

[Return to the Top of this Page]