How to write a qualitative research proposal

Sudheesh, devika rani duggappa, and ss nethradepartment of anaesthesiology, bangalore medical college and research institute, bengaluru, karnataka, indiaaddress for correspondence: dr. License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical ctwriting the proposal of a research work in the present era is a challenging task due to the constantly evolving trends in the qualitative research design and the need to incorporate medical advances into the methodology. The proposal is a detailed plan or ‘blueprint’ for the intended study, and once it is completed, the research project should flow smoothly.

Writing a qualitative research proposal

Even today, many of the proposals at post-graduate evaluation committees and application proposals for funding are substandard. A search was conducted with keywords such as research proposal, writing proposal and qualitative using search engines, namely, pubmed and google scholar, and an attempt has been made to provide broad guidelines for writing a scientifically appropriate research words: guidelines, proposal, qualitative, researchintroductiona clean, well-thought-out proposal forms the backbone for the research itself and hence becomes the most important step in the process of conduct of research. 1] the objective of preparing a research proposal would be to obtain approvals from various committees including ethics committee [details under ‘research methodology ii’ section [table 1] in this issue of ija) and to request for grants.

However, there are very few universally accepted guidelines for preparation of a good quality research proposal. A search was performed with keywords such as research proposal, funding, qualitative and writing proposals using search engines, namely, pubmed, google scholar and 1five ‘c’s while writing a literature reviewbasic requirements of a research proposala proposal needs to show how your work fits into what is already known about the topic and what new paradigm will it add to the literature, while specifying the question that the research will answer, establishing its significance, and the implications of the answer. 2] the proposal must be capable of convincing the evaluation committee about the credibility, achievability, practicality and reproducibility (repeatability) of the research design.

3] four categories of audience with different expectations may be present in the evaluation committees, namely academic colleagues, policy-makers, practitioners and lay audiences who evaluate the research proposal. Tips for preparation of a good research proposal include; ‘be practical, be persuasive, make broader links, aim for crystal clarity and plan before you write’. Being persuasive implies that researcher must be able to convince other researchers, research funding agencies, educational institutions and supervisors that the research is worth getting approval.

The aim of the researcher should be clearly stated in simple language that describes the research in a way that non-specialists can comprehend, without use of jargons. The proposal must not only demonstrate that it is based on an intelligent understanding of the existing literature but also show that the writer has thought about the time needed to conduct each stage of the research. 4,5]contents of a research proposalthe contents or formats of a research proposal vary depending on the requirements of evaluation committee and are generally provided by the evaluation committee or the general, a cover page should contain the (i) title of the proposal, (ii) name and affiliation of the researcher (principal investigator) and co-investigators, (iii) institutional affiliation (degree of the investigator and the name of institution where the study will be performed), details of contact such as phone numbers, e-mail id's and lines for signatures of main contents of the proposal may be presented under the following headings: (i) introduction, (ii) review of literature, (iii) aims and objectives, (iv) research design and methods, (v) ethical considerations, (vi) budget, (vii) appendices and (viii) citations.

Introduction is an initial pitch of an idea; it sets the scene and puts the research in context. 6] the introduction should be designed to create interest in the reader about the topic and proposal. If hypothesis cannot be constructed, the line of inquiry to be used in the research must be of literatureit refers to all sources of scientific evidence pertaining to the topic in interest.

In the present era of digitalisation and easy accessibility, there is an enormous amount of relevant data available, making it a challenge for the researcher to include all of it in his/her review. 9] it is crucial to structure this section intelligently so that the reader can grasp the argument related to your study in relation to that of other researchers, while still demonstrating to your readers that your work is original and innovative. And objectivesthe research purpose (or goal or aim) gives a broad indication of what the researcher wishes to achieve in the research.

The objectives related to parameters or tools used to achieve the aim are generally categorised as primary and secondary ch design and methodthe objective here is to convince the reader that the overall research design and methods of analysis will correctly address the research problem and to impress upon the reader that the methodology/sources chosen are appropriate for the specific topic. It should be unmistakably tied to the specific aims of your this section, the methods and sources used to conduct the research must be discussed, including specific references to sites, databases, key texts or authors that will be indispensable to the project. There should be specific mention about the methodological approaches to be undertaken to gather information, about the techniques to be used to analyse it and about the tests of external validity to which researcher is committed.

The details pertaining to sample size are discussed in the article “sample size calculation: basic priniciples” published in this issue of collection the researcher is expected to give a detailed account of the methodology adopted for collection of data, which include the time frame required for the research. The author should anticipate and acknowledge any potential barrier and pitfall in carrying out the research design and explain plans to address them, thereby avoiding lacunae due to incomplete data collection. If the researcher is planning to acquire data through interviews or questionnaires, copy of the questions used for the same should be attached as an annexure with the (soundness of the research) this addresses the strength of the research with respect to its neutrality, consistency and applicability.

Rigor must be reflected throughout the lity it refers to the robustness of a research method against bias. The researcher is expected to explain the steps adopted for coding and sorting the data obtained. 9]ethical considerationsmedical research introduces special moral and ethical problems that are not usually encountered by other researchers during data collection, and hence, the researcher should take special care in ensuring that ethical standards are met.

The researcher needs to provide adequate information on each of these ed consent needs to be obtained from the participants (details discussed in further chapters), as well as the research site and the relevant when the researcher prepares a research budget, he/she should predict and cost all aspects of the research and then add an additional allowance for unpredictable disasters, delays and rising costs. All items in the budget should be icesappendices are documents that support the proposal and application. The appendices will be specific for each proposal but documents that are usually required include informed consent form, supporting documents, questionnaires, measurement tools and patient information of the study in layman's onsas with any scholarly research paper, you must cite the sources you used in composing your proposal.

It refers to all references cited in the research ysuccessful, qualitative research proposals should communicate the researcher's knowledge of the field and method and convey the emergent nature of the qualitative design. The proposal should follow a discernible logic from the introduction to presentation of the ial support and cts of interestthere are no conflicts of nces1. How to prepare a dissertation proposal: suggestions for students in education and the social and behavioral sciences.

The critical steps for successful research: the research proposal and scientific writing: a report on the pre-conference workshop held in conjunction with the 64th annual conference of the indian pharmaceutical congress-2012.