research proposal social work example

Research Proposal

Research-oriented genre.

Often the first research-oriented genre that students will encounter in their coursework is the research proposal. Unlike an academic journal article , whose goal is to disseminate the results of new research, the research proposal’s job is to convince people to support a new research project. That means that it will discuss data collection efforts that have not yet begun, and in such a way that the reader will be convinced that these new efforts are a good idea.

The audience will include people with the power to allow a new data-collection project to proceed. Possible audience-members include grant-funding agencies (although grant applications are often a little different in structure and rules), university institutional review boards (IRBs), and also community partners whose help we might need in finding participants or administering the data-collection process. All of these groups have limited time or resources, and will be reluctant to let a new project move forward—unless we can demonstrate that it deals with an important issue or problem, that it would provide new knowledge that we don’t already have, and that it can be completed without causing ethical problems, or incurring too many expenses. Most of these audiences will have some expertise in the subject matter, so we can often save space by avoiding definitions of very common terms. However, audiences may include practitioners as well as researchers (community partner organizations are often run by practitioners, for example), so it is often important to be sure to define highly specialized technical terms, particularly if they are used differently by different researchers. These audiences have read quite a few journal articles, and will be looking to situate our work among other work on the same topic, so it is important to begin by contextualizing the study, establishing how it fits with (or alters) what we already know. It is also worth noting that social work clients or members of the general public will likely not read either the proposal or any report of the results, so we should be gearing our work to address social work professionals.

The overall argument is that our work will make a useful contribution to knowledge in the topic area. Because this is a research-oriented genre, aimed at improving “what we know,” the topic will often need to be very specific and very clearly defined. We will usually need to make a few key decisions before embarking on an outline and a draft: First, we will need to choose whether we are collecting more data about a problem, or testing an intervention. These two types of study are very different, and will strongly shape how we go about our library research. Then, we will need to decide whether we want to do a qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods study. This decision will change what kinds of research question we can ask, and how (see Variants , below, for further explanation). The draft’s structure has similar pieces to some that we might find in other genres (and these pieces each have their own argument and conventions, so this section will include links to the separate “subgenres” with more details):

Introduction: We will usually need to convince the audience that the time is right for this kind of research by establishing that the topic area is important—that a problem is serious, for instance, and has wide-reaching effects, and that it has (or should have) been an object of study for researchers. We need to establish exigency for new research. See the introduction subgenre for more information. For the purpose of the research proposal, the introduction should often be brief and specific, and should make the project’s high stakes very clear. If it accomplishes its goal, the reader will acknowledge that the problem or issue under consideration is indeed worth researching, and will continue reading. If it fails, the reader may decide that the problem or issue is not as important as others, and may decline to support the project, and/or stop reading altogether.
Literature Review: We will also usually need to convince the audience that our research can add to available knowledge, and to do that, we need to convey a sense of what is currently known about the topic, and where there are gaps in the knowledge—what is not currently known. Usually we want to set up the lit review so that our study is positioned to fill a gap—if we are gathering more data about the problem, we need to show which data are needed; and if we are testing an intervention, we need to show why we would want to do that intervention with this kind of population, and what prior interventions have been tested. The literature review should be organized thematically, or by the issues, rather than going study by study. See the literature review subgenre for more information. For the purpose of the research proposal, the lit review lays the groundwork for the data-collection project we want to propose, so it should establish clear gaps in the literature, and give a clear sense of where more data-collection is needed. If it accomplishes its goal, the reader will agree that we need to know more about the topic or issue than we do so far, and will keep reading, hoping to see that our subsequent sections will show how our project will do that. If it fails, the reader may decide that we already know enough about this part of the problem, or that the gaps in the literature are not very important, and may decline to support the project, and/or stop reading altogether.
Relevance to Social Work: Not all research proposals include this section, but it does appear in many versions of the research proposal assignment. Some readers, particularly those with social work backgrounds, such as community partners, will want to know that the new data-collection project is not just gathering data for data’s sake. The data should serve to improve social work practice or advocacy in some concrete, clear way, so this section should argue that meaningful improvements will result if the data collection project can be completed. It is also worth noting that clients or members of the public will not be likely to read either the proposal or any report of the results, so “raising awareness” is not usually an implication for a data-collection project. Our readers will be social-work professionals.
Ethical Issues: Not all research proposals include this section, but it does appear in many versions of the research proposal assignment. Readers such as IRB members will need to know that the researchers have thought through all of the potential ethical pitfalls or risks associated with the research project. This section will need to make clear claims about what risks might arise, and how the data-collection project will try to avoid them. The content of this section will vary from project to project, therefore, but it will likely include a discussion of any vulnerable populations involved with the study, matters of participants’ consent and risks of coercion, any potentials for mandatory reporting issues, and any and all dangers to participants, should they choose to participate.
Study Purpose & Methods: We need to declare clearly what our data-collection project is going to do, and how, so that readers know exactly what we are proposing to do. See the methods subgenre for more information. For the purpose of the research proposal, however, this section should be framed in the future tense, describing things we will do , rather than things we did , since we are proposing a new data-collection project that we have not done yet. Some versions of this assignment do not require us to write out a complete methods section, so it is worth checking the assignment instructions carefully. If these final three sections are successful, the readers will decide that the study is not only desirable, but also has practical implications, and is ethically feasible—and then they might allow the study to move forward!

The journal article should draw upon other academic sources, particularly in the lit review and discussion, and may also need reliable public data in either the lit review or the introduction. In the lit review, it is also often necessary to indicate what underlying theories of human behavior or intervention are structuring the development of new knowledge. For that purpose we may need to rely upon academic books, in addition to journal articles.

Research Proposal

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