want to spend money on your research study. The section should answer the following
questions:
• What might the results mean in regards to the theoretical framework underlying
the study?
• What suggestions for future research might come out of your study?
• Will there be any practical implications of the research – for the way people
behave? For policies or laws?
• How might the results contribute to solving a problem?
• What will be improved or changed as a result of the proposed research?
• Can the results of the study be implemented, and if so, what stakeholders will
benefit?
• Why are the outcomes of the research important to our understanding of the
world?
Writing Tip: This section can be placed in several places – after you discuss your
research objective or at the end of the entire proposal – after your
hypothesis/predictions and methods sections.
Explain What Research Has Already Been Done on Your Topic: This section
should answer the question: How does my research question fit into the field as a
whole? You are entering an academic dialogue when you begin a research paper.
Contextualize your research question by providing background research. Here are
several tips for reviewing literature/research related to your topic:
1. Focus: cite only literature related to your research problem.
2. Compare/contrast the various arguments, theories, methodologies, and
findings expressed in the literature: what do the authors agree on? Which
articles apply similar approaches to analyzing the research problem that you
will take? What do experts in the field seem to disagree on or approach
differently? What are the debates or controversies in the field?
3. Identify the gaps in the existing knowledge/research that your research can fill.
What has the previous research NOT done that your study will do? How does
your research depart from what has been done before?
• “The previous research has mistakenly assumed that….” or “Although most experts
in the field believe …., they have overlooked …”
• “None of the previous research has examined ……”
• “Despite prior observations of ……, it remains unclear why/how…….”
OR
Connect the existing knowledge/research to your own area of research and
investigation: what does your research draw upon from previous research? How