Discipline but Most Can Be Said to

¶ … discipline but most can be said to have certain common basic building-blocks. A research proposal serves as a kind of a road map for the final project. The first component of the proposal is the title, which should give the reader a clear idea of the proposed subject matter. "It has to be informative and comprehensive and must honestly represent the research" (Johnson 2014). The title is followed by an abstract (usually composed of approximately 200-250 words) that summarizes the content of the rest of the proposal.

The actual introduction, as it suggests, introduces the research problem or thesis and anticipated results. It may also justify the methodology used. The definition of terms section defines critical words relevant to the research given that the colloquial meaning of certain concepts may be different than the researcher's definition or the definitions of terms may vary between disciplines. The literature review explains the literature that was consulted to arrive at the research problem statement and places the research in a broader historical context.

As well as explaining what the proposal is about, it is also important to explain the limitations of the study in a "delimitations" section. "This section not only addresses how and why your study will be narrowed in scope but also explains what you are not investigating and why you cannot or have chosen not to do so. This is the area that narrows your topic to time, place, and content" (Johnson 2014). No project can be infinite in its scope.

The methods section explains the actual methodology of the research (whether it is an.