Academic writing skills are essential for social science research proposals, but how can you teach them effectively? In this article, you will learn some practical strategies to help your students develop clear, coherent, and convincing proposals that address the main elements of a research project.
The first step in teaching academic writing skills for social science research proposals is to help your students identify the purpose and audience of their proposals. A research proposal is a document that outlines the rationale, objectives, methods, and expected outcomes of a research project. It is usually written to convince a potential supervisor, funder, or reviewer that the project is worth pursuing and feasible. Therefore, your students need to understand the expectations and criteria of their target audience, and tailor their proposals accordingly. You can provide them with examples of successful proposals in their field, and discuss the key features and conventions of academic writing in social science.
For any text you need to write, or message you need to transmit, the first and main step is correctly identify your audience and set what your purpose is. You need to have a clear ideia about what message you want to transmite and who will receive it.
The second step in teaching academic writing skills for social science research proposals is to help your students develop a clear research question that guides their project. A research question is a specific and focused question that addresses a gap or problem in the existing literature, and that can be answered empirically. It should be relevant, original, and feasible. You can help your students formulate their research question by asking them to identify the main topic, subtopic, and aspect of their project, and to use the PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome) or SPICE (Setting, Perspective, Intervention, Comparison, Evaluation) frameworks to narrow it down. You can also encourage them to use interrogative words such as what, how, why, or to what extent to make their question more precise.
In academic papers you must develop a clear research question. You must keep what you want to research in mind in each step of your creation process.
The third step in teaching academic writing skills for social science research proposals is to help your students review the literature related to their research question. A literature review is a critical analysis of the existing sources that provide the background, context, and justification for the research project. It should demonstrate the knowledge and understanding of the students on the topic, and highlight the gaps or limitations that their project aims to address. You can help your students conduct a systematic and comprehensive literature search, and to evaluate and synthesize the sources using criteria such as relevance, credibility, currency, and quality. You can also teach them how to organize and structure their literature review using themes, categories, or frameworks, and how to cite and reference their sources properly.
Academic papers have your own structure, and you must review the literature. You need to identify the most important authors and compare their visions and approaches. When you present your ideas and points of view you must show what these authors wrote about it.
The fourth step in teaching academic writing skills for social science research proposals is to help your students describe the research design and methods that they will use to answer their research question. A research design is a plan that specifies the type, scope, and logic of the research project, such as whether it is quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods, exploratory, descriptive, or explanatory, cross-sectional or longitudinal, etc. A research method is a technique that collects and analyzes the data, such as surveys, interviews, observations, experiments, etc. You can help your students choose and justify the most appropriate research design and methods for their project, and to explain how they will ensure the validity, reliability, and ethics of their research. You can also help them write a clear and detailed description of their research design and methods, using subheadings, tables, or diagrams if needed.
It's key to focus not only on the technical aspects of writing but also on the unique demands of social science research. You can start with workshops on the basic principles of academic writing, emphasizing clarity, precision, and formal style. The next step would be workshops or seminars about the structure and components of a research proposal in social sciences, covering elements such as the introduction, research questions, literature review, research methods, and expected outcomes, among others. Ensure these workshops are planned in such a way that participants work with a real-life idea, allowing them to receive timely feedback and have their document ready for the next proposal submission deadline.
The fifth step in teaching academic writing skills for social science research proposals is to help your students outline the expected results and implications of their research project. A result is a finding or outcome that emerges from the data analysis, and an implication is a conclusion or recommendation that derives from the result. You can help your students anticipate and describe the potential results and implications of their research project, based on their research question, literature review, and research design and methods. You can also help them discuss the limitations and challenges that they may encounter, and how they will address them. You can also teach them how to write a concise and persuasive summary of their research project, highlighting the main points and contributions.
The final step in teaching academic writing skills for social science research proposals is to help your students revise and edit their proposal before submitting it. Revising and editing are essential processes that improve the clarity, coherence, and correctness of the proposal. You can help your students revise their proposal by giving them feedback, asking them questions, or using checklists or rubrics to evaluate their proposal. You can also help them edit their proposal by proofreading it, checking for spelling, grammar, punctuation, and formatting errors, or using tools or software to assist them. You can also encourage them to seek peer feedback, or to read their proposal aloud or backwards to spot any mistakes or inconsistencies.
An outline for a social sciences research proposal is easy to share and create. It's easy for anyone to put the required information into a set outline. However, where the proposal stands out or truly comes to life is where it is able to push the boundaries on what is the norm. Are there new ways of understanding the data that you'd like to explore? Are there new conclusions you'd like to share? etc.