6 Summary

Writing a good research proposal is an important step in your research journey. Not only is it  a gateway to winning the approval of a prospective supervisor and (potentially) admissions to honours or other research programs, it also helps you to clarify your research idea and imagine its full implementation. As we have demonstrated in this chapter, your proposal is a tentative roadmap and a checklist of the research process that you envision. As such, it can help you to stay on track with your research targets throughout the life of your work and ensure your success. Undoubtedly, it takes effort and significant time investment to produce a strong research process but by following the principles outlined in this chapter, you can have an effective proposal that will help you impress your prospective supervisor. We admonish you to invest time in your presentation (make sure it is neat, proof-read and edited) because first impression matters. Remember to include all the steps: cover page, abstract, introduction, research questions, literature review, methodology and analytical plan, limitations, significance and conclusion, timeline (optional) and reference list.