How to Write a Prospectus

For those interested in performing research in a particular area, it is sometimes necessary to write a prospectus. A prospectus is basically a proposal outlining what you plan on researching, how you plan on conducting that research and what the main features of it will be. Often, students must write a prospectus before beginning theses, dissertations and independent studies. Professors and almost all researchers must write prospectuses before they are allowed to undertake sabbaticals, experiments and surveys or receive funding. Writing a prospectus can be a stressful task--without a good prospectus, those in charge of approving the research will probably reject it. There are a few conventions to keep in mind that will typically result in a well-written prospectus.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Decide on a tentative title for your prospectus. What are you researching, in one sentence or less? Let that inform your title.

2. Check for specific guidelines offered by the institution for which you are writing. There may be certain formats to follow and specific guidelines regarding your research.

3. Consider applicable headings for your prospectus. You should minimally have headings for an introduction, research description, procedures, research justification, and works to be cited. If you are requesting funding, there should also be a heading regarding costs and funding. These headings will help you to better organize your prospectus and will help explain your research to your audience.

4. Write the introduction. Give a short history of your topic, and define any jargon that may appear in your study. Give a brief explanation regarding what you are proposing to research.

5. Write a research description section. Give a more specific description of your proposed research; there may be some overlap with the introduction, but it will have less historical information, and begin to describe the purpose of your study. Propose hypotheses in this section.

6. Write a procedure section. Give an outline for your method of research. Describe your proposed methodologies and techniques. In a purely research and writing oriented study, there may be little to say here. In the case of scientific experimentation, describe the course of the experiment. In the case of a survey, describe the means of obtaining your information. Answer the when, where, and how of your study.

7. Justify your study. Provide a reason for undertaking this task. Explain how it is original, how it will benefit the field which you are studying.

8. Add a preliminary works cited section. Show that you have already begun research and are knowledgeable about the topic. Show that others are also interested in the topic of your research.

9. (Optional) Write a funding section. Describe any costs that may arise in your research, such as travel, word processing, supplies needed and payments that may need to be given to participants.

10. Edit your prospectus. Read over it, making sure that you have used appropriate words and sentence structures. Take it to a friend or acquaintance that can honestly critique you. If possible, take it to an editor or writing center for a more expert eye.

Tips & Warnings

• Write in an educated, formal third-person voice. Limit technical jargon, as some research committee members and prospectus reviewers may not be familiar with all the terminologies from your field of expertise. Be concise. Be assertive in your claims and have confidence in your ideas; just don't sound pompous or condescending. Make no assumptions in your proposal--you have not officially done the research yet. You are not setting out to prove something, but attempting to prove something. You are not explicating the relationship between X and Y, but discovering if there is a relationship between X and Y. Of course, there are exceptions to these rules, but following them will generally help you to appear informed, mature, and ready to research.

References

• Writing Your Research Prospectus
• Prospectus Guide

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