The research proposal template

---

GUIDELINES FOR DEVELOPING AN ACTION RESEARCH PROPOSAL 
Compiled by Berhanu A. (PhD), August 2022
 
This document has been set up to assist you in preparing the text for your action research 
proposal. It is intended as a document to guide you in developing your proposal in terms of text 
layout, section headings and sub-sections. The full research proposal must be between 5 and 10 
pages and should present the following elements. 
1) TITLE: provide a concise, accurate and informative title which immediately orientates your 
reader to the focus of your project. 
2) 
INTRODUCTION: 
explain why you are doing the action research; provide a brief 
overview of the background to the intended action research by addressing the following 
questions.
 
a. What is the background of your topic or focus? 
b. What is the context of previous work (related professional literature) that has been done on this topic? 
c. 
What are you proposing to study?
d. What is the basis of your interest in this topic or focus?
3) STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM: state the problem/issue clearly in the light of a 
thorough literature review (define the issue that exists in the literature, theory, or practice 
that leads to a need for the study). [Why does your action research need to be conducted? 
What are your own history and experiences that have led you to become interested in this 
area of inquiry?] 
4) OBJECTIVE: What is your objective for this action research? And what are your specific 
research questions? 
5) 
POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE PROPOSED ACTION RESEARCH: 
summarise, perhaps in point form, the main areas where your action research will 
make a contribution. [
Whose interests are served by your action research? Who benefits? 
What is the study's potential significance for your classroom or local context? Who might 
care about your study? Where and with whom might you share your findings?] 
6) 
METHODOLOGY - outline how the action research will be undertaken
a. 
Describe the research context (where and who)
: 
Where are you going to conduct this study?
what 
is the specific context in which the study will be conducted (e.g. school population, the classroom 
environment, curriculum, etc.)? Where will you gather the data? Who will be the participants in your 
research? How will you select the participants? 
b. 
Research design/approach
: 
What is your general approach to research design (experimental, case 
study, qualitative, etc.)? How and why did you choose this approach? 
c. 
Methods of data collection: What important kinds of data will you explore? What specific methods of 
data collection will you use (e.g. questionnaire, interviews, field notes, teaching journal, interviewing, 
etc.)? What are your tentative plans for data analysis? How do you plan to organize and analyse data 
as you collect it? 
 
7) WORK PLAN 
– describe what you will do. It is a plan of the tasks which will enable you to 
achieve the stated aims of your action research. To devise a plan, you need to break the 
proposed research down into a series of steps or stages. You may consider the cycle of an 
action research (planning, acting, observing and reflecting), and you then outline the tasks 
within each cycle. Try to provide as much detail as possible in your plan as this planning 
should help you to carry out the action research more effectively and efficiently. 
8) STUDY PERIOD: include timetable for completion of the 
action research
. This can be 
illustrated in table. 
9) RESOURCES REQUIRED FOR THE ACTION RESEARCH: include budget if applicable. 
10) 
REFERENCES:  
list the references used in the proposal.