proposal introduction

The Proposal Writer's Guide Updated in 2014 by Christine Black. Originally produced by Don Thackrey. Introduction Writing a proposal for a sponsored activity such as a research project or a curriculum development program is a problem of persuasion. It is well to assume that your reader is a busy, impatient, skeptical person who has no reason to give your proposal special consideration and who is faced with many more requests than he can grant, or even read thoroughly. Such a reader wants to find out quickly and easily the answers to these questions. What do you want to do, how much will it cost, and how much time will it take? How does the proposed project relate to the sponsor's interests? What difference will the project make to: your students, your field, your patients, the state, the nation, the world, or whatever the appropriate categories are? What has already been done in the area of your project? How do you plan to do it? How will the results be evaluated or analyzed? Why should you, rather than someone else, do this project? These questions will be answered in different ways and receive different emphases depending on the nature of the proposed project and on the agency to which the proposal is being submitted. Most agencies provide detailed instructions or guidelines concerning the preparation of proposals (and, in some cases, forms on which proposals are to be uploaded); obviously, such guidelines should be studied carefully before you begin writing the draft. Bottom line: The principal investigator needs to keep in mind that a Grant Proposal is as much a marketing document as an intellectual document. Preliminary Steps You will benefit by consulting a few key individuals at an early stage in the planning of the proposal. The Sponsor’s Program Officer (PO). Regardless of the funding agency, it is advisable (and sometimes required) to contact the program.
An effective introduction discusses the meaningfulness of the study along while it presents the problem or issue.  Because it advocates for the need for your investigation and gives a clear insight into your intentions, the introduction presents a background and context for your investigation. If your introduction gets your audience's attention, they will stay with you throughout your proposal.      Because it includes all of the sections listed below, your introduction may be several pages in length. Use your new knowledge of the research proposal and Crafting a Research Proposal:  The Introduction to assist you in your organizing and writing of your own research proposal introduction. As explained before, not all elements of the introduction are discussed separately.  Many times several elements are discussed in one paragraph.  This list just reminds you of all of the things that should be discussed at some point in the introduction. Although these aspects of an introduction are described separately, some parts may, in reality, be combined together when the actual proposal is written.  1. These elements should all be included in some form in the introduction.  Each link has suggestions and tools to help you to plan for each. As a part of the Introduction, effective problem statements answer the question “Why does this research need to be conducted?”  The clear statement of the problem is the focal point of your research. It should state what you will be studying, whether you will do it through experimental or non-experimental investigation, and what the purpose of your findings will be.  In it, you are looking for something wrong, something that needs close attention, or something where existing methods no longer seem to be working. In your wording, be succinct and on target. Give a short summary of the research problem that you have identified.  A research proposal.
This section presents my schedule, costs, and qualifications for completing the proposed research. This research culminates in a formal report, which will be completed by December 5, 1997. To reach this goal, I will follow the schedule presented in Figure 1. Since I already possess literature on the subject of Yucca Mountain as a nuclear waste site, most of my time will be spent sorting through the literature to find key results, and presenting those results to the audience. Figure 1. Schedule for completion of the literature review. The formal presentation will be on October 27, and the formal report will be completed by December 5. More than 30,000 metric tons of nuclear waste have arisen from U.S. commercial reactors as well as high level nuclear weapons waste, such as uranium and plutonium [Roush, 1995]. This document has proposed research to evaluate the possibility of using Yucca Mountain as a possible repository for this spent nuclear fuel. The proposed research will achieve the following goals: (1) explain the criteria necessary to make a suitable high level radioactive waste repository, and (2) determine if Yucca Mountain meets these criteria. The research will include a formal presentation on November 11 and a formal report on December 5. References Clark, Raymond L., Background on 40 CFR Part 197 Environmental Radiation Protection Standards for Yucca Mountain, Proceedings of the 1997 Waste Management Conference (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997). Kerr, R., New Way to Ask the Experts: Rating Radioactive Waste Risks, Science, vol.274, (November1996), pp. 913-914. Murray, Raymond L., Understanding Nuclear Waste (Battelle Press, 1989). Roush, W., Can Nuclear Waste Keep Yucca Mountain Dry-and Safe? Science, vol. 270, (December 1995), pp. 1761-1762. Taubes, G., Blowup at Yucca Mountain, Science, vol.268, (June 1995), pp. 1836-1839.
The main purpose of the introduction is to provide the necessary background or context for your research problem. How to frame the research problem is perhaps the biggest problem in proposal writing.  If the research problem is framed in the context of a general, rambling literature review, then the research question may appear trivial and uninteresting. However, if the same question is placed in the context of a very focused and current research area, its significance will become evident.  Unfortunately, there are no hard and fast rules on how to frame your research question just as there is no prescription on how to write an interesting and informative opening paragraph. A lot depends on your creativity, your ability to think clearly and the depth of your understanding of problem areas. However, try to place your research question in the context of either a current hot area, or an older area that remains viable. Secondly, you need to provide a brief but appropriate historical backdrop. Thirdly, provide the contemporary context in which your proposed research question occupies the central stage. Finally, identify key writers and refer to the most relevant and representative publications. In short, try to paint your research question in broad brushes and at the same time bring out its significance. The introduction typically begins with a general statement of the problem area, with a focus on a specific research problem, to be followed by the rationale or justification for the proposed study. The introduction generally covers the following elements: State the research problem, which is often referred to as the purpose of the study. Provide the context and set the stage for your research question in such a way as to show its necessity and importance. Present the rationale of your proposed study and clearly indicate why it is worth doing. Briefly describe the major.
A blank page can be intimidating. You have a blank page at the start of each proposal. And then another at the start of each section. Most people go through a warm up process while they try to figure out what to say. They start off with something traditional and easy. Here are some examples: Our company is pleased to submit this proposal to Founded in 1901, our company is an industry-leading firm that Our company is located in Somewhere, USA and specializes in Our company provides It's easy to describe yourself, but it's the wrong way to start your proposal. Proposal writing is very much like having a dialogue with the reader. You are a salesperson and the reader is the customer. How would you like it if you visited a store, and after you told him what you are interested in, he started his response with one of the openers above? What if a competing salesperson approached you and instead started off by talking about how he could deliver something that fulfills your needs and has a number of other benefits? Who would get your attention? Your introduction should be about the customer — not about you. The customer has two crucial questions: How you are going to fulfill their needs? What benefits they will derive from doing business with you? So when you are faced with a blank page, you should start by telling them how you can fulfill their needs. Even better is to say what benefits you will deliver while fulfilling their needs. And even better still is to deliver benefits while fulfilling their needs in a way that discriminates you from the competition. Here is the formula: Tell them that you will fulfill their needs or deliver what they want. Tell then that you will do it in a way that will provide benefits that are important to them. Introduce yourself by showing that you have the right qualifications to fulfill their needs. Then, explain why you are better positioned.