Research Proposals: Project Methodology & Audience

The rest of your research proposal is relatively easy to handle. This does not mean that the final sections are less important than the two earlier ones -- just that they're shorter and are more straightforward.

Again, we will use the lighting on campus proposal.

Here's a quick breakdown of the Project Methodology/Resources and Project Audience sections, before we get to the samples.

  • Project Methodology/Resources
    • 2-3 paragraphs
    • Indicates methods by which you plan to conduct research into the projected subject (interviews, on-site research, questionnaires, surveys, traditional research methods)
    • If you already have key information (articles, books, comments from people, etc) that you know you will be using, list them here and provide a brief summary of each.
  • Project Audience
    • 1-2 paragraphs
    • Identifies specific audience(s) to whom the report will be addressed and indicates what considerations you must make for this audience (language, visuals, etc.).
      • If you are writing a recommendation report to someone at VT, choose your audience wisely. President Sands or fellow students are not the best audiences. Instead, ask yourself Who can help you accomplish your solutions?

Sample Sections for Recommendation Report

Project Methodology

To further investigate the lighting problem on campus, our team will conduct on-site research and collect data through surveys distributed to students and faculty. These methods will provide information that we believe will show the need for improved lighting conditions in order to make people feel safer.

First, we will need to visit commonly cited points of interest to evaluate and document current lighting conditions in those areas. Specifically, we will examine whether the area is properly lit and whether the lighting contains functional bulbs. These areas will include major parking garages and important walking paths through campus, such as

  • North End Parking Garage
  • Perry Street Garage
  • The Cage
  • Duck Pond
  • Veterinary School
  • Sports Fields & Facilities
  • Chicken Hill Lot

Second, we plan on contacting the Virginia Tech Electric Services Office either in-person or by phone to ask about the process for reporting broken lights. We will also ask them about the procedures involved in requesting the installation of additional lighting within their service area.

Third, we will create and distribute surveys to students at Virginia Tech and ask for their thoughts about, and experiences with, lighting on campus. We plan to ask questions such as whether the individual is satisfied with on-campus lighting overall, whether lighting needs to be improved and in which places, and whether current lighting conditions make them feel safe.

Finally, our team also plans on interviewing faculty members who work on campus later in the evenings to determine their perspective on the lighting situation. The results of these surveys and interviews will promote the practicality of our proposal.

Project Audience

The proposal is intended for the Associate Vice President and Chief Facilities Officer, Christopher Kiwus. We have chosen Mr. Kiwus because he provides leadership for the more than 400 Facilities Department employees and he oversees the care, maintenance, and development of Virginia Techā€™s campus. Mr. Kiwus can also direct us to other facilities that will need to be informed of this project. We will work towards convincing Mr. Kiwus that our project is worth pursuing by contacting him via his email, chkiwus@vt.edu.

 

Sample Sections for Informational Report for Non-Expert Readers

Project Methodology

I plan to use a combination of traditional research methods and one interview. The interview will be with my roommate, someone I consider to be of genius level intellect who is a physics major specializing in quantum mechanics and is way more versed on this subject than I am. Many of our conversations about this kind of thing fueled my interest in and desire to write a report on it.

I have taken the time to gather key resources:

  • Aad, G., et al. (ATLAS Collaboration). (2012). Observation of a new particle in the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Physics Letters B, 716(1), 1-29.
  • Chatrchyan, , et al. (CMS Collaboration). (2012). Observation of a new boson at a mass of 125 GeV with the CMS experiment at the LHC. Physics Letters B, 716(1), 30-61.
  • Griffiths, D. J. (2008). Introduction to Elementary Particles. Wiley-VCH.
  • Halzen, , & Martin, A. D. (2010). Quarks and leptons: An introductory course in modern particle physics. Wiley.
  • Khachatryan, , et al. (CMS Collaboration). (2012). Observation of a new boson with mass near 125 GeV in pp collisions at āˆšs = 7 and 8 TeV. Journal of High Energy Physics, 2013(6), 081.

Project Audience

The primary audience is general science enthusiasts. That said, I do want to be able to hit a broad age range, from young adult to seniors. Iā€™m assuming they have some kind of interest in science, maybe not super knowledgeable but are at least willing to learn. Even though they are knowledgeable, I want to be careful to not assume knowledge on specific things such as quarks or leptons. Sure, theyā€™ll know what an atom is, but subatomic particles are a different beast, including the forces that bind them. Because the subject matter is extremely technical, Iā€™m going to use a lot of analogies to illustrate my points.