• • 1. New Proposal—A proposal submitted to a sponsor for the first time, or a proposal being resubmitted after having been declined by a potential sponsor.
    2. Revised Proposal—This modifies a proposal that is pending or is otherwise unfunded, but   not official declined by the sponsor. If a proposal has been declined, a new proposal must be prepared.
    3. Supplemental Proposal—A supplemental asks for an increase in support for a proposal that has already been funded. The requested increase would occur in the current budget period   and may involve a broadening of the project’s approved scope. Since additional funding is requested, a new budget is required.
    4. Continuation Proposal—A continuation applies to a multi-year award. The continuation proposal requests the already approved funds for the next phase (or next year) of the project. Typically, sponsors require a progress report and budget before releasing additional funds. These proposals only apply to project and budget years that were approved by the sponsor the original award.
    5. Pre-proposal/Notice of Intent—The purpose of the pre-proposal is to peak the interest of a potential sponsor. It typically does not include a cost estimate and is not expected to  result in an award. Interested sponsors will ask for a full proposal.
    1. Title Page: Most sponsoring agencies specify the format for the title page, and some provide special forms to summarize basic administrative and fiscal data for the project. Titles should be comprehensive enough to indicate the nature of the proposed work, but also be brief.
    2. Abstract: The funder may use the abstract to make preliminary decisions about the proposal. An effective summary states the problem addressed by the applicant, identifies the solution, and specifies the objectives and methods of the project. This summary should also outline funding requirements and describe the applicant’s expertise.
    3. Table of Contents: Very brief proposals with few sections ordinarily do not need a table of contents; the guiding consideration in this is the reader’s convenience. Long and detailed proposals may require, in addition to a table of contents, a list of illustrations (or figures) and a list of tables. If all of these are included, they should follow the order mentioned, and each should be numbered with lower-case Roman numerals. The table of contents should list all major parts and divisions (including the abstract, even though it precedes the table of contents).
    4. Introduction (including Statement of Problem, Purpose of Research, and Significance of Research): The introduction of a proposal should begin with a capsule statement of what is being proposed and then should proceed to introduce the subject to a stranger. It should give enough background to enable an informed layman to place your particular research problem in a context of common knowledge and should show how its solution will advance the field or be important for some other work. The statement describes the significance of the problem(s), referring to appropriate studies or statistics.
    5. Background (including Literature Survey):
    1. Description of Proposed Research (including Method or Approach): The comprehensive explanation of the proposed research is addressed not to laymen but to other specialists in your field. This section is the heart of the proposal and is the primary concern of the technical reviewers. Remember as you lay out the research design to (1) be realistic about what can be accomplished. (2) be explicit about any assumptions or hypotheses the research method rests upon. (3) be clear about the focus of the research. (4) be as detailed as possible about the schedule of the proposed work. (5) Be specific about the means of evaluating the data or the conclusions. (6) be certain that the connection between the research objectives and the research method is evident. (7) spell out preliminary work developing an analytical method or laying groundwork as Phase 1. At the end of that phase you will be able to report that you have accomplished something and are ready to undertake Phase 2.
    2. Description of Relevant Institutional Resources: In general this section details the resources available to the proposed project and, if possible, shows why the sponsor should select this University and this investigator for this particular research. Some relevant points may be the institution’s demonstrated competence in the pertinent research area, its abundance of experts in related areas that may indirectly benefit the project, its supportive services that will directly benefit the project, and its unique or unusual research facilities or instruments available to the project.
    3. List of References: The style of the bibliographical item itself depends on the disciplinary field. The main consideration is consistency; whatever style is chosen should be followed scrupulously throughout.
    4. Personnel: This section usually consists of two parts: an explanation of the proposed personnel arrangements and the biographical data sheets for each of the main contributors to the project. The explanation should specify how many persons at what percentage of time and in what academic categories will be participating in the project. If the program is complex and involves people from other departments or colleges, the organization of the staff and the lines of responsibility should be made clear.Any student participation, paid or unpaid, should be mentioned, and the nature of the proposed contribution detailed. If any persons must be hired for the project, say so, and explain why, unless the need for persons not already available within the University is self-evident.
    5. Budget: Sponsors customarily specify how budgets should be presented and what costs are allowable. The budget delineates the costs to be met by the funding source, including personnel, non-personnel, administrative, and overhead expenses. The budget also specifies items paid for by other funding sources. Includes justifications for requested expenditures.
    • What is a proposal?
    • Types of proposals
    • Parts of a proposal
    • Must-have resources
    • 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: you/ your university, your students, your discipline,                                                                                              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?
    • Why should you, rather than someone else, do this project?

Proposal

 
 What is a proposal?

A proposal is a request for support/facilitation  of sponsored research, instruction, or extension projects.
Good proposals quickly and easily answer the following questions:
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 typed); obviously, such guidelines should
be studied carefully before you begin writing the draft.
 Types of proposals

Proposals can be sponsored or nonsponsored. MRI can help you with any type of proposal, from
new proposals (those being submitted to the sponsor for the first time) to renewals. Each type of
proposal, outlined below, may have its own requirements.
 
Preproposals
Requested when a sponsor wishes to minimize an applicant’s effort in preparing a full proposal. Preproposals are usually in the form of a letter of intent or brief abstract. After the preproposal is reviewed, the sponsor notifies the investigator if a full proposal is warranted.
Continuation or non-competing proposals
Confirm the original proposal and funding requirements of a multi-year project for which the sponsor has already provided funding for an initial period (normally one year). Continued support is usually contingent on satisfactory work progress and the availability of funds.
Renewal or competing proposals
Are requests for continued support for an existing project that is about to terminate, and, from the sponsor’s viewpoint, generally have the same status as an unsolicited proposal.
 
Parts of a proposal

Proposals for sponsored activities generally follow a similar format, although there are variations depending upon whether the proposer is seeking support for a research grant, a training grant, or a conference or curriculum development project. The following outline covers the primary components of a research proposal. Your proposal will be a variation on this basic theme.
Be sure to
(1) make clear what the research problem is and exactly what has been accomplished;
(2) to give evidence of your own competence in the field; and
(3) to show why the previous work needs to be continued. The literature review should be selective and critical. Discussions of work done by others should therefore lead the reader to a clear impression of how you will be building upon what has already been done and how your work differs from theirs.
Why is it Important to Pretest a Questionnaire?
Pretesting can help you determine the strengths and weaknesses of your survey or questionnaire. By making your main concern for your pretest to have a reliable question format and also a good wording and order. By establishing a correct pretest, your questionnaire will yield better results.
There are two types of survey pretests: participating and undeclared.
Participating pretests show that you tell respondents that the pretest is a sample for determine how; rather than asking the respondents to simply fill out the questionnaire, participating pretests usually involve an interview setting somewhere in a setting where respondents are asked to explain reactions to question form, wording and order. This kind of pretest will help you determine if your questions are understandable for the respondent to answer truly to their best opinion.
When conducting an undeclared pretest, you do not tell respondents that it is a pretest. You have the respondents manipulated into a situation where they feel like this is a real questionnaire. This type of pretest allows you to check your choice of analysis and the standardization of your survey efficiently.
It is said that if researchers have the resources to do more than one pretest, it might be best to use a participatory pretest first, then an undeclared test. Both tests prove to show reliable data in regards to just one test. A pretest is made to gain insight into potential mistakes and misinterpretation. It makes room for improvements by results from the pretest.