A Research Proposal Methodology Checklist

A proposal methodology should explain how your study can answer its research question. Naming a research method is only the beginning: the reader needs to understand the connection between the question, evidence, procedures and planned analysis.

Check the question-method relationship

Write each objective beside the evidence needed to address it. If an objective concerns lived experiences, explain how your approach captures those experiences. If it concerns differences or relationships between measured variables, specify the variables, measures and proposed analysis.

Review these eight decisions

  1. Design: Explain the approach and why it fits the question.
  2. Participants or sources: Define the population, documents or datasets and eligibility criteria.
  3. Sampling: Explain recruitment or selection, feasibility and the basis for the planned sample.
  4. Measures or instruments: State what each instrument captures and how its suitability will be assessed.
  5. Procedure: Describe the sequence of collection, storage and preparation.
  6. Analysis: Explain the planned steps, assumptions and how each objective will be addressed.
  7. Ethics: Identify approval requirements, consent, privacy and foreseeable participant risks.
  8. Limitations: Describe what the design can and cannot support.

Make the analysis plan specific

For a survey, describe how variables will be coded, missing data considered and relevant assumptions checked. Do not list statistical tests without explaining their relationship to the questions. For interviews, describe how material will be organised and interpreted, and how you will document analytical decisions.

Check feasibility before promising a timeline

Include time for approval, access to participants or materials, instrument review, recruitment, analysis and revision. Identify dependencies. A timeline that assumes immediate access or approval can hide a major project risk.

Final alignment test

Create a table with one row per objective and columns for data source, collection method, analysis and expected form of output. An objective with no corresponding evidence or analysis needs revision. An analysis step with no connection to an objective may be unnecessary.

Compare the structure of the Assam identity proposal sample and the food and feminist narratives proposal sample. These demonstrate presentation choices, not a universal methodology. For project-specific guidance, explore research proposal support.