The research proposal I decided to look at as an example falls under my same research topic, yet is a drastically different research project/proposal. The research proposal I looked into on the topic of crime was titled, From Barrio Street Gangs to Transnational Criminal Organizations: A Qualitative Analysis of Eighteenth Street and Mara Salvatrucha. While it has to do with crime it focuses more specifically on gangs and details surrounding particular issues of a particular one. While it is laid out slightly differently than my own, both research proposals have all of the same information regarding the research project and how it will be carried out. The proposal I examined broke theirs down into eight different parts. These parts were: research topic, background, research objective, core research question, research methods and approach, personals motivation, and timeline. These eight parts encompass all the necessary information that should be presented in a proposal and was carefully thought out.

In the first section research topic the authors briefly explains the topic that they are looking into surrounding the gangs and why it is interesting and worth researching. In the background, the longest section, the author talks about what is already know about the topic they want to research. Research that has already been done and relevant information to know about the topic before engaging in research. This is the section in our proposal where we, “search the literature.” Following this the next section research objective does exactly what it says. It gives an overall objective that the research is trying to accomplish. I found this to be just a more general version of overview of that actual research question. The next section the core research question is where the author presents there specific research question. In this case, the author’s research question was, to identify the catalysts which have facilitated the global expansion of these two gangs, and what this expansion means to the gang itself. The author also went more in depth explaining the question after they presented it. In the research methods and approach section is where the author explains what type of data, and data gathering methods that will be used for the research project. In this case is was interviews and government hearings and reports. The personal motivation sections is just where the author of the proposal explains why this research projected was interesting to them and why they wanted to pursue it. The final section timeline is just that, a timeline of when different sections of the research process will be conducted. Overall the proposal presented all the necessary information well and in an organized way that was easy to follow which is the point and sign of a successful proposal.

http://www.urop.uci.edu/SURP/sample_proposals/SURP%20Social%20Sciences%206.pdf