Proposal is a suggestion or intension, especially one puts forward formally or officially. Proposal in the health research mean different in different categories of people. It is a marketing document to an investor, it is a legal and binding document to a PI and an investor. Above all it is a document that states the purpose and the content of study to be performed by an investigator. The proposal document consists of the plans and the goals of a research programme and also the willingness and acceptability of the investigator or institution towards such plans to achieve the goal proposed.
There are different types of proposals such as letter/concept proposal and full proposal. Unsolicited or non-pleading proposal is to be first written in the form of letter proposal, than only will it be forwarded for further evaluation. The letter proposals are developed into full proposals only after it has been approved by the donors, may it be national or international, private or governmental. The letter proposal comprises of the preliminary interest to an investor. Full proposals are often request for proposal (RFP).
There are certain formats that have to be fulfilled in health research proposal writing. According to Nepal health and research council (NHRC) five steps or parts to be cleared in the writing of a proposal. The 5 steps are:
Part 1- Administrative data sheet
Part 2- Financial data sheet
Part3- Research proposal description sheet
Part4- Ethical considerations
Part5- Annexes
There are certain steps that are to be followed in writing a health research proposal. The steps are multiple so as to ease the pathway toward the goal of the research programme. The steps that are to be considered while starting the thought of a research or writing a proposal are: question you must ask, steps you will take, important elements, information that is already available, literature review, literature and other available information, additional data needed and the way to acquire it, research methodology, resource, budget plan and personal timeline. Each step that are to be followed in health research proposal development is truly very important due to the fact that these are the steps that determine the credibility of the investor and the institute that are initiating the research plan. The steps are to be followed in writing the proposal to the health research since each step mentioned has a significance in itself. Some of the significance are mentioned as follows:
-Question you may ask—What is the problem and why should it be studied?
-What information is already available—Why to research and what to expect to achieve?
-Literature review—Formulation of objectives and no duplication of previous papers.
The main reason a proposal fails is that the people do not follow the certain steps that are required to be fulfil while writing the proposal. The steps if followed attentively will allow a good proposal to be written due to the fact that it covers all the aspects of a health research protocol that are to be followed not only in the paper but also in the practicality of the research scenario. Looking into some of the causes of failure of the proposal like lack of familiarity with funding organization and need; which can be covered by looking into the budget plan as well as the logistics available, study or topic not a priority to the funder or duplication of previous studies; which can be covered by looking into the literature and available information, no consistency in different components of proposal and so on.
Therefore for a good proposal to be written the investigator and the investor as well have to have a good knowledge about what a proposal is, what are the types of proposals, what are the formats that have been lead forward by the NHRC and most importantly what are the steps that are to be met while writing a proposal.
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