Your research proposal is your formal, structured document explaining what you’re researching and, more importantly, why. That “why” is contained within your justification, which is going to do the heavy lifting of convincing reviewers that your research needs to be taken on as soon as possible.
Writing a convincing justification comes down to understanding the benefits of doing this research and making that crystal clear to the people reading your proposal. So the first step of any justification is to ensure you understand; How will your research benefit the field, community, and world? Once you know this, you can start crafting an epic justification.
What is a Justification in a Research Proposal?
Also, sometimes called the rationale, the justification is basically your reason for undertaking the research. It’s sort of like stating the problem that led to looking for a solution. The researcher explains why they chose to focus on this topic. This includes the significance of the problem and potential research, as well as the gaps in knowledge that the investigation is trying to fill.
Why is the Justification Important?
The justification is critical to your research proposal because it’s your why. It’s the reason you want to research and why the research is important enough to warrant all the work that will go into it.
The rationale can convince reviewers that you’ve put thought into this and that it’s not a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants decision you cooked up on the spot. A well-thought-out justification shows that you understand the intricacies and importance of the problem and have put effort into considering this research proposal.
What to Include For the Justification in a Research Proposal?
Background on All Previous Research
In order to highlight the importance of the research and how it will take knowledge forward, you have to show where the research has already been and what it found while it was there. This creates foundational knowledge for the other things you’ll bring up in your justification.
The Open Questions of the Study
The open questions give you and the reviewers an idea of potential areas for further exploration. These questions that don’t have a yes or no answer, that require explanations and thought to answer, help show where new research could be useful. These questions create clear objectives and goals for the research proposal.
Identify Gaps in Literature
Just like you already highlighted what has been studied, it’s also important to show what hasn’t been studied, and gaps in the literature do this. This can include processes and facts that haven’t been given deep-dive explorations, new avenues of exploration opened by other research, and more. Including gaps in the literature in your justification shows how the research proposal will contribute to research and give your field a more complete understanding of things. You can think of it like a jigsaw puzzle as by identifying what’s missing from the picture you can figure out how to fill it in to get a good view of the issue.
The Significance of Closing These Gaps
Here is where you tie it all together, highlighting how building off the existing research, answering open questions, and filling in the gaps in literature will provide benefits. Emphasize why addressing the gaps in information is so important, clearly outlining why conducting research that fills in the gaps will be better than allowing those gaps to remain unexplored.
Where in the Research Proposal Does the Justification Go?
The justification is the part of your research proposal that proves why this research is necessary. You can almost think of it like your main argument of why it’s essential, the one that’s most likely to turn reviewers’ heads and make them pay attention.
To do this effectively, put the justification early within your paper. Within your research proposal, the justification should lead up to your research topic, framing your research so that your reviewer can see why it’s important. Later, in your conclusion, you’ll reference this justification again to tie everything together.
Ideally, you would first have an introduction to the research paper, followed shortly by the justification.
How Long Should the Justification Be?
Every research proposal is a little different because different organizations and institutions have different standards. Before you get started, you must understand what those are, so you can fit your proposal and justification within those. Some even have full templates you fill in, almost like a form, to ensure you get all the information entered in the way they want it.
The justification itself can span anywhere from a few short sentences to 2 or 3 paragraphs. What’s important here is that all the justification information (previous studies done, research gaps, the significance of closing those gaps, and open questions of the study) is in a convincing and personal way that flows smoothly.
How to Write a Convincing Justification?
Focus on Scientific Merit
Research is meant to benefit the population somehow, and your rationale helps you show how that can happen. In your justification, provide clear and concise reasons for conducting the research. Be as clear and precise as possible because you want to communicate the importance and potential benefits of the investigation. This is also your opportunity to show that you understand the limitations of the potential research.
Be Detailed
The justification is essentially your opportunity to prove that you know what you’re talking about and can do a good job. Be detailed about the methods you plan to use, ethical considerations for the research, and how you’ll evaluate results.
Provide Convincing Arguments for Why Things Should Be Studied
Saying, “We should research this because it would be cool to find out,” is all well and good but doesn’t really show why something needs to be researched. Providing convincing reasons why research should be conducted and how that will provide potential benefits is critical to justifying the research.
A great way of doing this is by considering the broader impact of your work. Describe how this research could contribute to further knowledge not only in your field but in several others as well.