What is a research project?

We explain what a research project is and the parts that compose it. In addition, the steps to develop one and examples.

1. What is a research project?

A research project is understood as  a methodological document, often academic , which explains and describes in detail the set of procedures that will be undertaken, the  hypothesis that is pursued with them and the bibliographic support that is available, for a exploration to come in a specific area of ​​knowledge: sciences, social sciences , humanities, etc. This is a specialized report prior to carrying out the experiments or documentary reviews.

Research projects are usually used in the academic and scientific-technological fields, since they are areas that basically consist of researchers and have projects funded to develop a particular area of ​​human knowledge.

Commonly research projects  are evaluated by a specialized and impartial jury , which must decide whether the investigator or group of them proposes a possible, valuable and worthy investigation to confer a university degree or a funding fee (and even both).

The thesis , in that sense, are usually preceded by a research project where it is made clear what it is intended to do and how.

2. Parts of a research project

Normally, a research project contains most of the following items:

• Tentative title . A job name of the research, in which the topic to be addressed and the approach are tentatively summarized.
• Problem Statement . An introduction to the topic of research, emphasizing the most relevant aspects for it and the questions to which a solution will be sought.
• Background . A review of previous research on the same or similar topics, explaining how it differs from itself and what aspects are inherited from them.
• Justification . Very linked to the above, it gives a perspective on how much research will contribute to the field of knowledge in which it is inserted and why it should be funded or taken into account.
• Theoretical framework . A relationship between the theoretical content and the steps of the investigation, detailing the axes on which it will be based, the theoretical sources to be used and why.
• Objectives . Here the general objective of the investigation will be explained , its primary and central role, and then also the specific objectives, that is, secondary, linked to each stage of the investigation.
• Methodological framework . A list of the procedures and practical steps to follow during the investigation, equipped with explanations regarding the procedures themselves: why choose one type of experiment instead of another, detail a work schedule, a budget relationship, etc.
• References . It details the bibliographic content consulted, whether it provides citations and key texts , or only serves to create a framework for research reference.

3. Steps to develop a research project

Broadly speaking, the steps to develop a project should be:

• Define the topic . It cannot begin to be investigated without having at least some coordinates regarding what interests us and why. At this point personal passions come into play.
• Make a bibliographic aqueo . Review above all what has been said on the subject, the main authors, gather material, refine the sources that will be used and give them a first reading .
• Define the objectives . Once you know what is said about it, you can choose your own path, a series of questions that trigger the investigation.
• Define the method . It refers to choosing which authors to work with, in what way, with what experiments, what type of research to carry out, etc.
• Prepare the report . Write the project sections and check that they express the desired points of view.

4. Example of research project

• Tentative research title:

The figure of the beggar in nineteenth-century French literature

• Problem Statement

The nineteenth-century French literature is heiress of the Enlightenment and therefore sticks to the realistic school, trying to reflect the problems of the real and everyday world. In that context, the beggar emerges as a figure released from social pressure and capable of making judgments, in which the author’s own thinking could be reflected.

• Background

In most approaches to literary realism, attention is paid to the figure of social outcasts: beggars and prostitutes. So does the critic Pinkster (1992) in his book on the poems of Baudelaire dedicated to poverty, among other critics of interest.

• Justification

Understanding the correlation between the beggar and the nineteenth-century French author will give us clues about the history of the notion of “author” in the West and its entry into crisis in the early twentieth century, which could explain the emergence of the avant-garde, among them surrealism, born in France itself.

• Theoretical framework

The work of Pinkster (1992) et. al., as well as the books  The Beggar as a universal archetype  (Fourier, 2007) and the works of Charles Baudelaire, Jean Barnaby Amé and Alphonse Allais, which will be our study corpus.

• goals

– General objective: To verify the discursive sense of the character of the beggar in three French authors of the 19th century.

– Specific objectives:

a.- Demonstrate the recurrence of the figure of the beggar.

b.- Review the speech put in the mouth of the beggar taking into account the political context of the time.

c.- Compare what was found with the opinions expressed by the authors.

• Methodological framework

The works will be read and the findings will be collated critically. Then an explanatory monograph will be written.

• Bibliography

– Pinkster, E. (1992). French literature of the 19th century .

– Fourier, M. (2007). The beggar as a universal archetype .