Carefully-selected SAGE Journal articles expand upon chapter material, and accompanying exercises offer practice in applying the concepts.

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Article 1: Sandelowski, M., & Barroso, J. (2003). Writing the proposal for a qualitative research methodology project. Qualitative Health Research, 13(6), 781-820.

Summary: Writing the proposal for a qualitative study is a challenge because of the emergent nature of qualitative research design. Designing studies by conducting them—as opposed to conducting studies by design—proposal writers can only anticipate how their studies will proceed. Qualitative research proposals are thus exercises in imaginative rehearsal.

Questions to Consider

1. Design dictates what the quantitative researcher will do; in contrast, what the qualitative researcher does determines the design. Does your research have any ethical concerns that should be considered?
2. Creswell discussed the importance of writing as thinking and the importance of getting words out of heads and onto paper. Draft a 1–2-page overview of your project including topics such as the research problem being addressed, the purpose of the study, central questions being asked, sources of data, and the significance of the project for different audiences.

Article 2: Cloutier, C. (2016). How I write: An inquiry into the writing practices of academics. Journal of Management Inquiry, 25(1), 69-84.

Summary: Scholars have long claimed that good writing underpins good science.

Questions to Consider

1. At its core, academic writing is about “entering into a conversation” with peers and members of the scientific community to which one belongs. Who are you “conversing” with as you construct your proposal?
2. A large part of writing is in fact not writing, writing need to be continuously fed through reading and taking, drawing and thinking. Develop a plan that will help you be a successful “writer” also identifying areas of strength and weakness in the writing process.