Research questions: This section requires you to state clearly the questions that your research will address. There are likely to be several related questions, and when framing these it can be helpful start with the broadest (e.g., “What assessment methods are appropriate for evaluating the effect on sociality of dialogic music therapy with ASD children?”) and work towards the most focused (e.g., “Do non-verbal measures of motivation for social engagement provide a more more consistent longitudinal indication of sociality for ASD children than do verbal measures?) [or something like that—I’m sure that a real music therapist can come up with more cogent examples!]
- Research hypotheses: This section asks you to outline your hypotheses, indicating what you expect your research to reveal. Your hypotheses should be related directly to your research questions, and the way that you present them should demonstrate that you have a detailed understanding of your research topic.
- Overview of relevant research literature: The information that you provide in this section should show that you understand how your proposed research relates to what has already been done in the field that you propose to explore. You should be able to give a summary account of the existing literature, demonstrating its relevance to the research questions above.
Research methodology: Give an account of the methods that you intend to use to tackle your research questions, showing why these particular methods are the most appropriate. If you feel that you will require training or support in using these methods, you should indicate the source of the training or support here.
Significance of project for music therapy: You should indicate here the reasons why it is important for the field of music therapy that the reserach that you outline above should be conducted. Be realistic—incremental research that contributes well-founded knowledge to the field is as often just as important as research that appears to promise a major breakthrough!