Your research proposal should connect the research that has been done on your topic to the research that you propose. Specifically, it should include the following:

1. An introduction in which you state the questions bout which you have done research, why these questions are interesting to you, and why they are important. You should also discuss how you research is connected to current discussions of welfare reform.
2. A literature review that summarizes your findings from the literature on your topic. Since you have a detailed literature review assignment, I'm not providing much detail here.
3. An identification of issues/questions that have arisen in your mind as a result of your literature review. That is, given what you have read, what gaps exist in the literature?
4. Which of the questions identified in 3 do you intend to investigate? If you are going to look at more than one, discuss how they are connected. What methodology do you intend to use to investigate this question or these questions? Be as detailed as you can in discussing how you might go about your research. If you have read studies that use similar methodologies, be sure to discuss this, as well as why you think this approach will work for your question(s). What are the strengths and weaknesses of the approach that you are suggesting? Where possible, draw on the essays from Marsh and Stoker to support your approach and methodology. You might even discuss the ontological and epistemological assumptions that you are bringing to your research.
5. What are your hypotheses? Justify these by referring back to the literature that you have reviewed.
6. Conclusion. Again, tell the reader why your work is important and how it will contribute to building knowledge in your area. What implications might your research have for politics or for policy?

Your proposals should be 10-15 typed, double-spaced pages. If I assigned any books or essays that fit with your research, I expect that you will use them in this paper.