Begin with describing the problem. In this section, you should write about the background of your issue as well as what compelled you to do the research. For example, you can write about how people's reading habits have shifted with the introduction of technology devices and how many fear books are becoming extinct. Title this section "Background."
Introduce the research question. This is important because the research question is what you will be answering with your research. Finding out which demographics read the most, what kind of publications get the most readership or a longitude study of reading habits in the last century are examples of research questions. Title this section "Research Question."
Explain why the research is important. This is your chance to convince your teacher, sponsor or supervisor that your research is worth doing. Depending on who you want to do this research for, you should tailor this section with presenting facts that will benefit that organization or company. If you will be doing this research for school, explain what novelties you will bring to the field with this research.
Make an overview of the literature you studied so far. The more knowledge on the subject you have before starting the research, the better chance you have of making the research relevant. Adapt what you write about in this section to your research question. For example, if you're researching which demographics read the most, write about what has been written on the topic so far. Name the section "Literature Overview."
Introduce your data collection process. If you are researching reading habits of people, you could benefit from a survey. Detail the type of survey you will make, how you will distribute it and how many people you aim to give it to. Preferably, create a survey and add it to the appendix of the research proposal. Name this section "Empirical Research Methodology."
Present all of the literature. List all of the books and articles you used up to this point, as well as the literature you plan to use along the way. This is not the final list; you can freely add more sources as you go on with the research. Name this section "Literature Overview."