1. Introduction
In research there is a need to outline all the topics that the researcher wishes to search, in order to organize the work in a systematic way that allows a reorientation without wasting time in the arduous scientific task, for this purpose the Preliminary or Preliminary Project arises. project to be completed prior to any investigation.
Sabino (1994), points out in this regard: "It is therefore necessary to organize our ideas, define our goals and develop a work program before undertaking an action that can sometimes be delayed in time and space." Seen in this way, the preliminary draft constitutes a work scheme that helps to give meaning to the investigation in a systematic way.
Within this order of ideas, the present work is intended to clarify what corresponds to the conceptualization that various authors have about the preliminary project, its objectives and characteristics. It should be noted that there is not much bibliographic material on the Preliminary Project, however the bibliography referring to the Project is a little more extensive, in this sense, within this work, the aspects related to the objectives and characteristics have been the result of the vast majority of the discussion that the authors have made on the subject.
2. The Draft
For the development of a project, a series of stages is necessary that provide information and elements that help to carry out the investigation as is the preparation of the Preliminary Project. In this sense, the authors consider that a Preliminary Project serves the researcher to have an outline that will help her to clear up the greatest number of doubts in relation to the final or definitive Project and that will allow her to systematically order her thinking. The fact that the systematization of ideas is proposed should not mean a limitation, since the ductile nature that every Preliminary Project must have cannot be set aside.
In such a way, that the preparation of the Preliminary Project is very helpful for the researcher. Next, some concepts of different authors about the meaning that each one makes of the Draft will be pointed out. In the first place Sabino (1994) highlights:
A Blueprint is prepared before developing an investigation… it helps to foreshadow what will be the varied and sometimes enormous activities that a scientific investigation requires. It is therefore necessary to organize our ideas, define our goals and develop a work program… it has the mission of anticipating, therefore, some of the characteristics that the investigation will have to have. (p.107)
In this way, the Preliminary Project is the previous step to the elaboration of the Project and which will serve of great support to the researcher by allowing him to coordinate the steps to follow to obtain the most out of his work. The Blueprint is a sketch, just the tip of the Iceberg that means a scientific work.
Secondly, Ramírez (1999) indicates that: “The function of the Preliminary Project is to be a first draft or working paper that has to connect the basic ideas about the research… the extension of the Preliminary Project should not be excessively long; as it is made up of the basic starting ideas ”. In this sense, the Preliminary Project is less elaborate than the Project itself, as it combines the previous elements of an investigation but in a rough way, without reaching a deep study of them, since this study will be elaborated in depth when develop the Final Project.
Objectives of the Preliminary Project
Once the different concepts presented by different authors on the Draft have been studied, in the same way, the objectives of the same should not fail to be mentioned since these constitute the "why" of the problem within an investigation, therefore, it should be indicated what as precisely as possible what you want to communicate to the reader. Any research document must have objectives so that the achievement of achievements can be verified. These should be specified very clearly and should never be lost sight of on the job.
It can be pointed out that an investigation must have a main or general objective and others derived from the same or specific ones. There may be more than one general objective, as well as several specific objectives that express the scope of the generals in a concrete way. They must be closely related to the problem posed and will express the results that are desired at the end of the investigation and then translate in an affirmative way, what the initial questions pose.
Characteristics of the Preliminary Project
Understanding that the Preliminary Project is the previous step of all research and in which it is collected or synthesized what this whole process will be, the researcher must then locate where he is going, that is, set goals and in turn design a work schedule that guides him actions more precisely in order not to lose the way to go in time and space. In this way, the characteristics that a preliminary draft must have should be highlighted:
- It can be structured in different sections following a sequence that can be altered according to the need of the author or the institutional criteria for which it is carried out.Its mission is to anticipate some of the characteristics that the investigation will have such as: the problem around which it raises the objectives that are consequently drawn, the theoretical foundations that support it and eventually the hypotheses to be verified, the general lines of the methodology to be deployed, the background and the bibliography. It is flexible when accepting the inclusion of aspects that have been forgotten or have gone unnoticed, so it does not have rigid schemes. It is a short document that can be prepared and submitted to manuscript. It allows the researcher to clarify their ideas and discuss them with experts or advisers.
3. Conclusion
Once the bibliographic review that allowed us to develop the topics previously exposed, it is concluded that:
- At the moment in which an investigation is intended to be carried out, one of the steps that the researcher must take will be to carry out a work scheme that helps to organize the various procedures to follow to avoid wasting their efforts. This work scheme is called by some authors Pre-project or Pre-project. In a Pre-project the researcher must be precise in the ideas to be developed, taking into account the conciseness, the rigor of expression and the effort of synthesis so as not to get lost in the explanations The objectives are an important part of all research, through which it is possible to visualize where the research is heading.The objectives are directly related to the problem and their function within the Preliminary Project is to express the results once the investigation is completed. In a Preliminary Project, general objectives and specific objectives that depend on the general ones are presented and these in turn express the general scope that is pursued. One of the characteristics of a Preliminary Project is that it allows to put together a work scheme and it can be structured in different sections following a sequence that can be altered.Its mission is to anticipate some of the characteristics that the investigation will have to have It is flexible, it is a short writing that can be prepared and submitted to manuscript, allows the researcher to clarify their ideas and discuss them with experts or advisers and systematizes the research and therefore saves time,money and effort.
