We explain what the justification of a project is, the issues it addresses and how it is carried out. Also, a detailed example.
What is the justification of a project?
The justification is one of the most common sections of any research or other type of project. It consists of a reasoned explanation of the reasons that motivate the realization of the project. seeking to answer the question “Because?” either “So that?”. It is common for it to be formulated jointly with the background of the project.
Generally, a justification will address topics such as:
- The background of the project and the way in which the project is linked to such a tradition or trajectory, that is, how it is inserted in its specific field.
- The importance and relevance of the project in their specific area of knowledge or activities, that is, their specific contribution to humanity.
- The news or innovations it offers to future readers and researchers in the area.
- The way in which the theoretical aspects will be handled methodological and practical aspects involved in carrying out the project.
- If applicable, it should also be addressed the economic or logistical viability of the project in view of the possible results obtained.
A justification can be as extensive as needed, but the most detailed perspectives possible are usually preferred, especially for feasible projects.
Importance of the justification of a project
The justification is a section of vital importance for explain the scope and limitations of the project as well as its eventual results and possibilities.
The detailed presentation of what you aspire to achieve, how and for what purposes, allows you to understand what is at stake in carrying out the project. This It is particularly important if it is about asking for financing or also if we are opting for a university degree or degree. Let's think that justification is called that because it justifies, that is, it puts in its proper context what we propose to do.
How to justify a project?
To justify a project, it is advisable, above all, to answer the following questions in as much detail as possible:
- Who has tackled the topic before us?
This is our starting point in any investigation. It allows the formulation of some background information, either as a section independent of the justification, or as its first part, which will also serve as an introduction to the reader.
Have there been similar projects in the past, or are we inaugurating an area? Did they address exactly the same thing, or remotely similar aspects? What achievements did they have and where did they fall short? How is our project different from them?
- Why do we want to carry out the project?
Much of this answer will become clear if we answer the previous question correctly. No project comes out of nowhere, and already in the introduction or statement of the problem, the thematic and historical context of the research topic or feasible project must be explored very well.
That is why it should not be difficult to say what the meaning of doing what we propose to do is. Are we going to revolutionize the field of knowledge? Are we going to subject a specific idea to trial and verification? Are we going to successfully accomplish what others could not?
- How do we plan to carry out the project and what resources would it involve?
Again, if we are clear about the answer to the previous question, this other one should not cost us too much. It is about explaining from a methodological, theoretical and practical perspective, how we would achieve that purpose that we explained before, and which corresponds, by the way, with the general and specific objectives of the project (a different section).
What type of resources (material, intellectual, etc.) will we need, and in what way? How will we dispose of them? Do we have any planning designed to achieve our purposes?
- Why do we plan to carry it out that way?
The last question to answer will serve as a closing to the section, and is the conjugation of the previous ones. If we know how they tried it before, we know how we will try it and we know why, it is perfectly possible to answer why.
That is, how is our method different from the previous ones, and how does it respond to making our project valuable? What about our working method will serve future generations? Will we prove something with it? Will it be a replicable experience in the future?
Having answered all these questions, we will have our justification virtually made. It will then be enough to polish and unify the writing, add graphics, tables or textual quotes, or whatever we need to support what has been said.
Example of justification for a project
Next, we will briefly develop an example of how these questions could be answered to build a justification, using the hypothetical case of a vaccine project for Covid-19, whose information is entirely fictional:
- Background
Since the Coronavirus Covid-19 epidemic became global in March 2020 and was recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization, numerous vaccine projects to counteract its contagion have emerged. The first of these was the Kosher Labs project in Israel, led by Grigori Mendell et al., and whose results were published in Science (March, 2020, pp. 88), in which an interesting use of ginger was demonstrated as a deactivating product of the lipid membrane of the virus…
- Our research
The project at hand, unlike its predecessors, will not propose the deactivation of the virus, as it has traditionally been understood in vaccines since the 18th century, but on the contrary the replication of the viral RNA in human stem cells that, following the Helsinki method (1999), are non-replicative but respond to the immunoglobulin of the X459 antigen, whose importance in curing Covid-19 was demonstrated in the Mendell and Apocatepétl trials, detailed above.
To do this, we will have the Argentolabs stem cell bank, which has been made available since the beginning of the pandemic for experimental medical purposes, and we will replicate the Fester-Krunning method that gave such good results in the fight against Ebola in South Africa (cf . tables 1 and 2).
Our main limitation, in this sense, will be the budget and technical availability of the virology section of the Massachusetts University Hospital, in which we will not only have a constant flow of patients and samples, given the state of the pandemic in the United States. United, but of appropriate personnel for the trials, whose participation will be used as part of the post-doctoral program of the University in question.
With this project we not only seek to put an end to a pandemic that is wreaking havoc on the world's health and economy, but also to establish an important precedent for technical and university cooperation, which could be beneficial for future experiences, overcoming national barriers and borders. , to provide a global ailment with an appropriately global response.
References
- “What is the justification of a degree project?” in APA Standards.
- “Justification” at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (Colombia).
- “Formulation of the justification of a project” (video) at Universidad Continental (Peru).
