Research Proposal
Order Description
Hand in: 7th April 2016 by Midnight Turnitin submission
Structure: Word length should be around 2500 words (10% more or less) excluding references/bibliography (minimum 2/3 academic sources).
You are expected to write a research proposal covering all points mentioned below.
The process of refining research ideas into research questions, aims and then objectives is dealt with in class sessions and the course text. Remember – just because you don’t yet have a clear idea of what you want to do does not mean you cannot write a clear research proposal.
The research proposal should include ALL the following points:
Explain what your research question is. Remember that an unclear, inaccurate and non-focused research question will affect the entire proposal.
Explain why answering the research question should be important. What is the importance of the research you propose?
What are the aims and objectives? The objectives should be numbered and linked specifically to appropriate methods for achieving them.
Literature review on your topic giving:
explanations/definitions of key terms and ideas
key writers or/and theories
debates, arguments, linkage, connection, strengths, and weakness of key terms and ideas
Methodology. You should cover ALL the following in separate sections:
Data collection: how do you plan to collect your data? Using what research design? And using what research methods? Why? Describe and justify your choices (a justification of their appropriateness, strengths and weaknesses in relation to your study, including relevant references to the literature)
Sample: What is your sample? What is the size of your sample?
Sampling techniques: What is the sampling technique you are going to use (Probability or Non-Probability? And what technique exactly?)? Why? Describe and justify your choice.
Data analysis strategy: an indication of what types of analysis you would wish to perform on your data (write how you would plan to analyse your data)
A consideration of any ethical or professional issues raised by your proposal.
A research timetable (this can go in an appendix if preferred).
References/bibliography for ALL sources utilised in the text.
Assessment Criteria:
Content criteria will be specific to the chosen title and topic area.
Evaluation of your understanding of the research process will address depth of detail on, and sensitivity to, methodological issues and quality of linkages to course material.
Important Notes:
Remember that this is a proposal, so you DO NOT have to actually do the research for this assignment!
The aims should be clear and focused and the research objectives should flow logically from the aims. You should avoid making your aims too vague as this generally leads to too wide a range of specific objectives and to proposals which are not viable in terms of time, scope or depth – remember, your overall task is to refine your research ideas into a specific research question (one or two questions) and to present a coherent proposal enabling you to address your questions realistically.
Though it is impossible for you to accurately predict levels of access available to you and consequently to determine a precise sample frame, you should still be able to propose what kinds of access would be needed and rough estimates of the ideal sample frame and sampling strategy needed in order to collect the kind of data you propose. Sampling is often covered badly in these assessments so check that you have covered it adequately.
The Methodology session should demonstrate systematic thinking linking design, methods, and sampling. Explain clearly how the methods you have chosen will generate the data you need to accomplish your research aims.
Marks may be deducted for: poor referencing and incomplete or non-existent bibliographies, poor structure, and for serious mistakes in grammar and syntax.