Applicants for phd, mphil, or professional doctorate degrees in social science subjects such as education, economics, management, and sociology are encouraged to use the guidance below when planning their research proposal. This should involve a critical review of the existing theoretical and/or empirical literature /s as appropriate. The important thing to establish here is the extent to which your proposed thesis research makes a contribution i.e. Adds something theoretical, conceptual, methodological and/or empirical which is not already offered in this literature s.

Critical Analysis of a Qualitative Research Paper

This section should therefore introduce the issues that will be addressed by your research questions, and explain the importance of the research to others. In other words, it should establish the rationale for your proposed thesis, and should therefore proceed smoothly into research questions or aims. suggested word count: 750 1,0 provide a statement of your research question/aim, ideally in the form of a central over arching question/aim and two or three sub questions/aims.

Your research questions/aims can appear in any form, and certainly do not need to be expressed in the form of testable hypotheses. Do ensure however that they are sufficiently narrow – one of the reasons why many research degree applications are not successful is because the terrain outlined in the relevant proposal is simply too broad for a doctoral project. Please also remember that the research degree thesis is first and foremost an academic endeavour, not a consultancy or applied research project.

suggested word count: 100 300 this section should outline the empirical work you plan to undertake, if relevant. You may also want to refer to other exemplary empirical studies from which you have taken your inspiration. You should identify the method or methods you propose to use, and justify these choices i.e. You should also provide details of your proposed sample/s numbers of respondents and type of sample and/or secondary data sets, and again offer justification for these choices. Further you should indicate how and why you will achieve empirical access, if this is a pertinent issue. To what extent will these data capture or mirror the 'reality' of the phenomena under examination? how objective can you as a researcher expect to be.

Please also be aware that another reason why many applicants are rejected at proposal stage is because they fail to offer sufficient detail of their proposed methodology, or indeed to defend the choices they have made, or to demonstrate any engagement with the relevant literature in this regard. suggested word count: 750 1,0 for those applicants who wish to undertake theoretical research where neither primary nor secondary data will be used, the methods section above should be replaced with a section which explains exactly how the relevant theory will be cross examined in order to answer the research questions. Theoretical research typically involves an analysis of a chosen research issue/question which engages critically with appropriate theorists or theoretical traditions.

You should explain what these traditions or theorists are and why they have been selected to address your research question. suggested word count: 750 1,0 here you should include reflections on potential practical and empirical obstacles, conceptual/theoretical problems and difficulties, ethics, your own perspective on the issues at hand and how these issues may impact on your studies. One of the things all schools/departments look for in a potential postgraduate researcher is an awareness of some of the challenges they will face in progressing their proposed thesis project and of the extent to which these represent unavoidable limitations. suggested word count: 300 500 this should be a very brief wrap up of your proposed thesis project which summarises its key contributions and how you intend to realize them. suggested word count: 100 200 a list of all works referred to in your proposal. Quality is more important than quantity, demonstrating engagement with relevant literatures both subject specific and methodological as appropriate.

what is a phd research proposal? a phd research proposal is a statement of possible research that a student proposes to study during his/her phd course. Usually phd duration is of three or more years, and therefore, the identified problem or area of research should be big enough to be studied throughout this time. what are the contents of a phd research proposal? although proposals differ in their writing style, some of the basic contents of a phd research proposal are as follows: title page: a title page should contain the name of the proposed research, candidate, supervisor if known and the department or school to which it will be submitted. research title: the proposed research title should be clear, precise and should summarise the details which are given in the proposed research. introduction: a proposal starts with the introduction of research problem and some background information that supports or validates the existence of stated problem and need for the proposed research.

Publish Essays for Money

rationale or research questions: this section gives reasons for why this research is significant. It also put forward some questions which will be addressed in the proposed research. An alternative of research questions is hypothesis, which the student will prove or reject through his/her research. literature review: a literature review summarises the nature of studies which have been already done in the field of proposed research. It will bring out the gaps and arguments in the existing research that support the need of the proposed research, and how the proposed research will fill those gaps. aims and objective: aim and objectives will highlight what will be the outcome of the proposed research. methodology: methodology section gives the details of how the student will carry out the proposed research.

Here, student needs to provide information on data required, process of data collection, various possible data sources, data analysis, methods and techniques to be applied and research presentation. ethical considerations: if the research involves questionnaire or interviews with human beings, then international universities require an ethical approval prior to the beginning of the research. This is done to save the personal freedom and for the safety of the participants.

Dissertation Explicative Huis Clos

In the research proposal student needs to mention that ethical approval will be taken prior to the beginning of the field research involving human beings. budget: a few research proposals also require budget information. Budget information include the amount of total expected cost both direct and indirect, cost of any equipment required, cost of field study, accommodation and conference participation etc. If any other organisation is sponsoring the project then that information should also come in this section.