Research proposal is your research plan-the BIG PICTURE of your research project and the key GATEWAY document

to your dissertation It sets out the main details of how your research will be conducted
It is also a key document in formulating and crystallising your topic ideas into a do-able dissertation It is the assessment vehicle for the Research Methods module

 The

overall purpose of the research proposal is to present and justify a research idea you have and to explain the practical way in which you think this research should be conducted

What are the research questions? What are the research objectives? Why is the research significant? How will the data be collected? Where will the research be conducted (e.g. organisation, sector, country)? Who are the key participants (e.g. respondents)? What are key milestones in the research process?

Organising and developing your topic ideas Testing the scope of the research Initiating the research process Predicting the start and end points of the project Highlighting problems and issues early Managing risk Enabling communication of progress Convincing other people of the merit of your idea

Your proposal is a plan for the future & as such it should be short (3,000 words excl. reference). Your dissertation is the complete work so it should be longer (15,000-18,000 words) The word suggests looking forward, to what the researcher plans to do in the future not history. Therefore you should employ future tense, for example, The study will analyse The proposal is worth 100% of Research Methods module assessment

Typical Dissertation chapters

Dissertation title Acknowledgement Abstract Introduction/Background (longer) Literature review (comprehensive) Research methodology (detailed) Data analysis/Findings Conclusions/Implications Reference/ Bibliography

Typical Proposal contents

Proposed title Introduction/Background (shorter) The statement of problem (i.e. research questions) The aim and objectives of the research Literature review (preliminary) Research methodology (brief) Research ethics consideration Timeframe/Timescale Reference /Bibliography

Proposed title (clearly define the problem to be investigated ) Introduction/Background (background material necessary to motivate the investigation of the chosen topic from theory or empirical studies) The statement of problem (a brief discussion of the research questions essential for consideration in your topic) The objectives of the research (defining a main research aim and a number of formulated research objectives) Literature review (the theory, concept or model you intend as the main theoretical approach) Research methodology (demonstrating the ways in which you are going to solve these problems and justify why they are on right ways to answer your research questions, i.e. research design) Research ethics consideration (indicating you are aware of research ethical issues, e.g. citation source properly and protecting participants) Timeframe/Timescale (a dissertation time-plan, e.g. Gantt chart) Reference /Bibliography (using Harvard referencing format)

An INTRODUCTION to your topic with your AIMS & OBJECTIVES set out clearly An IN-DEPTH CRITICAL REVIEW of the relevant theories, models and concepts and research already existing into the topic area An outline and critical justification of the chosen METHODOLOGY for your research A representation of the data and analysis METHOD An ANALYSIS of your results, comparing your findings to existing research and linking with your theories Appropriate CONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS