Writing a research proposal

and preparing the literature review

AOA7001
Research Methodology in Literary Studies
A typical research proposal:
• is read by academics with an interest in your field. Please
check on the faculty/Department website for your area
of study to ensure there is a member of staff with
relevant expertise.
• ranges from 1,000 to 3,000 words.
• is judged both on content and proposal format.
A postgraduate research proposal should:
• clearly define the topic you’re interested in and show
you understand your research area.
• show you have started to identify and develop an
original and interesting research question.
• demonstrate you understand how to conduct research.
• look professional – it should be typed, in good English,
well-structured with suitable headings and clear and
legible.
• include a bibliography, listing the books, articles and
websites you have referred to.
Research proposal guidelines

• Project title
Provide a working title for your research that includes
keywords and communicates simply what your research is
about.
Research objectives

• What are you trying to achieve with your research? What is the
purpose? As discussed earlier, this comes back to the original
reason why you're applying for a research degree. Are you
addressing a gap in the current research? Do you want to look at
a theory more closely and test it out? Is there something you're
trying to prove or disprove? To help you clarify this, think about
the potential outcome of your research if you were successful –
that is your aim. Make sure that this is a clearly focused
statement.

• Your objectives will be your aim broken down – the steps to

achieving the intended outcome. They are the smaller proof
points that will underpin your research's purpose. Be logical in
the order of how you present these so that each succeeds the
previous – ie, if you need to achieve 'a' before 'b' before 'c', then
make sure you order your objectives a, b, c.
Literature review

• Now that you have your question clarified, it is time to explain the why.
Why are you choosing to research problem 'x' or issue 'y'? Here you
need to demonstrate an understanding of the current research climate
for your area of interest (current status of the research topic).
• A review of relevant literature and theories relating to your proposed
research area that shows you understand the major lines of argument
that have been developed and the ideas and findings of key researchers
working on your topic.
• Providing context for your research topic through a literature review
also shows the assessor that you understand what is currently being
discussed about your topic and what has already been published.
Demonstrate you have a strong understanding of the key topics,
important studies, notable researchers etc in your area of research and
how these have contributed to the current landscape.
Significance of the study

• Why is your research question or hypothesis worth asking? How is the

current research lacking or falling short? What impact will your
research have on the discipline? Will you be extending an area of
knowledge, applying it to new contexts, solving a problem, testing a
theory, or challenging an existing one?
• Provide an indication on how you envisage your research will
contribute to debates and discussions in your particular subject area.
Will it make an original contribution? How might it fill gaps in existing
work or extend understanding of particular topics?Establish why your
research is important by convincing your audience there is a gap.
• Your research proposal is your own statement of originality. What will
be the outcome of your research contribution? Your research proposal
should demonstrate both your current level of knowledge and how the
pursuit of your question or hypothesis will create a new understanding
and generate new information. Show how your research is innovative
and original.
Methodology/Theoretical Framework
• Provide an overview of the methodology and techniques you will use
to conduct your research. Which materials and equipment you will
use? Which theoretical frameworks will you draw on? Which method
will you use to collect data?

• Highlight why you have chosen this particular methodology, detailing

its own merits, but also why others may not have been as suitable. You
need to demonstrate that you have put thought into your approach and
why it's the most appropriate way to carry out your research. It should
also highlight potential limitations you anticipate facing, feasibility
within time and other constraints, ethical considerations and how you
will address these, and general resources etc.
Work schedule
• A work plan is a critical component of your research
proposal because it indicates the feasibility of completion
within the timeframe and supports you in achieving your
objectives over the course of your degree.

• Consider the milestones you aim to achieve at each stage of

your research. A PhD or master's degree by research can
take two to four years of full-time study to complete. It
might be helpful to offer year one in detail and the
following years in broader terms. Ultimately you have to
show that your research is likely to be both original and
finished – and that you understand the time involved.
Resources

• Building on the information provided in your proposed

research methodology and work plan, provide the details
of the resources you'll need to carry out your research
project. What significant resources are required for the
success of your proposed project? You might consider any
equipment, fieldwork expenses or travel. This should also
include a proposed budget, which is important to give an
indication of how realistic your research proposal is in
terms of financial requirements and whether any
adjustments need to be made accordingly.
Bibliography
• Provide a list of references that you've made throughout
your research proposal.
• While the actual empirical work you undertake may differ
to your proposal, it is essential you have an understanding
of the issues associated with conducting research and the
potential to design a research study to address a specific
set of issues.

• You can still make changes to your proposal once you have
been accepted for a research degree, however as it is the
foundation of your working relationship with your
supervisor, it cannot be radically altered without
discussion and consultation.
What is a Literature Review?

• an account of what has been published on a topic by

accredited scholars and researchers.
• a part of the introduction to a thesis.
• purpose is to convey to your reader what knowledge and
ideas have been established on a topic, and what their
strengths and weaknesses are.
• must be defined by a guiding concept (e.g. research
objectives, the problem statement, your argument).
• not just a descriptive list of the material available, or a set
of summaries.
Writing a literature review lets you demonstrate skills in 2
areas:
1. Information seeking: the ability to scan the literature
efficiently, using manual or computerized methods, to
identify useful articles and books.
2. Critical appraisal: the ability to apply principles of
analysis to identify valid and unbiased studies.
A literature review must do the following:

1. Be organized around and related directly to the thesis or

research question you are asking/developing.
2. Synthesize results into a summary of what is and is not
known.
3. Identify areas of controversy in the literature.
4. Formulate questions that need further research.
Why do a literature review?

• To identify gaps in the literature

• To avoid reinventing the wheel (at the very least this can
save you time and avoid making the same mistakes as
others)
• To carry on from where others have already reached (to
build on the platform of existing knowledge and ideas)
• To increase your breadth of knowledge of your subject
area
• To identify seminal works in your area
• To provide the intellectual context for your own work,
enabling you to position your project relative to the work
of other scholars in the field
• To identify opposing views
• To put your work into perspective
• To demonstrate that you can access previous work in your
area
• To identify information and ideas that may be relevant to
your project
• To identify methods that could be relevant to your project
Source: Bourner, T. The research process: four steps to success. In T. Greenfield (Ed.), Research
methods: guidance for postgraduates. London: Arnold, 1996.

As far as the literature review process goes, ultimately the goal for
students is to complete their review in the allocated time and to ensure
that they can maintain currency in their field of study for the duration of
their research.
How do I write a literature review?
Ask yourself questions like these:
1.What is the specific thesis, problem, or research question that my
literature review helps to define?
2.What type of lit review am I conducting? Am I looking at issues of
theory? Methodology? Policy? Quantitative research? Qualitative research
(e.g. studies)?
3.What is the scope of my lit review? What types of publications am I
using (e.g. journals, books, archival documents, popular media)?
4.How good was my information seeking? Has my search been wide
enough to ensure that I have found all the relevant material? Narrow
enough to exclude irrelevant material? Is the number of sources I’ve used
appropriate for the length of my paper/thesis?
5.Have a critically analysed the literature I use? Do I follow through a set
of concepts and questions, comparing items to each other in the ways they
deal with them? Instead of just listing and summarizing items, do I assess
them, discussing their strengths and weaknesses?
6. Have I cited and discussed studies contrary to my perspective?
7. Will the reader find my lit review relevant, appropriate, and useful?
Ask yourself questions like these about each book or article
you include in the literature review:

1. Has the author formulated a problem/issue?

2. Is it clearly defined? Is its significance (scope, relevance, severity)
clearly established?
3. Could the problem have been approached more effectively from
another perspective?
4. What is the author’s research orientation?
5. What is the author’s theoretical framework (e.g. feminist,
postcolonialist, deconstructionist, New Historicist, cultural
materialist, Marxist, psychoanalytical, etc.)?
6. What is the relationship between the theoretical and research
perspectives?
7. Has the author evaluated the literature relevant to the
problem/issue? Does the author include literature taking positions
she or he does not agree with?
8. How does the author structure the argument?
9. In what ways does this book or article contribute to our understanding
of the problem under study, and in what ways is it useful for practice?
What are its strengths and limitations?
10. How does this book or article relate to the specific thesis or question I
am developing in my own study?
“Green (1975) discovered that…”
“In 1978, Anderson observed that…”
“Later, Smith (1980) illustrated this in…”
A better technique:
“There seems to be a general agreement on x (for example White 1997,
Brown 2000, Anderson 2003, Green 2011), but Green sees x as a
consequence of y, while Anderson puts x and y as […]. While Green’s work
has some limitations in that it…, its main value lies in […]”

• Approaching your literature review in this way forces you to make

judgments and furthermore, to distinguish your thoughts from the
assessments made by others.
• It is this whole process of revealing limitations or recognizing the
possibility of taking research further which allows your to formulate
and justify the aims and objectives of your own study.