Research Proposal Guidelines

Suggested minimum of 10 pages, but the structure and length to be negotiated with supervisory panel

1.  What is the research all about?
Provisional title of the project - the purpose of this is to indicate to the reader the topic, the ‘point’ of the research.

2.  What’s the point of doing it?
Introduction - the purposes of this section are to indicate what will be achieved by undertaking the research,; what questions it will answer, and why these questions are important/worthwhile to ask/answer.

3.  Where is this research positioned within the literature?
Research Literature and References - The purposes of this section are to indicate broadly the nature of present understanding within the topic area and any gaps and weaknesses in the current literature; acknowledge literature referred to in the research proposal document and to indicate other literature expected to be drawn on for the research project.

4.  What questions will drive the research?
Research Objectives - the purposes of this section are to present the main objectives of the research and to present the more specific questions which will drive the research.

5.  How will the research be done?
Research Methods or Process - the purposes of this section are to indicate the theories and principles underlying the approaches to be adopted in the research; to outline the methods which will be used for achieving the research objectives; to highlight any ethical issues or dimensions raised by the research methods or process and to indicate the sources of data to be used and how these will be collected and analysed.

6.  When will the research be done?
Timeline - the purposes of this section are to outline the overall timeframe for the project, to indicate the projects main stages and deadlines and to indicate concrete milestones along the way including ethics approval.