Every dissertation or thesis requires Proposal/Synopsis for getting approval from the mentor (supervisor/guide). The format of the proposal is followed by the university/college all over the world as under:
RESEARCH TITLE
INTRODUCTION
- Background
- Rationale
- Country/Company Context
- Aims & Objectives, Research Questions / Hypothesis
LITERATURE REVIEW
RESEARCH DESIGN & METHODOLOGY
TIME PLAN
CONCLUSION (Optional)
REFERENCES & BIBLIOGRAPHY
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General Guidelines is described below in details for Research Proposal (students not limited by these guidelines)
RESEARCH TITLE
Initially this might be regarded as a working title, and ideally should mirror closely the content of the introduction. The title is particularly important as it will get people to stop and listen.
INTRODUCTION
You have to introduce the topic and clarify the significance of what you are trying to present. In addition, in this section you have to present the:
- Research aims
- Research objectives
- Research questions / Hyopthesis
Please, provide references. Give academic information.
LITERATURE REVIEW
This section will demonstrate your knowledge of the literature and make a critical link with the research question to be investigated. Students are expected to critically review at least 6-10 sources to underpin the study. The literature should mostly rely on published academic journal articles in the research area. This critical activity should produce a conceptual framework.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
This section should provide a detailed rationale of how you intend to achieve your research objectives.
You are expected to address the following areas:
- Type of investigation: Explain clearly whether your research can be classified as an exploratory, descriptive or hypothesis testing study. Refer to the lecture notes and textbook for details on each type.
- Data collection method: Explain how you are going to collect the data (e.g. postal questionnaire, telephone interview, focus group, etc.) and why this fits the purpose of your research.
- Sampling method: Explain whether you plan to use a probability or non-probability sampling design and the specific sampling technique. The study participants should be able to offer the right type of information to enable you address the research problem.
- Accessibility issues: what accessibility issues are you likely to encounter when you collect the data? How are you going to manage the accessibility issues?
- Ethical issues: You must discuss any ethical issues that are relevant to your research topic, participants, and method. Discuss how you are going to deal with the ethical issues.
- Data analysis plan: how you intend to analyse the data you will collect? This section must be consistent with the previous section on data collection method and must be mindful of the nature of the data collected, whether this is quantitative or qualitative.
- Research limitations: Define the limitations of the study that you believe you may encounter and could be affect the quality, scope, or value of the research.
PROPOSED DISSERTATION STRUCTURE
As part of your proposal, given that your proposal will eventually lead to your dissertation, you also need to provide justifications as to the structure of your dissertation and justify why the structure is appropriate the way that you have devised it.
TIMETABLE
You may use a Gantt chart or any other method to show how you will use your available time to complete your proposed research. This will provide an indication of the viability of the proposal. You will need to justify your plan.
REFERENCES
The reference list at this stage need not be lengthy, only sufficient to inform your proposal. The list must include all the sources that were cited and consulted in writing the research proposal.
There are many referencing styles followed by the universities all over the world like Harvard Style, APA (American Psychological Association), OSCOLA and MLA (Modern Language Association) etc. whichever style is preferred by your university, you must use it consistently throughout your proposal/assignment.