UU-EDU731-1: Dissertation
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Week 1:
Guidelines for writing a good
research proposal
Topic goals
To understand the purpose of producing a
research proposal
To examine the organizational structure and the
components of a good research proposal
key
To develop a good research proposal
Tasks –Forum
Please submit your research proposal using
the attached template.
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GUIDELINES FOR WRITING A GOOD RESEARCH PROPOSAL
1.1 What is a research proposal?
All postgraduate students are required to submit a research proposal for
approval before proceeding to the writing process of their final study.
Please read the guidelines below before preparing your proposal on the
template provided.
What is a research proposal?
A research proposal is the plan of your proposed study that is designed to:
• Define a clear research purpose and develop your research question
Discuss the methodology design that you are planning to follow in to
answer your research questions
Highlight its originality and/or significance at the introduction section in one
or two sentences
Explain how it adds to, develops (or challenges) existing literature in the field
at the introductory section in one or two sentences
Provide a timescale
Research proposals may be 2-3 pages in length, and no more or less than 500
words.
What is the research proposal for?
The research proposal is an important way of assessing the quality, the
significance and the originality of your ideas. Also, your supervisor is
responsible for checking the feasibility of your research study considering the
choice of the proposed methodology and the research questions. Please bear
in mind that your project will be conducted in the UUEDU-731-2 Dissertation
module. At the UUEDU 731-1, Dissertation 1 module you will develop the first
three chapters of your study (Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology).
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Please think very carefully about the purpose and the approach of your
research study and prepare a timetable in which you will demonstrate the on
how you are planning to complete your study within the given timeframe.
Research proposals are also used to assess your expertise in the area you want
your research to be conducted, you knowledge of the existing literature (and
how your project will enhance it). Moreover, they are used to assess and
assign appropriate supervision teams.
Noteworthy, research proposal gives you the opportunity to express your
passion and your interest in the subject area that you wish to explore further. It
is also an opportunity to attract the interest and the attention of readers and
persuade them about the significance of your study.
1.2. Is the research proposal flexible or fixed?
Good research proposals can be modified as the work progresses. It is common
for students to modify their original proposal in light of detailed literature
reviews, further consideration of research approaches and comments received
from the supervisors. Take to consideration that your research proposal is an
initial outline and not a summary of the ‘final product’.
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1.3 Structuring your Research Proposal
The following elements are crucial for developing a good research proposal.
Each item corresponds to a section in the research proposal template:
1. Title
Your title is preferable not to be modified. Be assured that you have included
important ‘key words’ related with your study in your title.
Wilkinson (1991) provides useful advice for creating a title:
1. Be brief and avoid wasting words, such as ‘: An Approach to … , A Study of
…,” and so forth.
2. Use a single title or a double title. An example of a double title would be: An
Ethnography: Understanding a Child’s Perception of War.”
3. Give a title no longer than 12 words which includes the focus or topic of the
study.
4. Pose the topic as a brief question. What question needs to be answered in
the proposed study? For example, a researcher might ask:
“What treatment is best for depression?” or “What does it mean to be
Arabic in
U.S. society today?” “What brings people to tourist sites in the Midwest?”
2. Project Summary
In this section you have to provide a summary of your proposed research in a
comprehensible manner in to be accessible to readers who are not
knowledgeable of the field; You need to present the aims, significance
and expected outcomes of the research study.
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3. Review of research literature
Give in one paragraph a description about the current status of research that is
related to your own research study. Name the most important contributions of
other researchers to the field. The proposal should contain a clear and logical
discussion of the theoretical framework of ideas that will guide your research.
The proposal needs to show your familiarity with the ideas you are applying to
your study and that you grasp the methodological implications of those
studies.
4. Research study details
This section should include the following sub-sections:
Aims/Objectives of the Project
According to Locke et al. (2007), the purpose statement indicates “why you
want to do the study and what you intend to accomplish” (p. 9). For example:
a. What do you want to know, prove, demonstrate, analyse, test, investigate
or examine?
b. List your aims in a logical sequence, e.g. The aim of this project is to:
Provide an outline of a research proposal
c. enable a prospective student to prepare a research proposal
Research Questions
This section should explain:
a. the research question(s) (1-3 should suffice) and may include the
hypothesis/objective to be addressed.
b. Don’t forget to develop each research question according to the method of
research that you use (qualitative or quantitative)
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Tips for writing qualitative research questions:
Develop one or two central questions followed by no more than five to seven sub-
questions.
Relate the central question to the specific qualitative strategy of inquiry.
Begin the research questions with the words what or how to convey an open and emerging
design.
Focus on a single phenomenon or concept.
Use exploratory verbs that convey the language of emerging design, such as Discover (e. g.,
grounded theory), Seek to understand (e.g., ethnography), Explore a process (e.g., case
study), Describe the experiences (e.g., phenomenology), Report the stories (e.g., narrative
research).
Avoid using verbs such as “affect,” “influence,” “impact,” “determine,” “cause” and
“relate.”
The research questions might change during the study in a way that is consistent with the
assumptions of an emerging design.
Use open-ended questions without reference to the literature or theory unless otherwise
indicated by a qualitative strategy of inquiry.
Define the participants and the research setting for the study.
(Padula & Miller. 1999. p. 328)
Tips for writing good quantitative research questions:
The use of variables in research questions or hypotheses is typically limited to three basic
approaches. The researcher may compare groups on an independent variable to see its
impact on a dependent variable.
Alternatively, the investigator may relate one or more independent variables to one or
more dependent variables. Third, the researcher may describe responses to the
independent, mediating, or dependent variables. Most of the quantitative research studies
fall into one or more of these three categories.
The most rigorous form of quantitative research follows from a test of a theory and the
specification of research questions or hypotheses that are included in the theory.
The independent and dependent variables must be measured separately. This procedure
reinforces the cause-and-effect logic of quantitative research (Creswell, 2009).
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Significance of /Contribution to the research study
In this section you should discuss the importance of your research study in
relation to the review of literature on the topic: discuss the areas which you
believe they are most important for your study and demonstrate your
understanding of the research issues, and present any existing gaps of
the literature that the research is intended to address.
You should also use this section to make links between your research and the
existing practices of the field which your study will contribute to.
Examine existing research taking place in the field and how your project
can support this.
Methodology
It is not the time to provide full details of the methods you will use to answer
your research questions but you have to present some information about how
you will proceed with the methodology (e.g. by defining the approach that you
will use, such as qualitative or quantitative approach, how will you collect data,
etc).
Research Plan and Timeline
Provide a weekly outline of how you will complete the work within the
scheduled.
time
1.4. Task – Forum
Please submit your research proposal using the attached template.
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Suggested articles
Creswell, J. (2014). Research Design. Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods
Approaches (4th ed.). California: Sage Publications
Maxwell, J. A. (2005). Qualitative Research Design: An Interactive Approach (2nd ed.).
Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.
References:
Creswell, J. (2009). Research Design. Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods
Approaches. California: Sage Publications.
Locke, L. F., Spirduso, VV. VV., & Silverman, S. J. (2007). Proposals t1wt work: A guide for
planning dissertations and grant proposals (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: Sage
Publications.
Padula, M. A., & Miller. D. (1999). Understanding graduate women’s reentry
experiences. In Psychology of Women Quarterly, 23, 327-343.
Wilkinson, A.M. (1991). The scientist’s
Englewood Cliffs, Nj: Prentice Hall.
handbook for writing papers and dissertations.
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