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    Proposal Guidance

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    Sotiris Tria
    A research proposal is an essential element of any application for a research degree. It is a brief essay, often 1,000 words or less, saying what you want to do. Research postgraduates have two supervisors throughout their period of study.

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    Proposal Guidance

    Uploaded by

    Sotiris Tria
    197 views2 pages
    A research proposal is an essential element of any application for a research degree. It is a brief essay, often 1,000 words or less, saying what you want to do. Research postgraduates have two supervisors throughout their period of study.

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    A research proposal is an essential element of any application for a research degree. It is a brief essay, often 1,000 words or less, saying what you want to do. Research postgraduates have two supervisors throughout their period of study.

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    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    197 views2 pages

    Proposal Guidance

    Uploaded by

    Sotiris Tria
    A research proposal is an essential element of any application for a research degree. It is a brief essay, often 1,000 words or less, saying what you want to do. Research postgraduates have two supervisors throughout their period of study.

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    Writing a Research Proposal

    A research proposal is an essential element of any application for a research degree (MSc by Research, MPhil or PhD). Writing a 15,000 or 30,000-word dissertation is less daunting than writing a 100,000-word PhD thesis, but in either case, the research needs to be plannedand it helps to get a plan down on paper at the outset. The first stage is to identify a research topic. You should do this in consultation with one of the Graduate Officers (History - Dr Paul Quigley; Classics - Professor Andrew Erskine; Archaeology - Dr Leighton), or with a prospective supervisor directly. Research postgraduates have two supervisors throughout their period of study; taught postgraduates have a supervisor for their dissertation. Members of staff are usually happy to discuss ideas for research which they might supervise, or make their own suggestions. If you have a general idea of the country, period or theme you want to study, they can often offer guidance on how to turn it into a more closely defined topic. If you have a specific research idea of your own, the Graduate Officers can help you find a supervisor, or you can browse the individual web pages of members of staff. The best applications are often the ones that have been discussed beforehand with a prospective supervisor. At this stage, you can start to write the research proposal. This is a brief essay, often 1,000 words or less, saying what you want to do. It should usually be organised something like this: Title. A clear title indicating the scope of your proposed work. Research question or questions. What do you intend to try and find out? Why is it important? Research context. What work has been done on the subject up till now? Mention the main scholars who have contributed to our current understanding of it. How will your research be new? Sources and methodology. What main primary sources will you use? Are there any special issues like access to archives, museums or archaeological materials, travel, languages or copyright, and if so how will you address them? How will you analyse the sources? Will you draw on any other related disciplines (such as economics, literary theory, art history, or geography and the sciences)?

    You have to write the research proposal yourself, but prospective

    supervisors can usually comment on drafts. Although a research proposal must be well defined, it should also be flexible. Original research is a venture into the unknown, and the journey may well involve blind alleys or unexpected detours. What will happen, for instance, if you find once you start research that there isnt as much evidence for your research questions as youd hoped? Or if you find theres too much? It will help to have room for manoeuvre, for instance by broadening or narrowing the period or area covered. A good proposal doesnt have to discuss this in detail - its impossible to predict all the obstacles that you might encounter; but if you think about these issues and discuss them with your prospective supervisor, your proposal is likely to benefit.

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