AM41RS Specialist Research

Skills and Techniques

CS4780 Research Methods

and Professional Practice
Week 2: The Dissertation Proposal
Learning Objectives
Learning objectives are the goals for today’s lecture/tutorial/seminar:

By the end of today’s session, the student will be able to:

1. Understand the dissertation proposal
2. Appreciate development principles
3. See the differences and links between the proposal and dissertation
Assessments: Research Proposal
Overview
2000-word limit research proposal on a plan for conducting a
research project (same topic as oral presentation/project)
Same topic as oral presentation and project
A more detailed plan of work required to analyse data and
methods available/chosen
Rationale
• To help develop a comprehensive plan for your research dissertation
• Examine and analyse all aspects of research before starting your project
• Demonstrate your ability to plan and communicate coherent research ideas
Deadline
Blackboard submission in Week 12 (exact date to be confirmed)
What is a Research Proposal?
A research proposal is intended to convince others that you have a worthwhile research
project and that you have the competence and the work-plan to complete it
Generally, a research proposal should contain all the key elements involved in the research
process and include sufficient information for the readers to evaluate the proposed study
Regardless of your research area and the methodology you choose, all research proposals
must address the following questions:

• What is the topic and scope?

• What you plan to accomplish and what is the goal of the project?
• Why you want to do it and why is it important to investigate?
• How do you intend to achieve the goal?
• Again, it should NOT actually answer the research question – this is what your
project is for
Key required elements
• Potential benefits

• The main problems or research questions to be addressed, the chosen

methodology and its ethical implication

• Requirements and feasibility

• Project plan

• References

In no more than 2000 words + references (10 pages maximum)

Assessment Criteria
Marking rubric for research proposal

Area Description
Topic Appropriateness of problem, approach, feasibility
Content Hypothesis/question, literature review, methods, strategy,
schedule
Writing Level of written communication: academic writing, clarity,
tone, grammar, citations
Format Organisation, structure, format, length
Total
Assessment Criteria: Topic
Why the Research Problem is important?
• It establishes the importance of the topic
• It creates reader interest
• It focuses the reader’s attention on how the
study will add value
How to formulate a good research question?
• Discuss with your supervisor (once agreed)
• Conduct your own research into the field
• Use the formative feedback from the presentation to guide you
Things to have in mind…
• Is the level of difficulty appropriate?
• Does it involve new and original research?
Assessment Criteria: Content
A good research proposal should contain the following elements:

• Well-defined research problem

• Literature review giving a wider context of the research problem

• Research question/hypothesis/objectives

• Proposed research methodology

• Detailed work plan and time schedule

• Discussion on possible limitations and risks

Assessment Criteria: Writing
Marks will be awarded for the quality of the writing used in your proposal

• The level of your academic writing (see later lecture on the topic)
• Spelling and grammar
• Use of clear and coherent arguments
• Tone and clarity of your writing
• Use of citations

Tips to keep in mind…

• Spelling and grammar check
• Proofread, proofread, and proofread!
Assessment Criteria: Structure
There is no fixed proposal structure, but… Example Proposal Structure
1. Introduction
• It will generally follow the example structure: • Research problem
• Goal of project
• It should try and tell a ‘story’ 2. Literature review
• Background research
• Be coherent and specific about plans 3. Research hypothesis/questions
• Not be more than +/- 10% from 2000 words 4. Proposed methodology
• Data needed
• LaTeX template provides a good starting • Approach/Techniques
• Plan for analysis
structure for you to follow
5. Limitations/risks/ethics/feasibility
6. Project management/plan
7. References
Potential benefits
The motivation behind the project should be described along with the potential benefits of
the project
• Academic: The project will contribute to our understanding of this problem domain in
some way.
• Technical: The project will identify and/or evaluate a new way of doing something, deliver
a prototype system that explores new ideas, or deliver a solution to an identified problem.
• Business: Here a business case should identify any commercial partner associated with
the project and fully describe the financial or other benefits of the project to that partner.
• Social and Environmental: The project will have potential social or environmental
benefits.
Problems, research questions, methodology, ethics
• Identify the main problems to be solved and describe how those problems will be
addressed in your MSc project
• Include a risk assessment (i.e., what happens if a problem is harder than expected)
• Outline the methodology to be adopted for this project
• Outline your proposed project management
• Discuss any potential ethical issue(s) that the work to be carried out may have. If the
work to be undertaken requires ethical approval, you must complete an application for
ethical approval at a later stage. You should discuss with your project supervisor the best
time for completing your ethical approval application.
You are not expected to complete the application for ethical approval before
submitting your dissertation proposal. You are only expected to give consideration
to any ethical implications at this stage.
Requirements and feasibility, project plan
• Outline your project’s requirements
• Assess the feasibility of the project proposal and provide an argument that what you are
proposing will meet the requirements within the available time scale
• Provide a project plan identifying the tasks to be completed and the schedule for
completing those tasks
• The project plan should be presented as a Gantt chart or other suitable diagrams
• The project plan should detail the activities for the whole duration of the project period.
The activities in the project plan should be explained and justified

We will have sessions dedicated to ethics and project planning later in the module
Proposal development process
• Meet with your supervisor to obtain advice for the starting point (once you have been
assigned your project)
• Locate and review relevant literature and existing solutions
• Draft ideas for all elements of the proposal
• Consult your supervisor to obtain feedback / ask any specific questions, if needs be (can
be by email or meeting)
• Complete the proposal draft
• Consult your supervisor for feedback before proposal submission
• Finalise proposal
• Submit proposal by the deadline (published later in the teaching period)
How to Prepare the Research Proposal
The research proposal vs oral presentation
• Use presentation and feedback as inspiration to develop research plan further
• Research proposal is the formal output of your research plan
• Opportunity to go into more detail and depth

How to write the research proposal

• Apply a clear structure
• No specific format for a proposal
• Draft and redraft (see later lectures)
• Demonstrate understanding of problem
• Use LaTeX to write proposal
Common Mistakes in Proposal Writing
• Failure to provide the proper context to frame the research question
• Failure to delimit the boundary conditions for your research
• Failure to cite landmark studies
• Failure to accurately present the theoretical and empirical contributions by other
researchers
• Failure to stay focused on the research question
• Failure to develop a coherent and persuasive argument for the proposed research
• Too much detail on minor issues, but not enough detail on major issues
• Too much rambling – going "all over the map" without a clear sense of direction
• Too many citation lapses and incorrect references
• Too long or too short
Guidelines for Proposal Writing
• The proposal specifies what you will do, how you will do it, and how you plan to interpret
the results
• The objective is to describe what you will do, why it should be done, how you will do it
and what you expect will result (not to answer the research question itself)
• A vague, weak or fuzzy proposal can lead to a long, painful, and often unsuccessful
dissertation writing exercise
• A clean, well thought-out, proposal forms the backbone for the dissertation itself – the
structures can be identical so your proposal will likely evolve into your dissertation
• A good research proposal hinges on a good idea – once you have a good idea, you can
draft the proposal in an evening as it will flow
• Proposals can help you estimate the size of a project - don’t make the project too big!
Proposal checklist (before submission)
• Is the language / wording of the proposal clear and concise?
• Have the marking criteria been addressed?
– Note that ethical considerations are a MUST
• Is all required information included?
• Have you discussed your proposal with your supervisor to obtain their feedback?
• Have you produced a detailed plan that is specific to your project?
• Have you included appropriate references and citations?
The Viva (or lack thereof)
• Some written pieces of work such as research proposals or dissertations are marked (at
least partially) via a live presentation called a viva
• This is not required in this module for the research proposal as the oral (video)
presentation takes the place of this as a separate assessment
• It is also not required for your project – that will solely be marked as a script using the
marking rubric and criteria (available on your project Blackboard page)
• However, if it is believed that the written project is not solely your own work, then the
university may ask that you complete a viva to confirm your mark (more details during the
plagiarism sections of this module)
Acknowledgements

Books
• Brilliant Dissertation by Bill Kirton
• The Study Skills Handbook by Stella Cottrell
• Dissertations and Project Reports: a step by step guide by Stella Cottrell

Webpages
• Scribbr https://www.scribbr.com/category/dissertation/
• Royal Literary Fund https://www.rlf.org.uk/resources/key-points-to-remember/