Research Proposal Template printable pdf download

Research Proposal Template

(taken from Researchnet – How to apply for a research degree)

Proposal guidance

• Provide an overview of your research question, explaining why it is of academic and or

practical importance

• Outline the main objectives of your research, providing details of two or three key

aspects

• Write a short literature review, indicating the importance of previous related research or

investigated literature and how your own research question might make a useful

contribution to the area

• State the main research techniques (interviews, case studies, modelling etc.) you might

use

• Indicate your suggested data collection procedures, indicating sources and any possible

difficulties

• Explain any analytical techniques you intend to use

• State your proposed timetable of activities

• Finally, list the references in your proposal or provide a short bibliography.

Some of the common problems

In our experience, there are a number of common reasons why proposals from well

qualified potential students are rejected.

Some common problems are outlined below:

• Your research topic is inadequately specified. You must write to a very tight format

stating what you plan to research, why and how. The format is clearly outlined above.

•

Whilst your proposal may identify a practical

managerial

problem it does not

demonstrate its analytical importance. A study that merely aims to discover new

empirical information or simply solve a current issue will probably not be accepted. Your

proposal must engage with controversies, new ideas/thought and demonstrate strong

critical insight into one or more academic disciplines to succeed in your research.

•

Other proposals are rejected because their 'geographical' focus does not fit with our

supervisory competencies. Our perspective is international, whereas some overseas

students seek to study an issue which is exclusively in their home country. If you intend

to do this, it should be indicated clearly and how Coventry University will add value to

your work.

The format of your Research Proposal

Your proposal should be a maximum of 2,000 words, in addition to your timetable and

references or a short bibliography. We do not expect the proposal to be perfect at this stage,

nor do we expect you to stick to it very closely as your ideas will almost certainly change

once you start to study, but we do expect you to write it as follows:

1 [revision 1.00 (September 2010)]

Research Proposal Template