This piece of assessment requires you to select a topic for your research preferably Internationl Development.

 

Assessment Research Resources

 

Academic books

Academic journal articles

Academic conference papers

Newspaper/magazine articles

Government research, or industry reports (BUT ONLY THOSE THAT ARE ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC)

International non-government, research or publications

Bibliography of supplied course material

 

**Wikipedia is not an academic resource and should not be used as a resource in the essay.

 

 

Research Proposal Writing

A good research proposal is well structured, and should include the following sections. It is required to use these sections by way of the following explicit headings.

 

Topic of your Research

Abstract (as ordered seperately)

Introduction (2000)

(http://www.ed.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.58205!/fileManager/HowToWriteProposal.pdf)

 

A well-written introduction is the most efficient way to hook your reader and set the context of your proposed research. Get your reader’s attention early on and do no waste space with obvious and general statements. The introduction is your opportunity to demonstrate that your research has not been done before and that the proposed project will really add something new to the existing body of literature.

 

You will have to provide background information in the form of a literature review which helps you set the context for your research to help the reader understanding the questions and objectives. You will also be expected to show that you have a good knowledge of the body of literature, the wider context in which your research belongs and that you have awareness of methodologies, theories and conflicting evidence in your chosen field.

 

Research proposals have a limit on words or pages so you won’t be able to analyse the whole existing body of literature. Choose key research papers or public documents and explain clearly how your research will either fill a gap, complete or follow on from previous research even if it is a relatively new field or if you are applying a known methodology to a different field. Journal articles, books, PhD theses, public policies, government and learned society reports are better than non-peer-reviewed information you may find on the internet. Further practical information on how to conduct a literature review using bibliographic resources can be found on the web:

www.ucs.ed.ac.uk/usd/student/courses/library/LRhandout07.pdf

www.lib.ed.ac.uk/howto/searchstrat.html

 

Suggested format for an introduction:

• Introduce the area of research

• Review key publications

• Identify any gap in the knowledge or questions which have to be answered

• Your hypotheses

• Your aims and objectives, including a brief description of the methodology

• How is your research beneficial and to whom

 

4- Research Question/s (Three Questions at Max – 100 words) (http://services.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/471273/Writing_a_research_proposal_Science_Engineering_Update_051112.pdf)

 

what is the primary question you are trying to solve? It may be a hypothesis/hypotheses or research question/s and is usually a few sentences (in statement and/or question form) that articulate the essence of your project and its scope.

 

5- Research methodology (800 words)

http://sydney.edu.au/education_social_work/future_students/postgraduate_research/research_proposal_1.shtml

 

– an appropriate choice of research approach for the particular questions or problems under investigation, including a well-defined list of procedures to be followed in carrying out the research, as well as the method of data collection and analysis, and, if appropriate: a broad description of any particular theoretical framework to be used in the analysis and the reasons for its selection in the study; a brief statement describing how the study population will be selected for the study and the reason for the approach to selection, and; a pilot study in which the research instruments are trialled and evaluated and an analysis is carried out of the trial data.

 

6- Ethical considerations (100 words) – consideration of ethical issues involved in carrying out the research such as whether informed consent needs to be obtained and, if so, how this will be done.