School of English, Communications and Performance Studies

• Content
• Structure
• Length
• Feedback
• Faculty of Arts research proposal guidelines

Content

Your research proposal should consist of two key pieces of content:

1. Thesis Statement The key ideas explored in your research project
2. Methodology How you will go about exploring those key ideas

Structure

A guide for structuring your research proposal.

1. Research question 
   Develop your research topic as a question, as it suggests a process of investigation. What are you trying to find out? If a question is not appropriate, a topic is also fine.

2. Background to research question and ideas
   Describe the context of your investigation and your own personal and intellectual history. What led you to your current research interests?

3. Aims of research 
   Specify the aims of your investigation. What do you hope to explore and achieve?

4. Research methods
   Explain your research methodology. Suggestions include: close textual analysis, archival research, fieldwork, interviews, practical experiments or performance analyses. You may wish to include a practical component to either inform, enrich, illustrate or complement other aspects of the research methods.

5. Relevant comparative research, literature and examples 
   Demonstrate that you are (at least a little) familiar with the field you wish to research. A list of six relevant texts you wish to explore is a good start. A literature review may be one of the first tasks of your research project.

6. Research paper chapters 
   If you already have an idea of how you wish to write your research paper, include a breakdown of the chapter structure. List the chapter titles and a few sentences on the argument and/or content of each. This can of course be changed at a later stage as the research progresses.

Length

Your research proposal should be no longer than three pages.

Feedback

Before submitting your final research proposal to the school, we strongly recommend sharing your draft research proposal with your preferred research supervisor. They can provide feedback and suggestions for strengthening your proposal.

Faculty of Arts research proposal guidelines

Faculty of Arts guidelines to preparing a research proposal.

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