HTML Preview Standard Research Proposal Format page number 1.
The Research Proposal
An integral part of your application for any of our research degrees is the initial
research proposal. It should outline the nature of your proposed study and give
some indication of how you will conduct your research.
Students on PhD, DBA, MPhil and MSc by Research degrees complete their work
under the personal supervision of a member or members of staff in the Business
School. The success therefore of any research degree is largely dependant on the
working relationship between the supervisor and the student. The selection of
candidates for our research degrees programme is based on the nature of the
research proposal, and whether or not we consider that the research would be of
benefit to both the candidate and to the supervisor(s). Your research proposal is a
major vehicle for you to communicate to us your area of research interest, and the
way in which you propose to carry it out. We expect you to be able to demonstrate
some understanding of the existing knowledge in your chosen area, and to show how
you plan to carry-out your piece of research.
The outline proposal is not considered to be a final ‘contract’. The field and the
approach to the study may well change considerably in negotiation with your
supervisor if you are admitted to a programme of study. The main purpose of this
proposal is for the School to identify a possible supervisor, and for you to be able to
indicate to the School that you have the ideas and knowledge to begin independent
research and that you can explain and discuss your ideas coherently.
These guidelines will help you produce a meaningful research proposal. However, it
must be stressed that following these guidelines does not guarantee an acceptance
onto any of the programmes. Acceptance depends on several issues, including the
nature of the research area, the quality of the ideas that have been generated, and
the effectiveness of the proposal in communicating these ideas.
Although there is no set format or prescribed length for a research proposal, the
following sections are considered and therefore should be addressed in your
proposal:
1. The Research Topic
An introductory section, in which you discuss the general field of business
administration from which your research is to be drawn, and in which you explain the
particular domain on which you will focus. For example, the general field may be
strategic management, and the particular domain may be managerial behavioural
issues, which in turn may be narrowed down to managerial expectations. However
the latter is also part of the organisational behaviour literature, so for this example
you would need to explain which of these general fields you would be working from;
indeed you may need to work from both.
You should also give some explanation as to why it is important to do this research
(for example, a general lack of knowledge in the literature), and why it is of interest
to you (for example, to realise your career aspirations). If you have any experience
in this area of study you should outline it here. It is important that you give these
issues some attention.