Assessment brief: Research proposal including ethics proposal
A research proposal is piece of persuasive writing to provide your supervisor/advisor with an outline of your future research.
Word count or equivalent: 3,500
Weighting: 100%
This assessment will cover the following learning outcome:
LO1 – Clearly articulate the rationale and purpose of their research project
LO2 – Position themselves within an appropriate research paradigm
LO3 – Critically evaluate the most appropriate method(s) for their research
LO4 – Critically reflect on any ethical issues related to their chosen research project
Proposal structure:
- Title that reflects the main aim of your research
- Introduction: a summary and background of your research and why this is topic is worth researching
- Literature review: how previous research has informed yours. It is a critical discussion, showing insight and an awareness of differing arguments, theories and approaches. You conclude it with your research questions.
- Research design/methodology: name your method/methods. Discuss why have you chosen this/these method/s? What are some potential limitations? How are you going to mitigate the limitations? How are you going to carry out your research?
- Ethical considerations: You need to show your awareness of BERA guidelines and critically reflect on any ethical issues related to your research project
- Conclusion: summary and the takeaway from the points 1-5.
- References: a list of academic sources you referred to in your proposal (APA style)
- Ethics proposal (proforma found below)
These express the criteria against which achievement of the learning outcomes will be assessed:
- Expression: proof read, spell checked, grammar and academic expression
- Content: relevant and accurate literature is included
- Structure: logical progression between points and sections
- Argument: evidence based argument
- Referencing: Conforms to APA convention
