Assignment Question
Come up with a research question incorporating the socio-economic transformations in the UK post-Brexit. The topic should include nothing involving controversial matters like migration.
Outline of a research proposal The aim of the proposal is to encourage you to research and plan your dissertation in advance of writing it. Too often work on dissertations is left to the last minute and this results in poorly organised work with little depth or focus. The best place to start is by asking yourself why the topic you have chosen matters, why it is worth addressing, and what light it sheds on certain key issues or debates that the question raises.
By writing and submitting the proposal you will:
Decide the focus of your research, including key questions and areas to be examined Discuss the topic in relation to issues and debates raised by the literature on the topic that you have identified Outline a provisional set of chapters and the ideas to be developed in each of them Begin to start writing in the formal style required of independent academic research It is important that you consult your supervisor as you design and write the Formal Proposal. However, the proposal is your responsibility.
Content It is important to formulate a research question Your proposal should begin with a research question that you have posed, which will help you think about the main issues you will be addressing and allow you to conceptualise the overall architecture of your dissertation. It might help to think of the proposal in terms of four separate sections, under the following sub-headings.
1. Research question
2. A one-line description of the topic
3. Introduction: The first section or paragraph should state in brief the following: the topic of the question you are seeking to address the overall argument or direction of analysis how you will develop or defend this argument/analysis (with what evidence) what conclusions you (think you) will come to
4. Topic: The second section (or set of paragraphs) should: Outline why the topic of your research is worth addressing, and what its overall significance might be. Summarise the content of the relevant literature you have read so far in order to locate your own work within a broader context, demonstrating an understanding of the issues and debates that your chosen subject has generated.
5. Chapter Outline: The final section should set out the intended focus of each separate chapter. You ought to consider the following: How will your argument be developed across successive chapters? What ideas/evidence will be set out in each chapter? What kind of research activity (historical background reading, searching for items on a certain topic, developing a theoretical or analytical framework, analysing data, etc) is appropriate to each chapter?
6. Conclusion
7. Bibliography: (the bibliography will not be included in the 1000 word-count) Your proposal will be assessed according to the success with which you present and discuss the content of your dissertation. We understand that your research may lead to subsequent changes to the dissertation, which might deviate (sometimes quite significantly) from your original proposal. The proposal is there to help define the project at the outset, after initial reading and reflection, but will, in most cases, evolve and change as further research is undertaken and the ideas take clearer shape.
