This is the Draft Literature Review you’ve done last time! Could you rewrite and add on up to 6 pages and follow the
following section? Thank you!
A well-written research proposal sets the foundation for good research. It requires you to define a topic, identify related scholarship, conduct a literature review and propose a research rationale and method(s). It builds upon your efforts to: explore an original idea, refine the research question(s) through library research, write a sufficient literature review, and propose appropriate methods and empirical data for the research. The research proposal is 5-7 pages long, not including references.
Specifically, in your research proposal, you should include the following sections:
Introduction (half page):
An interesting and focused introduction should present the broad background of the topic, identify a clear issue/ question, and outline the structure of the proposal.
For example, you may use the first person by saying: “In this proposal, I will …”.
Context and Significance (half page):
This is where you could introduce the general area of research, discuss the significance of the project, and thus convince people why this project is worth studying.
For example, what is the historical/ contemporary background of this topic? What is the scholarly context of the issue you are trying to discuss? In what ways is this an important issue to be studied?
Literature Review (3-5 pages):
Literature review is one of the most important part and the main body of a research proposal. In a literature review, you explore what have already been studied by other scholars in this topic, systematically discuss the most important research and theoretical work relating to the research topic, and identify the gaps in existing knowledge or questions which have to be answered.
For example, you could start the literature review by considering the following questions: What have others said about this area(s)? What theories address it and what do they say? What research has been done (or not done) previously? Are there consistent findings or contradictions in previous studies? Are there flaws or gaps that your study will seek to fill?
For this assignment, The literature review should consist a systematic review of at least 8-10 peer-reviewed journal articles in relation to your topic.
Research Question and Method (half page):
Based on the gaps or problems you have identified in the literature review, now you propose the specific research question of your study. Research question is a concise statement that narrows a broad topic to a manageable scope, tells people what exactly you would like to study and explains the objectives you would like to achieve;
You will also describe how you conduct your study in order to answer research question(s) you propose. For example, depending on your research questions, you may need to look into historical archives and/or policy documents, design surveys to collect data, conduct interviews with a particular group of participants, and/or participate in an ethnographic observation. You will describe the method(s) you choose, explain the rationale for why this would be the best way to answer the research question(s), where your archive/ documents might be located, how you might find and contact potential subjects (participants), how you would analyze the data after you have collected them, and what a reasonable timeline of the research may look like.
Conclusion (half page):
This is a brief, clear and informative summary of what you have written in each section. The goal is to give any reader who only has limited time to glance over your proposal a complete and coherent sense of the logic and structure of the proposed research.
Grading Guideline:
Organization
(20 points)
Organization: clear and focused introduction and conclusion
5 points
Structure: strong framework that organizes the materials very well
5 points
Grammar: excellent writing, lucid with few flaws
5 points
Reference: accurate citation and bibliography
5 points
Literature Review
(50 points)
Reading: at least 8-10 original and well-researched selection of sources
10 points
Understanding: thorough understanding of scholarship and excellent integration of theory and arguments
20 points
Critical Appraisal: strong critical appraisal and synthetic analysis
20 points
Research Question and Method
(30 points)
Research Idea(s): highly original and concrete research idea(s) with significant scholarly contribution(s)
10 points
Frame of the Research Question(s): clear and focused articulation of the research question(s)
10 points
Strong judgement in the selection and use of appropriate method(s) and data/ sources
10 points
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