Assessment 2: Research Proposal Template (40%)

Headings you must address Guidance
Research / statement question What do you want to find out/ examine or explore?
What is the main question / statement you wish to answer/ explore?
Have you included a specific target population and location/ context in your research question / statement?
Introduction What are the key areas which will be addressed in this research proposal?
Background and Rationale for the study (800 words approx.) Have you read around your research topic?
Have you provided background information of important historical and contextual events/ research which informs the reader about why and how the research problem you are interested in exists?
What other studies have been conducted and what is their relevance to your research topic?
Why is this research topic important to your field of practice?
Where appropriate, have you evidenced the research problem with relevant statistical evidence supported by relevant literature sources?
Have you objectively justified the research using relevant literature sources?
Aim and Objectives What is the aim of the study – what do you want to achieve? (Identify one aim)
Does the aim of the study relate to your research question/ statement?
What are the objectives of the study?
Do the objectives listed address the chief aim of the study? (identify at least 3 objectives)
Methodology & Justification
(600 words approx.)

Have you explained the selected methodological approach which is secondary research? Have you compared this to primary research? Have you explained the strengths and limitations and supported this with relevant literature?
Have you justified Secondary Research and supported this with relevant literature?
How will you conduct your literature search, i.e. literature search strategy?
What search engines and academic/ professional data bases will be accessed?
What relevant key words along with Boolean operators will be used in the literature search?
Have you explained your literature search exclusion and inclusion criteria and justified it?
Ethical and Bias issues
(300 words approx.)
As you will be proposing to conduct secondary research- how will you go about addressing ethical considerations required for literature reviewers to adhere to?
Have you identified any areas of potential bias and how will you address these?
Have you identified any areas of potential bias and how will you address these?

Research Time table When will your research start and finish?
Have you identified specific targets/ actions for completion within specific time frames? (e.g. a table with two columns and list your targets/ actions and timeframes, i.e. specific dates.
Consider time for supervision sessions and acting on feedback
References Have you provided a comprehensive reference list of all cited literature sources?