How to write a Research Proposal: Books
- Components of a research proposal
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- Common mistakes to avoid
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- Research proposal - examples
- Creating a Gantt chart
- Free Apps for Research
- Academic writing
Designing your first research proposal : a manual for beginning researchers by Renuka Vithal & Jonathan Jansen
300.72 VITH
Research proposal: little quick fix by Zina O'Leary
001.42 OLEA
Research Proposals : A Practical Guide by Martyn Denscombe
Designing Your First Research Proposal: A Manual for Researchers in Education and the Social Sciences by Renuka Vithal & Jonathan Jansen
The Productive Graduate Student Writer : How to Manage Your Time, Process, and Energy to Write Your Research Proposal, Thesis, and Dissertation and Get Published by Jan E. Allen
Guide to research projects for engineering students : planning, writing and presenting by Eng-Choon Leong, Carmel Lee-Hsia Heah, Kenneth Keng Wee Ong
620.007 LEON
Qualitative research from start to finish by Robert K. Yin
001.4 YINR
Introduction to research: understanding and applying multiple strategies by Elizabeth DePoy
610.72 DEPO
Completing your qualitative dissertation : a road map from beginning to end by Linda Dale Bloomberg, Marie Volpe
808.02 BLOO
Introduction to educational research by Craig A. Mertler
370.72 MERT
The grant writer's handbook : how to write a research proposal and succeed by Gerard M. Crawley
808.066 CRAW
Writing a proposal for your dissertation : guidelines and examples by Steven R Terrell
378.242 TERR
Writing a research proposal: practical guidelines for business students by Pumela Msweli-Mbanga
Limited User Access (309 Uses Available)
Communication research methods in postmodern culture: a revisionist approach by Larry Z. Leslie
The essential guide to doing your research project by Zina O'Leary
808.0663 OLEA
Student research and report writing : from topic selection to the complete paper by Gabe T. Wang and Keumjae Park
808.02 WANG
Presenting medical statistics: from proposal to publication by Janet L Peacock
610.21 PEAC
Research methods in intercultural communication : a practical guide edited by Zhu Hua
303.4820721 RESE
Designing qualitative research by Catherine Marshall
300.72 MARS
Advanced nursing research : from theory to practice by Ruth Tappen
610.73072 TAPP
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- Last Updated: Dec 19, 2023 12:35 PM
- URL: https://libguides.unisa.ac.za/research_proposal
- Research Degree Students
- Starting your journey
Research proposal and confirmation of candidature
If you are a doctoral student (PhD, PhD by portfolio or Professional Doctorate), your research proposal is due six months from the start of your degree .
If you are a Master of Research student, your research proposal is due three months from the start of your degree.
Successful completion of this milestone leads to confirmation of candidature.
You need to submit your proposal, your completed Statement of Agreement and your Research Induction Plan.
The following resources will help you meet the requirements of this milestone.
Your research proposal will be loosely based on the research outline you prepared for admission to your degree, but will provide a more comprehensive guide to the literature, method, methodology, structure and timeframe of your research.
The research proposal is used to assess your performance so far, and the feasibility of your research program. It is:
- an action plan for candidature and a major reference point for the Reviews of Progress
- aligned with the Statement of Agreement, explaining how you will develop the Research Degree Graduate Qualities.
It is extremely important that your supervisors provide input into the development of your research proposal.
- Provisional enrolment and Confirmation of Candidature
- Preparing your Research Proposal
- Submission and review of your Research Proposal
Provisional enrolment and confirmation of candidature
Your enrolment is provisional until your candidature is confirmed.
Your research proposal and Statement of Agreement must be approved by the Academic Unit or Institute Research Management Committee for confirmation of candidature to occur. This has to happen before you can proceed with your research.
The length of your provisional candidacy is counted as part of the total time to undertake your degree:
- Doctoral students have a maximum of 4 years (FTE) to complete but should aim to complete their degree within a maximum of 3 years (FTE)
- Master of research students have a total of 2 years (FTE) candidacy to complete their degree.
For students in research professional doctorate programs , confirmation of candidature requires the completion of 18 units of the coursework component, approved by the Program Director, within six months (FTE) of commencement.
Australian and New Zealand citizens and permanent residents of Australia (domestic) students, please note that if you exceed your 4-year time limit you are required to pay tuition fees to the University.
See the AB-58 Research Degrees Policy and Procedures for your degree for more details.
Confirming candidature
The Confirmation of candidature form (editable PDF) is to be completed by the Chair of the Research Proposal Confirmation Panel (or equivalent) and forwarded to Graduate Research, Candidature when finalised.
Preparing your research proposal
Research proposals are normally 10 to 20 pages long, and should contain the following sections:
Statement of the research topic and rationale for the research Research methodology Trial table of contents Brief bibliography
See Guidelines for the Preparation of Research Proposals in Research Degrees for more information.
University guidelines stipulate that a PhD will make 'a significant original contribution to knowledge and/or the application of knowledge within the field of study' and a Master of research will make 'a contribution to knowledge and/or the application of knowledge within the field of study'.
The University recognises that each research degree student may require specific equipment, e-research infrastructure, laboratory or studio space and funds adequate for the completion of the research program. Expenses may include travel arising from field work, experiments and data collection and the cost of consumables.
You and your supervisor will need to identify these project-specific costs when preparing your research proposal. Where your project is a subset of your supervisor's funded research project, these costs could be allocated from the project's budget. Costs must be presented and negotiated with the executive dean/institute director prior to confirmation of candidacy, and included in the Statement of Agreement which is submitted with the research proposal.
See the Appendix AB-58 AD1 Minimum Resources for Research Degree Students for more details.
Resources related to finding research information, finding and writing research proposals and referencing are available here
Submission and review of your research proposal
The procedure for approving research proposals varies according to the academic unit, institute, or centre. Consult the academic regulations, your supervisor or your Research Degree Coordinator for details.
The following steps are typically involved in research proposal development and review:
Step 1 - Development
Work with your supervisors to complete a Research Induction Plan (usually at the end of the first 2 weeks), outlining the negotiated timeframe for getting the research proposal approved, including lodgement of drafts and return of comments by the supervisor.
Complete your Statement of Agreement (usually at the end of the first month), and work on the proposal itself.
Step 2 - Submission
Following approval by your supervisors, submit copies of your written research proposal, your Research Induction Plan and your Statement of Agreement to the Research Degree Coordinator.
If a timely research proposal cannot be lodged you must request permission to extend the timeframe - at least one month in advance and normally for a maximum of three months .
- Application for Extension to Research Proposal (Online Form)
Step 3 - Assessment
A panel reviews your proposal and makes a determination that either:
- the proposal is accepted and the Statement of Agreement is appropriate for supporting the research project and timelines OR
- amendments are required for the proposal and/or Statement of Agreement to be accepted and candidature to be confirmed OR
- the research proposal and/or Statement of Agreement should not be approved and the research degree student may be suspended OR
- the research proposal and/or Statement of Agreement should not be approved and the research degree student should be transferred to another program.
Step 4 - Notification
The research proposal, Research Induction Plan and Statement of Agreement, along with a recommendation from the review panel regarding confirmation of your candidature, goes to the Dean of Graduate Studies. You are advised of the outcome via your student email.
- If the research proposal is accepted , date of confirmation of candidacy is reported to Graduate Research, Candidature.
- If the research proposal is not considered acceptable , it is returned to you with written information indicating why it was not acceptable. You will have to make revisions in conjunction with your supervisor and re-lodge the proposal for further consideration in a given timeframe. You may need to submit an extension to lodge research proposal form:
If you do not have your research proposal approved within the maximum time allowed, your candidature will be suspended, but you may apply for readmission. Refer to the academic regulations for details.
FTE = Full Time Equivalence
If you are doing a Doctor of Philosophy (by Portfolio of Publications), you will submit a research statement. Enrolment and re-enrolment conditions still apply. See the academic regulations.
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Writing a research propsal - a guide for staff and students developed by Prof Jana Olivier For the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences University of South Africa, 2019 Writing a research proposal - a guide for staff and students
A research proposal is a document that outlines the approach a researcher will take in order to find a solution to a specific problem. In other words, a research proposal is a summary of what you want to research, why you want to research the problem, as well as how you think the problem will be solved. The research proposal usually justifies ...
This section of the proposal must provide a broad overview of the topic. The jargon and key terms used in the particular topic must also be thoroughly explained in order to avoid confusion. The interest of the researcher in the particular topic must also be clearly outlined while at the same time mentioning, albeit briefly at this point, a critical review of the main literature that covers the ...
In this section, you introduce the broad topic of your intended research by placing it in a wider context and giving it some background. It establishes the context of the research by summarizing current understanding and background information about the topic. For example if the topic is: The Debt Crisis in …
CONTEXT OF STUDY. 1.1 Purpose of the study. 1.2 Background of the study. 1.3 Relevance of the topic. 1.4 Relationship of the topic to the discipline of Communication. 1.5 Other research in the field. LITERATURE REVIEW. TYPE OF STUDY. FORMULATION OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS.
write in your career - so the more tips that you can pick up in this round, the better. A research proposal is an integral part of a postdoctoral qualification at UNISA. Every student who is enrolled for either a Master's or a Doctoral must complete a research proposal before proceeding to the actual research part of the study.
Research proposal - examples; Creating a Gantt chart; Free Apps for Research; Academic writing; Academic writing. ... (Unisa) Honours & PG Diploma - Academic Writings skills by Prof Mbatha (Unisa) M&D Training workshop - Turnitin & Plagiarism presented by Erica Flinspach Van der Walt - 2021 (Unisa) << Previous: Free Apps for Research;
Guidelines for Research Outline Form for prospective Master's & Doctoral students A research outline is a brief outline of the research project that you have in mind. It is usually between 5 and 25 pages in length Items Information 1. Proposed title a. Should have less than 40 words b. Should not be ambiguous and should convey the focus of ...
a research proposal for the research project they will complete during the Dissertation phase of the Masters and PhD qualification. The purpose of the Research Proposal module within the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences is also to ensure that Ethical clearance is obtained for the planned research which will commence during
'Brief Notes on Writing Research Proposals and Research Statements.', English for Academic Correspondence, pp. 115-121. Fischer, K., 2020. ' 23 Questions to Guide the Writing of a Quantitative Medical Education Research Proposa l', Academic Medicine, Jul 2020.
The grant writer's handbook : how to write a research proposal and succeed by Gerard M. Crawley. 808.066 CRAW . Writing a proposal for your dissertation : guidelines and examples by Steven R Terrell. 378.242 TERR . Writing a research proposal: practical guidelines for business students by Pumela Msweli-Mbanga. eBook. Limited User Access (309 ...
A long and rambling introduction will soon put people off and lose your audience. Define the Problem. The entire introduction should logically end at the research question and thesis statement or hypothesis. By the end of the introduction, the reader should know exactly what you are trying to achieve with the paper.
Week 1-2: Research and familiarization with the topic. Week 3-4: Preparatory study and research, including conducting a literature review and identifying key sources. March 2023. Week 1-2: Finalizing research methodology and preparing data collection tools. Week 3-4: Conducting interviews with relevant stakeholders and collecting data. April 2023
The first task of the research proposal is to signal the area of the research or 'topic' so the reader knows what subject will be discussed in the proposal. This step is ideally accomplished in the opening sentence or the opening paragraph of the research proposal. It is also indicated in the title of the research proposal.
According to the data published by Ministry of Finance and Economic Development of Ethiopia (2011), the rate of growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices is as depicted in Table 4.3 below. Table 4.3: GDP growth rates, in %, of the Ethiopian Economy at current prices for the years 2004/05 - 2010/11.
Proposal submitted for vetting Confirmation of registration Contact supervisor Develop research Submit final draft to supervisor Supervisor assess the proposal and does not agree that proposal is ready for vetting Complete RPM form to indicate that the requirements are not met and indicates: May not register Supervisor has signed proposal off
simply closes down on the set date and time. Proposals that must be vetted by UNISA (i.e. all internal funding and NRF programmes) have various internal deadlines. The one of importance to you is the CLOSING DATE FOR THE COLLEGE. However, your proposal for funding must actually be ready at least 2 weeks before the College closing date.
RESEARCH PROPOSAL. Work-role fit, meaningfulness and engagement of industrial/organisational psychologists in South Africa. Title: Name and Surname: Student number: Date of birth: Degree: M Industrial Psychology Format: Mini-dissertation Contact number: Email: Proposed study leader(s): ... Example proposal - unisa lecture. Course: Research ...
The research proposal process is designed to enable the University to ensure that the proposed research will fulfil the expected requirements of the degree and fall within its mission statement. The research proposal process also serves to ensure that research is conducted in an efficient manner. The research proposal is used to:
LME 370-1 Assignment 2-2023 Assessment 3 Final. Theme 1 - customary marriage. LME Portfolio 2023 - ESSAYS. LME Portfolio 2023 Final pdf. LME3701 ASS3 Portfolio. Legal Research Methodology chastizing of children parents: historical approach frank manyimo (61641502) submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements.
Research project: the research proposal A research proposal is a plan or outline of your proposed research project. It is used to demonstrate that you have identified a suitable question/problem to investigate and an appropriate approach to investigate the question/problem. Below is an example of what a research proposal might generally
Step 4 - Notification. The research proposal, Research Induction Plan and Statement of Agreement, along with a recommendation from the review panel regarding confirmation of your candidature, goes to the Dean of Graduate Studies. You are advised of the outcome via your student email. If the research proposal is accepted, date of confirmation of ...
The UniSA Library does not provide access to research proposals. For examples of research proposals please contact your relevant Academic Unit or discuss with your supervisor. Refer to Research proposal and confirmation of candidature for more details. ... UniSA respectfully acknowledges the Kaurna, Boandik and Barngarla First Nations Peoples ...