Research proposals
What can research proposals assess?
Warwick is a research-intensive university and we claim that our graduates leave with an understanding of, and capability in, research. It is important to recognise that the research undertaken by undergraduate and postgraduate taught students might not produce knowledge which is new to the world, but that researching a topic that is new to them will still enable them to develop their skills, knowledge, and understanding.
One way to support their development as researchers is to ask them to develop a research proposal, certainly as a stage towards their final year project. A possible progression would be an annotated bibliography in year 1, a research proposal in year 2 and a full research project in the final year.
A research proposal requires learners to select a topic [intrinsic motivation as it is their choice] and through analysis and synthesis of knowledge, decide an original research question and then propose a way to answer that problem. The requirement to complete a literature review will deepen their knowledge and understanding of the topic and selecting an appropriate research methodology means they need to know the ‘standard’ approaches used in the discipline.
What other assessment methods could I choose?
Research proposals will bear the hallmarks of their discipline, but one might expect:
- title
- background and rationale
- research question(s)
- research methodology
- plan of work & time schedule
- bibliography
The ability to carry out a literature review to develop the research question, and to generate the bibliography and to select a research methodology means this is an ideal synoptic task to follow courses on both topics. Work plans and schedules will get the learners into the realms of time management and estimates and these are valuable generic skills.
Finally, you need to think how the students will present their proposal: written, oral presentation or poster, and whether this will be an individual or group task. All of these are valuable generic skills that need to be developed in our graduates.