The LLM dissertation:

Preparing your
research proposal
Caroline Goodier
School of Law
September 2013
 Outline
• What is a research proposal?
• How do you present your proposed plan?
• The format of the proposal
• The proposal process:
• Finding a topic
• Refining a research question
• Preparing the concept paper for discussion with your supervisor
• Preparing the research proposal
 What is a research proposal?
• The research proposal is an essential plan for the
design of your study:
• what you are going to do in your dissertation
• why it makes sense to do it
• how you are going to go about doing it.

“A well-written proposal is a substantial amount of the

required work done, and a strong basis from which to
complete the dissertation” (Hofstee, 2006: 59).
The academic writing process

E
 Outline
• What is a research proposal?
• How do you present your proposed plan?
• The format of the proposal
• The proposal process:
• Finding a topic
• Refining a research question
• Preparing the concept paper for discussion with you supervisor
• Preparing the research proposal
Presenting your plan
 Outline
• What is a research proposal?
• How do you present your proposed plan?
• The format of the proposal
• The proposal process:
• Finding a topic
• Refining a research question
• Preparing the concept paper for discussion with you supervisor
• Preparing the research proposal
Format for a concept paper/note
• Title/research topic
• Background and statement of purpose
• Rationale for the study
• Research problem/question(s)
• Literature review
• Conceptual/theoretical framework
• Research methodology
• References
Format for the research proposal
• As above but more detailed
• Include also:
• Ethical issues
• Outline/structure of dissertation (table of contents)
• Timeline/schedule
 Outline
• What is a research proposal?
• How do you present your proposed plan?
• The format of the proposal
• The proposal process:
• Finding a topic and selecting a focus
• Refining research questions
• Preparing the concept paper for discussion with you supervisor
• Preparing the research proposal
 Selecting a topic
• A topic describes the area of your dissertation.
• It allows you to identify the problem that you will
investigate in your dissertation.
• A clear topic helps you to find primary and secondary
sources.
• It helps you to provide appropriate background in your
introduction.
• It helps you to make clear the significance and
contribution of your work.
 Selecting a focus
• Statement of purpose:

The purpose of this study is to ….

• Consider the key words and phrases in your statement of

purpose that suggest the research approach.
 Refining the research
questions
Turn your statement of focus into a series of research
question (these are the questions the dissertation has to
answer).
• The questions focus and refine your broad statement of
purpose.
• The question(s) should be:
• significant
• feasible.
• The questions repeat or refer to key terms.
• What will we know at the end that we did not already
know?
 Stating the rationale
• What will this study achieve?
• Why is the proposed research worthwhile?
• What will be the contribution of the study to improving
practice, informing policy or enriching knowledge on the
topic or issue?
• You need to convince the reader the problem is
important.
• You need to convince the reader that this specific study
is important.
 Surveying the literature
• What has already been written on your topic by legal
scholars ?
• What silences or gaps are there?
• Your survey of the literature (journals articles, legal
textbooks) will refer to what has been written and how
your proposal addresses this silence or gap or takes
forward the “conversation” in some way:
• It is not just a “laundry list” (who said what) but an assessment of
existing research.
• It is goal focused.
• It demonstrates that you have identified
and engaged with relevant sources.
 Considering your theoretical or
conceptual framework
• All research is guided by assumptions.
• A theory is a perspective or lens for examining events or
issues, e.g. feminist theory, critical legal theory, positivist
framework, social/normative approach.
• A conceptual framework is a less well developed explanation
(e.g. a framework which links some key concepts or principles
without being developed into a theory).
• Considering the framework helps to make explicit the
assumptions underlying the research.
Considering your
methodology
• Methodology refers to how you go about answering your
research questions.
• Will you be doing an empirical study?
• You will collect your own data and
draw your findings from them.

• Will you be doing desktop research?

o
You will analyse documents such as statures
and cases.
 Drawing up a plan for collecting
empirical data
• Think about data that needs to be collected to answer
the research question(s) (if relevant):
• why is the data being collected?
• What is the research strategy?
• Who or what is the source of the data?
• Where will it be collected?
• How many sources will be accessed?
• How often will data be collected?
• How will the data be collected?
• Why is this the best way of collecting data for this research
question?
• Design your research instruments.
• Consider the ethical implications.
 The proposal process
 Draft an initial research plan.
 Keep reading to be able to decide if you are on the right
lines.
 Write your concept paper.
 Discuss your research design with your
supervisor.
 Write your research proposal.
 Your supervisor will submit your final
proposal to the research committee.