A GUIDE FOR A FULL TIME PhD 

PROPOSAL
The tentative proposal should have a total number of words not less than 1000 and not exceeding 1500
words. The following should be incorporated in the proposal:
 OBJECTIVES
 HYPOTHESES
 METHODOLOGY
 LITERATURE REVIEW
 OUTCOMES
IMPORTANCE OF THE RESEARCH
 In more details, you can use the following points within your  proposal.
PROBLEM DEFINITION
 Outline the general background to your research.
 Identify the specific problem your  research seeks to answer.
 Offer any research questions or hypothesis you have identified.
 THEORETICAL BASIS
 Indicate what educational or theoretical basis will be used to establish and evaluate the research.
 Indicate the methodological strategy or Philosophy you intend to follow.
 Identify and define the major constructs (variable) in your study.
 PROCEDURE
 Outline the main strategy.
 Relate the strategy to your research questions.
 Identify any pilot work you expect to require or have completed.
 Identify any aspects requiring special attention.
SAMPLES
 Identify the main features of your sample.
 Describe your sampling strategy
 Identify any limitation in your samples.
Data
 Outline the range of data required
 Indicate how the data relate to your research variables.
 Indicate where construction of measure may be needed.
 Indicate any problems of access to data.
Writing a Research Proposal Your academic and professional background play a very important role in
determining your suitability for postgraduate studies, your acceptance into the Programme will be based
on both academic ability and the availability of interested and suitably qualified supervisors. Your
research proposal that makes the difference when it comes to finding research supervisors and given the
limited supervisor capacity of the business school. This part of the application is crucial.     Top
 The purpose of a research proposal is to provide the School and potential research  supervisors with a
clear indication of the topic in which the students is interested. And also give an indication of the student’s
ability to identify and develop an interesting research question. Most potential supervisor will consider
research proposals as preliminary indicators of the applicant’s area of interest and will not necessarily
assume that the proposal defines exactly the research that the student will undertake. Thus. The main
concern when preparing a research proposal is to indicate the area in which the research will be
undertaken and the interesting and original issues which arise in that area which you wish to examine in
more detail.
 The proposal will be considered in conjunction with your academic  qualifications by the School. Your
qualifications will provide the School and potential supervisors  with evidence of your academic ability; as
a minimum we would normally expect a first degree with honours in a relevant subject  (either 2 (1) or
GPA over  3 or equivalent): ideally we would look for candidates to have a Masters degree in a relevant
subject (average over 60% GPA over 3 or equivalent).
 Your research proposal will be used to determine whether there are staff in the School who are qualified
and willing to supervise in the area you have chosen and second to give an indication of your aptitude for
research. You need to demonstrate to the reader that you understand the area in which you plan to take
research ; that you are able to identify an interesting and original research question and that you have
some understanding of how to conduct research.
A typical research proposal will be somewhere between one and two thousand words. While we do not
insist on a definite format. We encourage students to adhere to the following guidelines: Top
 1. The proposal should begin by identifying the subject for research both in terms of theoretical
issues and relevant empirical applications. This section is an introduction to the research
proposal, but it can also serve as an explanatory background to what led you to the topic.  Thus,
if your topic emerges out of personal experience pf long standing interest do not hesitate to
convey this information; it communicates your motivation in pursuing postdoctoral studies.

2. The introduction to your proposal should be followed by a brief summary of your research
question.  In 150 words or less you must state the key issues that your research intends to
address.  What empirical phenomena or theoretical debates are.

3. Driving your research proposal? Try to be specific If your research is being driven by empirical
phenomena  (e.g. e-commerce, global branding , etc ), what aspects of these phenomena are
you trying to explain ? If your research proposal is being driven by theoretical debates which
specific points in these debates are you going to focus on? 

4. The proposal should then briefly review relevant literature and theories relating to the research
area. At this stage it is important to be able to demonstrate any familiarity with the major lines of
argument which have been developed in your area and to demonstrate an understanding of the
ideas and findings of key researchers working on your topic.Top

5. Depending on the nature of your subject it will then usually be desirable  to give some indication
of the research methods that will be used in the conduct of research. Clearly a variety of different
research methods exist – you should seek to identify the approach that is most suited to your
area of research – for example, experimentation, participant observation, forms of textual
analysis, econometric modeling, ethnography, survey data analysis, the analysis of historical
records etc.

6. Most doctoral work involves empirical research. The successful completion of doctoral work in the
time allotted thus often depends the ability to obtain the data needed. If your proposed research
proposal involves empirical work you should provide an indication of the form and location of that
empirical work and where and how you might collect any relevant data.  For example you might
like to say something about access to particular source of information (whether  you need on-line
access to database, whether you can use relevant archives etc). You could also comment on the
country or geographical area in which the study will take place (whether you have made a
particular choice, if so why, and the advantages and disadvantages of this choice). It is also worth
saying something about the subject of the research (are you looking at individuals, groups, texts,
companies etc) and provide some justification for your choices.

7. You should give special attention to the feasibility of collecting the data. Your proposal may
contain interesting and highly relevant research question, and it may be well grounded in the
literature, but it may not be a practical research enterprise. You must balance the scope of your
proposal against the practical problems of data gathering. Does your research proposal call for
special access to manager or organization ? How many potential variables or factors does it
contain ? Can you cover all of them? Taylor your data gathering to your research question and
vice-versa: shape your research question to reflect your data gathering resources.

8. Finally, although no indication of the research finding can be presented, it is often beneficial to
conclude the research proposal by indicating how you envisage your research will contribute to
debates and discussions in your particular subject area. This means providing some  indication of
how you feel your research can make an original contribution, how it may fill gaps in existing work
and how it may extend understanding of particular topics. Top
The research proposal is not only judged on content. It is also judge on form . Your research proposal must  look professional. It
should be typed and it should be written in good English . It  should be well structured. With section headings clearly indicated. If
you are submitting a photocopy. Make sure it is a photocopy of the highest quality. Finally always include a bibliography (in a
standard format – e.g. Harvard ) with your research proposal that lists books and articles to which you make reference in your
discussion of the proposed research.
You should avoid making any substantial changes to the broad direction of your research after  acceptance into the Programme . It
is natural for ideas to evolve and change . So you will not be forced to adhere to specifics of your proposal. However. The proposal
is the foundation of your working relationship with your supervisor and thus it cannot be radically altered without discussion and
consultation with your supervisors. Top