Research Methods in Politics Spring 2015
The research proposal
General guidelines
Your research proposal needs to be a proposal for an empirical research project. This means that – like in the case of the critical assessment – this piece of coursework looks very different from a ‘standard’ essay. You are not actually carrying out the research project. Thus, the research project should not provide an actual answer to the research question, and it should not include an analysis and conclusions. What the proposal does is setting out – step by step – what the actual project would look like. You are the one who makes the decisions on the different aspects of the project, including the topic, the research question and the method. We are looking for research proposals that make clear, transparent and well-informed decisions, and that justify these decisions well, building explicitly on the research methods literature that we have looked at in the module. For instance, when you characterize the research method(s) that your project would use, you should set out what this method is about, using the (module) literature on the topic. Once you have established what method(s) you would use, the literature under “Further reading” for the week on that method will also be useful. Of course, if you are looking for additional (research method) literature on a certain topic, please do not hesitate to ask us for advice on this. We expect you to demonstrate some knowledge of the topic you focus on, including references to the work of other people who have addressed similar questions (and whose work you may build on), and including also theories that are relevant for your question. Please also make sure that you tell the reader what non-straightforward but key concepts such as “causal inference” refer to. On the next page, some questions that you may wish to address are listed. Of course, you may address additional questions – these are just suggestions. Essays should not be longer than 2,500 words, including everything except for the bibliography (and technical appendices which you may use). Please also have a look at the word count guidelines in the Undergraduate Handbook. Note also that word limits for the essays are fixed, and penalties will be applied in the case of over-length research proposals. Please make sure that your document includes, on the front page, your candidate number (but not your name), the title, the module title, the date, and the word count. Including the word count is essential; you may be penalized for not including it. The essay counts for 60% of the final mark. You will normally receive feedback and an indicative mark in four weeks.
Model table of contents for the research proposal – with questions
1. Introduction What is the general aim of your research project? What understanding do you seek to improve? Is there some (empirical) puzzle that your research project seeks to address? What is your (specific) research question? (Please make sure that the research question is, indeed, formulated as an question, and make sure that the formulation makes clear to the reader whether this is a descriptive or explanatory question) What are the key variables in your study? How would you define the key concepts which these variables refer to? What is the relevance of your research project? (academic relevance/social importance) What is the originality of the study? How does the study contribute to the existing literature? What has the existing literature told us already about the question, and how does your study fit in?
2. Theory and hypotheses Is there a specific theory/are there specific theories which may provide (theoretical) insight into your research question? What are the key features of the theory? What is the causal argument and what causal mechanism is suggested? What (specific) hypothesis/-es for your research project could you derive from this theory? In other words, if the theory is correct, what answer to your research question would you expect? Are there any alternative hypotheses? If so, what theory/causal argument are these derived from?
3. Research design (method, case selection, data) Is causal inference central to your study? (Or descriptive inference?) If so, what strategy will you use to deal with it? What research method will you use? What are the key features of this method? What is your justification of the choice for this method? Could you potentially opt for another method? If so, why do you not opt for it? How exactly will you use the (general) method in your study? In other words, what will the method look like in your study? Are you going to analyse certain cases out of the broader population of cases which you are interested in? What case(s) will you select? What is the logic behind your case selection? Why does it make sense to study the case(s) that you are selecting? Could you argue that you can generalize the findings of a study of your case(s) to the broader population of cases you are interested in? How are you operationalising your key variables? Why does it make sense to operationalise them that way? Do you control for the effect of certain other variables? How do you do this? (Do you include them as control variables in the analysis, or do you keep them constant by means of case selection?) What data will you use and how are you collecting these data? How reliable do you expect these data to be? Do you foresee any challenges in collecting and analyzing the data? If so, how are you planning to deal with these? How would you evaluate the internal validity and external validity of your proposed study?
List of references Provide a complete list of references, consistently using one reference system See also: Undergraduate Handbook
