Research Proposal Template (aligned with assessment criteria)

2000 words; 1.5 spacing; note the length of introduction and conclusion, but other sections can vary

Introduction (contributes to assessment criterium 6)elementary social studies

Introduce briefly your proposed research in a few sentences (one paragraph only, max 0.5 page or shorter), e.g. why you are interested in conducting such research and what you want to learn from it (what do you want to know)

Do not include any references

Literature review (addresses assessment criterium 1)

Explain what is already known in literature on the topic of your interest (include references to at least 6 reputable scholarly journal articles on the topic). Explain what you want to know but what is missing in the literature (gap in literature). This should lead to articulating the aim of your research and research questions.

Research paradigm, aim and research questions/hypotheses (addresses assessment criterium 2)

Formulate the aim of research (directly relates to the gap identified in literature).

Explain briefly your research approach (research paradigm: qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods) and justify why it suites to the aim of your research

Formulate specific research questions/hypotheses and explain how these relate to the approach (research paradigm) that you chose. Remember that qualitative and quantitative research questions are written differently.

Include references to research methodology books or articles in this section

Research design and participants (addresses assessment criterium 3)

Explain your research design. Remember that the design must align with your chosen approach.

If your design is experimental, quasi-experimental or action research, ensure you provide a brief explanation of the intervention

Describe your participants (who, how many, how will be recruited) and where the research will be conducted, i.e. the context of research

Include references to research methodology books or articles in this section

Data collection methods (addresses assessment criterium 4)

Describe specific methods/ measureswhich will be used to collect the data (these have to be realistic)

Explain how the selected research methods will lead to answering your research questions or supporting your hypotheses.

Address the limitations of the data collection methods

Include references to research methodology books or articles in this section

Ethical considerations (addresses assessment criterium 5)

Briefly explain and discuss the ethical considerations that are relevant and specific to your proposed research and your participants

Include references to research methodology books or articles in this section

Conclusion (contributes to assessment criterium 6)

Provide a brief but specific conclusion to your proposal (one short paragraph only, max 0.5 page), e.g. how this research will help you to learn what you want to know and how these findings might be useful to you in your work as educator)

Reference List (contributes to assessment criterium 6)

Ensure your reference list and your references in the text match perfectly.

Use APA (Harvard if HAS) consistently. Version 6 or 7 APA can be used but juts use one version not a combination of both.