RESEARCH PROPOSAL 

What you need to do

Your research design should be structured as follows:

Title of Project (Short, sharp and succinct) Introduction (approximately 300 words)

Provide an initial and engaging sense of the problem and the project you intend to undertake.  Show why your project is important from a social work perspective.

Literature Review/ Background (approximately 800 words)

Utilising your literature review from the first assessment item, provide a cutdown version of this which explicitly provides a justification for the proposed research design.  You have the opportunity to refine your literature review from the first assessment item drawing on feedback you received as well as your own evolving orientation to the proposed research.

Research Question/s, aims and objectives (approximately 100 words)

State your research question with clarity and precision.  This is the key driver of your research, hence whilst this is a very short section it is critical to the whole design. Related aims and objectives should also be stated here.

Conceptual Framework (approximately 800 words)

Describe the social theory which underpins your research.  Show why and how your use of theory relates to your proposed research.  Ground your theoretical discussion within the relevant supporting literature. Your choice of theory should be congruent with your critical social work perspective, topic area, your research question, and your choice of research method.

Methods (approximately 1000 words)

Describe in detail the methods you will use to undertake your project.  Ground your account of method within the relevant supporting literature. Show your awareness of the strengths and limitations of the method you choose, clearly indicating why you have chosen your method and how you will use it.  Ensure you use one of the three methods taught in this unit (Critical Discourse Analysis, Critical Reflection or Systematic Review).  Use of any other method is likely to result in failure of the unit. Ensure your description of method is adequate to guide the research process from beginning to end.

Ethical Considerations (approximately 200 words)

Describe any ethical considerations relevant to your research.  Clearly identify potential ethical risks associated with your proposed research. Draw from the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research showing how you will manage these risks.  You must ensure that your project design does not require Human Research Ethics Committee review as this will make your design no longer viable within the time constraints of this unit and the follow on unit (SWN020). Ie Your project must not require formal ethical review by a Human Research Ethics Committee.

Timeline (approximately 100 words)

Your research design should demonstrate you capacity to project manage within a timeframe.  Determine the strategic accomplishments required to complete your project and plot these on a realistic timeline.  This unit dovetails with SWN020 which is the unit which supports the actual ‘doing’ of the project hence your timeline should be based on the duration of a single semester.  You should allow time for data collection, data analysis and the write-up of your results.  The timeline needs to show that you have scoped a realistic project for the time and resources available.  It is much better to scope a smaller project and complete it successfully than attempt a larger project beyond your capacity.

Dissemination of Results (approximately 100 words)

Describe how you intend to disseminate your results. As part of SWN020 you will be required to complete a research report and prepare a verbal conference presentation.  Ensure you refer to these in your dissemination of your results.  However depending on the project you may identify other ways to disseminate your findings.

Conclusion (approximately 100 words)

APA 7 Reference List, Alphabetised (not included in word count) Include a reference list for all work cited in your research proposal.