GUIDELINES FOR RESEARCH PROPOSALS
\nNOTE:
\n\uf0a7 These are general guidelines only; faculties may have their own discipline-specific
\nguidelines or templates for research proposals, particularly in the health and applied
\nsciences and engineering.
\n\uf0a7 Study these Guidelines carefully and incorporate the instructions in the proposal
\nbefore submission.
\n\uf0a7 Pay special attention to the Evaluation Checklist. This will help you evaluate your
\nproposal using similar criteria to those used by the faculty research committee and
\nfunding agencies.
\n\uf0a7 Provide a table of contents, including sub-headings and page numbers.
\n\uf0a7 A dissertation comprises a 50% research project (50% course work).
\n\uf0a7 A thesis comprises a 100% research project.
\n\uf0a7 The research proposal should not be too long; five \u2013 ten pages generally suffice.
\n\uf0a7 Your first step is to register a research topic (HDC 1.1) through the faculty research
\ncommittee.
\n\uf0a7 Your research proposal (HDC 1.2) must be ratified within six months of registering the
\ntopic.
\nPurpose of the research proposal
\nTo establish that the candidate has:
\n\uf0a7 a viable and researchable problem
\n\uf0a7 an acceptable plan of action for undertaking the research
\n\uf0a7 done sufficient preparation to establish the rationale for the research
\n\uf0a7 a feasible chance of completing the research
\nThe order of the layout suggested below may be changed and certain sections may be
\ncombined; additional points may also be added. The suggested headings serve as road
\nsigns to indicate to the evaluator:
\n\uf0a7 what the research problem is
\n\uf0a7 how the candidate intends doing the research
\n\uf0a7 what the outcomes could be
\nThe examination criteria for a doctoral degree are that there should be clear evidence of
\noriginality, creative thinking and problem solving. The requirement for a doctoral thesis is that
\ncandidates must provide proof of original and creative thinking and problem-solving, and
\nmake a real contribution to the solving of a particular problem in the industry to which their
\nresearch applies (NQF Level 10 \u2013 see page 26 of Higher Education Qualifications
\nFramework Draft for Discussion, July 2004.)
\nFor a master\u2019s thesis, candidates must prove that they understand a particular problem in the
\nindustry in which they have done their research, are able to analyse and set it out logically,
\nare able to arrive at logical conclusions or a diagnosis, and are then able to make proposals
\nfor the improvement\/elimination of the problem. (NQF Level 9 \u2013 see page 25 of Higher
\nEducation Qualifications Framework Draft for Discussion, July 2004.)<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
1. Title
\nThe title should be concise, as long titles are cumbersome to accommodate in
\ninformation retrieval systems. Select appropriate key words or phrases, and avoid
\nrambling and meaningless statements such as: An investigation into the possibility of
\nconducting research in . . . Do not start a title with a present participle, such as
\nInvestigating, or Analysing. The title should rather read: An analysis of \u2026
\n2. Clarification of basic terms and concepts
\nThe same words may have different connotations to people, especially if they work in
\nvarious disciplines. List and clarify or define the main words and concepts that you
\nwill use in your research. It may also be useful to provide a list of abbreviations and
\nacronyms with their full names, e.g. SMME. Commonly used abbreviations\/acronyms
\n(such as UK, USA) need not be included.
\n3. Statement of research problem
\nThis is the heart of the proposal. Normally a sentence, or at most a paragraph, is all
\nthat is required to describe exactly what the problem is. Many candidates have
\ndifficulty in describing the problem: instead they list the objectives, outcomes, needs
\nor other irrelevant aspects.
\nIf the research problem is not adequately or precisely described, it is likely to be
\nrejected. The National Research Foundation (NRF) reports that most research
\nproposals are \u201ccharacterised by poorly formulated problems\u201d. Furthermore,
\n\u201cresearchers often indulge in jargon, which seems to obscure rather than explain
\nwhat the research problem is\u201d. Candidates should ensure that the problem and their
\nobjectives remain the focus of their thinking and writing.
\n4. Background to the research problem
\nSince the statement of the problem should be very brief, it is necessary to explain
\nseparately what the background to the problem is. Clarify the area of concern, or
\nwhat needs justify the research (this could be a sub-heading). Any information that
\nhelps the evaluator to understand the problem may be included. Indicate why you
\nbelieve that it is, in fact, a researchable problem. This section could be combined with
\nthe literature review, or form a sub-section of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GUIDELINES FOR RESEARCH PROPOSALS NOTE: \uf0a7 These are general guidelines only; faculties may have their own discipline-specific guidelines or templates for research proposals, particularly in the health and applied sciences and engineering. \uf0a7 Study these Guidelines carefully and incorporate the instructions in the proposal before submission. \uf0a7 Pay special attention to the Evaluation Checklist. This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"disciplines":[27],"paper_types":[],"tagged":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.writemyessays.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/questions\/16706"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.writemyessays.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/questions"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.writemyessays.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/questions"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.writemyessays.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.writemyessays.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.writemyessays.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/questions\/16706\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.writemyessays.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"disciplines","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.writemyessays.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/disciplines?post=16706"},{"taxonomy":"paper_types","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.writemyessays.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/paper_types?post=16706"},{"taxonomy":"tagged","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.writemyessays.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tagged?post=16706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}