PhD proposal guidance for business, hospitality, economics, politics or sociology programmes

• Title of proposed thesis.

• Background to the research topic and why you have chosen it
• The specific problem/s or question/s the study will address
• The research aims and objectives and any hypotheses or research propositions
• Expected contribution to scholarship/knowledge (applied and/or theoretical).

Review important literature relating to your proposed topic. Within this you should use the literature to:

• Demonstrate up-to-date knowledge of the research field
• Justify the choice of research topic
• Justify the original contribution your research is likely to make. For example, highlight the gap in current knowledge you intend to fill.

• What type of data (qualitative/quantitative/both), material or resources the study will use and how you will gather them
• How you will analyse the data/material once they have been collected
• Ethical considerations that are likely to be involved in the study
• Justification for your choice of methodology/ies.

• Provide a realistic proposed work plan and timetable.

• The proposal should be referenced correctly with all sources acknowledged and included in a list of references.

This should explain the:

• area of research you want to study
• reading you have done and how it relates to your research area.

A description of the problem or question that you think needs investigating or answering. 

If applicable, state what hypothesis you have about the cause of the problem or what might solve the problem.

Explain how you would plan to go about your investigation, how to test your hypotheses (if applicable), how you might find a solution and what the problems might be in finding one.

The final section explains why others might think it is important that your research is carried out and why others might find its outcomes useful.

Cite any authors you have referenced or books you have mentioned in your proposal.