You must identify the main theoretical underpinnings of your work and the key authors in your field. You should make reference to the main authors and themes from ‘academic literature’ literature relevant to the proposal. It should use recognised academic sources (e.g. journal articles) and should be referenced. You are supposed to draw a conceptual framework - this sets out formally the concepts you intend to include in your data collection. This should normally be presented in a diagram.
A description and justification of research methods for your study including:
a. Your methodological approach to your study
b. How you intend to gain access to appropriate sites, data or informants for your study and any issues associated with these matters
c. The data collection methods you intend to use, a justification of their appropriateness and strengths and weaknesses
d. How you intend to construct your sample frame and an outline of your sampling strategy
e. How you propose to analyse the data you gather
f. Any problems you anticipate and how you might overcome them
g. Any limitation of your study, its design or methods
h. A consideration of any ethical or professional issues raised by your research
i. A research timetable that details your activity with associated timescales
(Note: it is possible to conduct your dissertation based solely on published material, that is, a desk based study. In this case your methodology section will consist of your approach to finding appropriate data and inevitably be quite short. The remaining words should be used to provide a more extensive and detailed literature review. As your research will be based on secondary data you need to demonstrate that there is sufficient material available).
