IMCEERES Digital Programme Guide

Proposal Guidelines

Before you start writing your research proposal, make sure that you are aware of what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it. You are required to go through the self-testing quiz on Moodle to assess your ability to recognise potential risks. Please be aware that in the case of detected plagiarism your proposal will fail and this will lead to a failing result in both compulsory courses: Introduction to CEERES and Social Science Methodology. In this case, you will face the choice of either dropping out of the programme or returning to Tartu to repeat the autumn semester the following year.

The length of the MA thesis prospectus is 1,500–2,000 words and should be accompanied by a preliminary bibliography (not included in the word count).

Make sure that your research proposal follows a consistent methodological paradigm. Don’t mix-and-match between positivist and interpretivist approaches (e.g., don’t include a dependent and independent variable or state that you will test a hypothesis if you research follows an interpretivist perspective)!

Individual research proposals are expected to include the following elements listed below:

Give your thesis a preliminary title that clearly and succinctly describes your research topic. To help with the allocation of supervisors, it should be evident from the title which broad field your research fits into (IR, political economy, sociology, history etc.), the geographical area of focus, and theoretical/conceptual approach. This is just a working title and can be reworded later during the research process.

The starting point for every thesis is a strong research puzzle that is related to something that is intriguing or unclear about your topic. The proposal should explain what the puzzle is, how it fits into the broader field of study and existing scholarly approaches to the topic, the relevance of the topic for our understanding of the CEERE region, and how your research plans to contribute to solving the research puzzle. The thesis is not expected to cover an entire field of study and therefore the proposal should be realistic and modest when assessing its contribution.

The proposal should briefly outline the main theoretical or conceptual framework(s) that you plan to use.

The proposal needs to include a clearly defined set of research questions. These should be related to the research puzzle, study focus, and theoretical/conceptual framework.

For interpretivist studies, outline your preliminary expectations of what you think your research might reveal (based on your preliminary review of scholarly literature, perusal of some sources, initial observations). For positivist studies, formulate a hypothesis (or hypotheses) derived from your IV and DV that you will test.

The thesis should have a very clearly defined study focus. The choice of case study/studies needs to be explained and justified in relation to the research problem. The proposal should also describe the specific phenomena (if the research is interpretivist) or variables (if the research is positivist/post-positivist) that the research will focus on to analyse the topic.

The proposal should identify a preliminary set of data sources that will form the basis of your research (or data you plan to collect yourself). Outline the research methods that you will use to systematically gather and analyse the data. Specify whether you will conduct a qualitative or quantitative analysis. You should explain why you have chosen to use these particular research methods and how they will enable you to answer the research questions and/or test the hypotheses. The availability and accessibility of the data, as well as issues of validity, reliability, and precision (where relevant), should also be briefly commented on.

The proposal should realistically reflect on any potential research obstacles that you might encounter (i.e., language limitations, difficulties finding interview participants, gaining permission to access data, ethical considerations etc.) and propose strategies for overcoming these challenges. The proposal should indicate if the research is likely to need ethical approval.

The proposal should include a preliminary table of contents outlining the thesis chapters. The sections of the thesis need to follow a logical structure, build a coherent argument, and enable you to formulate a clear answer to the research questions/test the hypotheses.

Proposals should include a preliminary workplan that breaks down the key steps of your research process (e.g., collecting and reading literature, forming the theoretical framework, writing and submitting ethics application, gathering and analysis of data, writing up, sending drafts to supervisor, final submission etc.) and provides a realistic timeline for how you plan to manage your work on the thesis. Format the schedule as a Gantt chart.

Include a preliminary bibliography with key scholarly books, academic journal articles, and primary sources (if relevant) that you have read, or are planning to consult, to shape the early stages of your research.
Previous
Next
with the support of the erasmus+ programme of the european union
Accept Cookies