School of the Arts and Media, UNSW
Framework for Research Proposal
for Masters and PhD students preparing for their first Annual Review
You are expected to submit a 7000 word document which addresses the elements of your research listed
below. These elements may be incorporated into a single draft introduction, or addressed separately under
each sub-heading (in any logical or appropriate order):
Title:
What title reflects the focus of your research? Deciding on a title helps you to
refine and direct your research. Try to keep it short but relatively descriptive. A
title and sub-title may help your focus.
Literature Review:
What have other people said about the topic? What are the major
assumptions and ongoing debates which organise scholarship in this field?
What is the gap in existing knowledge which you have identified and why does
this gap need to be filled?
Aims and Justification:
What is your object of study given the findings of your critical review of
literature? What disciplinary or interdisciplinary field of research are you
working within and contributing to? Why is your research important, and what
original argument do you wish to make in your thesis?
Research Questions:
What are you trying to find out? What questions will guide your investigation of
the topic, or what hypotheses do you intend to test? What problems or issues
will you address or attempt to resolve?
Methodology:
How will you seek to answer your research questions? What scholarly
framework or theoretical assumptions will guide your research? What
analytical tools will you employ to help you conduct your investigation of the
topic and analyse your findings (ie, theoretical paradigms, a specific critical
reading practice, archival research, interviews, etc)? Ideally, you would have
at least drafted a case (pilot) study by the end of year 1 to demonstrate
analytical capacity and the viability of the proposed method / approach. A
section of this should be incorporated into the Research Proposal
submitted for the review.
In addition to the 7000 word document outlined above, your written submission should include:
Timeline:
Provide a timeline for completion which maps out a series of milestones to be
achieved in order to realise your projected submission date.
Ethical Considerations:
Are there any ethical issues arising from your research? How will you deal
with these issues? Will you need to obtain ethics clearance from the HREC or
the HREA?
Anticipated Problems:
Can you anticipate any problems or constraints in undertaking your research?
What are the financial implications of your methods?
Chapter Outline:
Provide a list of chapters and their provisional titles to indicate how you will
structure your thesis. What will be the focus of each chapter and how will their
progression develop the argument of the thesis?
References:
The Bibliography of your Literature Review plus a range of primary and
secondary sources which you are drawing on.
School of the Arts and Media, UNSW
Framework for Research Proposal
for Masters and PhD students in Creative Practice / Writing
and preparing for their first Annual Review
A research degree in Creative Practice requires candidates to complete a
thesis comprised of two separate but related pieces: the Creative Work and
the Dissertation. Creative Practice students should submit:
- a <5000 word research proposal – AND
EITHER
- a <2000 word report on the creative work with documentation of work in
progress
OR
- if the work is creative writing then a <3000 word sample of writing from
their Creative Work (the equivalent in poetry could be around ten
pages of poetry)
The 5000-7000 word research proposal should follow the same Framework provided
above. In the ‘Aims and Justification’ section of the research proposal you should outline
both your Creative Work and your Dissertation. This should include:
-
-
a synopsis of the Creative Work which describes the formal and conceptual
aims of the project
an account of how your Creative Work relates to existing art forms and artistic
practices eg. the genre(s), tradition or movement you are working within;
and/or how your Creative Work engages with broader critical, theoretical,
technical, or cultural concerns
an account of the aims and justification of the Dissertation as outlined above
a discussion of how your Creative work and your Dissertation will be related. In
what ways do they inform or complement each other?
The research questions, literature review, and methodology should elaborate the
Dissertation (although you may see fit to include a discussion of how these research
elements also inform or are guided by the Creative Work).
Include the additional information as outlined in the above Framework (timeline; ethical
considerations; anticipated problems [including financial implications], chapter outline,
bibliography).
School of the Arts and Media, UNSW
Framework for Research Proposal
for Masters and PhD students undertaking research degrees in Composition and
preparing for their first Annual Review
A research degree in Music Composition requires candidates to submit a thesis comprised of two separate
but related pieces of work: a Composition Folio of about 90 – 120 minutes of music and an academic
Dissertation of about 30,000 words. Composition students should submit
-
<5000 word research proposal
<15 minute sample of compositions (e.g. sketches for the types of pieces that will comprise the
Folio)
The 5000 word proposal should follow the same Framework provided above. In the ‘Aims and Justification’
section of the research proposal you should outline both your Composition Folio and your Dissertation.
This should include:
-
a summary of the Composition Folio describing the formal and conceptual/technical aims of the
project
-
an account of how the Composition Folio relates to existing art forms and artistic practices eg.
the musical genre(s), tradition or movement you are working within; and/or how the
compositions engage with broader critical, theoretical, technical, or cultural concerns
-
an account of the aims and justification of the Dissertation as outlined above
-
a discussion of how your Compositions and your Dissertation will be related. In what ways do
they inform or complement each other?
The research questions, literature review, and methodology should elaborate the Dissertation (although
you may see fit to include a discussion of how these research elements also inform or are guided by the
Compositions).
Include the additional information as outlined in the above Framework (timeline; ethical considerations;
anticipated problems [including financial implications], chapter outline, bibliography).