Posted: July 4th, 2015

Applying to study for a PhD in the School of Education: Writing your Research Proposal

Applying to study for a PhD in the School of Education:

Writing your Research Proposal

A Vital Point to Consider Before You Start Writing your Proposal

A good research proposal is a vital element of your application to read for a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree, at the University of Lincoln. Consequently, you need to devote some time and effort to drafting the document, and if the proposal follows the guidance contained in these notes, your application is more likely to be successful. However, if your interest in the research topic you wish to study is not shared by a member of the supervisory team at Lincoln, it does not matter how good your research proposal is, we will not be able to provide you with the academic support and advice, that you will need to complete your doctoral thesis successfully. So, before you start to write the proposal, have a look at the section in these Guidance Notes on the Doctoral Supervisory Team in the School of Education. Look through the research interests of staff to see if there is anyone who shares your own research interest; if members of staff do not share your research interest, they are unlikely to be able to supervise you. If you think that there is a member of staff who shares your research interest, but you are not sure, then contact the lecturer concerned by email via the address given in this document, and discuss your application with him/her. Research is a crucial element of the work of university academic staff, so most academics enjoy talking about their research, to potential PhD students. Once you know that there is someone on our doctoral supervisory team who shares your research interests, then you can start to draft your research proposal.

The Purpose of a PhD Research Proposal

All applicants to the doctoral programme in the School of Education are requested to write a short research proposal, in which they present and justify their proposed research ideas, and demonstrate how they intend to conduct their research. This proposal should demonstrate how you might make an original contribution to knowledge in your specific subject domain, as this is the requirement for the award of Doctor of Philosophy. More comprehensively, the European Qualifications Framework indicates that the PhD involves: “knowledge at the most advanced frontier of a field of work or study and at the interface between fields; the most advanced and specialised skills and techniques, including synthesis and evaluation, required to solve critical problems in research and/or innovation and to extend and redefine existing knowledge or professional practice; the demonstration of substantial authority, innovation, autonomy, scholarly and professional integrity and sustained commitment to the development of new ideas or processes at the forefront of work or study contexts including research”

 

Your PhD research proposal will be used, along with your academic credentials and referees reports, to enable a decision to be taken as to whether you are a suitable candidate for doctoral level studies. Your proposal will help academic staff in the School to assess: whether your research interests match those of staff in the School; whether we have staff with the right subject expertise and qualified research experience to provide satisfactory supervision; and whether you are able to demonstrate that you have the ability to identify and develop an original and interesting research question, which you then may test during your period of doctoral studies at Lincoln. The names and research areas of current members of staff of the School of Education are given in the final section of these guidance notes.

 

Your overall objective in drafting the research proposal will be to demonstrate that you are proposing to undertake academic research which is: original; based on a critical appraisal of existing work in the field; adding to the existing body of academic knowledge; feasible within the degree’s time frame. The proposal should: describe the research problem you plan to address (via hypotheses or research questions); state why the research is important, timely or relevant; outline your research methods and the rationale for them. The research hypotheses (or questions) must be sufficiently specific and well-defined to enable you to demonstrate that you will be able to address them with the time allocated for the completion of doctoral research (three years full time, and six years part time).

 

The nature of the research process is such that, even if you are offered a place on the School’s Doctoral Programme, the research you actually undertake may differ in some respects from that outlined in your original research proposal, as you are likely to refine your research hypotheses and question, in the light of your literature review, in the early stages of your doctoral studies. However, you will still be expected to stay within the broad research interests of the School and your supervisor(s), so it is rare for doctoral research to diverge radically from the original proposal without very good reason, e.g. unforeseen problems in collecting data, owing to security restrictions by national governments. For this reason, before you start your study, you need to ensure that you are genuinely interested in, and confident about, completing the research contained in your proposal.

The Content of the Research Proposal

There is no one “right” way to write a PhD research proposal. The different elements within the proposal may vary in accordance with the research questions you are pursuing, and the type of research methods you have chosen to adopt. In general, however, your research proposal should aim to cover the following points:

• The overall theme of your research topic, and why it is of interest to you.
• Why you believe that your research is worth doing, in terms of its contribution to knowledge and/or impact.
• The hypothesis(ses) that you intend to test, or the research question(s) you intend to answer.
• A brief, selective and critical assessment of the relevant literature, reviewing the strengths and weaknesses of previous research findings: to demonstrate your thorough understanding of the main debates and issues in your chosen research area; and how your proposed research will add to the existing body of knowledge. Your grasp of the literature, and the main contemporary debates within it, will also provide the assessors of your proposal, with evidence as to how you have begun to prepare for your research.
• Your research methodology, (that is the models, methods, tools and tests, you intend to use) and why it is appropriate for testing your hypotheses, or answering your research questions. Clearly this section will vary significantly for empirical, as opposed to theoretical, research. For empirical research, you will need to say whether your research will be descriptive or exploratory, what data you will use and how you will measure, collect, collate and analyse it, what problems you may encounter and how you will overcome them, and whether you may require additional training, e.g. in statistics.
• Whether your research raises any ethical issues, and how these may be addressed. For example, if you are going to collect empirical data from primary schoolchildren to assess whether a new method of teaching is effective, you will need to get written consent from the parents of the children for their participation in the study.
• A research plan, which shows how you will be able to complete your research within the time allocated for your doctoral studies. Key stages within your research plan (which may overlap) are likely to include: refining the research proposal; literature review; developing the research methodology; fieldwork/data collection; data analysis; writing the final draft; final submission.
• Show how your research will fit within the established or developing specialist research areas of the staff of the School of Education.
• If you have been in contact with a member of the academic staff of the School to discuss your research proposal (which can be very helpful to you), then you should say so, and give the names of the staff you have consulted.

When you have written the first full draft of your research proposal, read it through and try to critically assess whether or not you have successfully answered the following questions in a clear, concise and succinct manner:

• What is the research about?
• Why do you want to do it?
• Why do you believe you will be able to do it?
• Why is it important?
• What do you aim to achieve by completing it?
• Have you shown how your research will contribute to the conceptual understanding or knowledge of your topic, e.g. by expanding knowledge or theory, improving research design, or improving analysis?
• Have you explained how you plan to conduct the research, e.g. is it empirical or theoretical, qualitative and/or quantitative, will you use existing data/sources or collect your own, the tools you will use, e.g. modelling, surveys, interviews, observation, case studies ?
• Is it clear how your research will fit within, and contribute to, the School’s research profile?

It may be useful for you to give your draft to other people to read and comment on, and if you have access to a friendly academic, do ask them to read through your draft and comment on its academic credibility.

The Format of your Research Proposal

Whilst content is of primary importance, the format of your research proposal also needs attention:

• Make sure you put on the front sheet, your full name (both family and given names), the title of your proposed research topic, and the date
• You should aim to write around 1,500 – 2,000 words but no more than 2,500. However, the length of the proposal is less important than making sure that you say something about each of the main points above.
• Use 1.5 (one and a half) line spacing, at least font size 11 with a standard font (e.g. Arial or Times New Roman) and leave standard margins (2.5 cms) on the right and left sides, and at the top and foot of the pages. Put page numbers in the document footer, and your name in the document header.
• Use headings for each of the major sections and sub-headings where you think these are necessary.
• Avoid jargon, and use clear simple English – your proposal should be understandable to non-experts.
• Ensure your proposal is in grammatically correct English, with accurate spelling throughout.
• At the end of the proposal, include a properly referenced bibliography, listing in alphabetic order by the name of the author(s), all the books and papers you have referred to in the text.

Before you submit your proposal, it is a very good idea to have friends or members of your family to read through your draft proposal to make sure it reads well, and to help you find any grammatical errors, spelling mistakes or typographical errors.

Personal Statements

As well as your research proposal, you may also provide a personal statement as part of your PhD application. If you decide that you wish to make a personal statement as a part of your application, then you should include the following (and anything else you may wish to mention, if you believe it is important):

• Why you want to study for a PhD.
• Why you want to come to the School of Education at the University of Lincoln for your doctoral studies.
• Why you are a suitable candidate for the PhD programme of study in the School of Education at Lincoln, (e.g. quality and relevance of your academic credentials; any research experience you have; any research papers you have written, presented or had published; evidence of your ability to work on your own, accept supervision, handle a heavy work load, and manage your time; your ability to read and write in English to the standard required for postgraduate work).
• The reasons for your choice of research project, and why it is of interest to you.
• How your research and studying for a PhD fits in with your career plans.
• You should mention how you are intending to fund your research, e.g. whether you wish to be considered for all/some/specific funding options that the University may offer, for which you are eligible, or that you have already some form of sponsorship.

The focus of your personal statement for a PhD application should be to communicate that you are committed to your research area and to doing a PhD, that you understand the level, quantity and type of work involved, and that you are equipped to complete an original piece of research, to a high academic standard within the required timescale. In short, you want the assessors to conclude that giving you a place on the PhD programme (and possible access to funds) will be a good investment of the School of Education’s time and resources.

What to do when you have finished your Proposal

Once you have finished your proposal, please apply online via the University of Lincoln website (at http://www.lincoln.ac.uk/home.course/eduphdrp) to join the PhD programme in the School of Education. Once you have successfully applied online, please submit your research proposal by email to Michelle Garvey, ([email protected]) who is the Administrative Officer for applications to the PhD Program in the School of Education. Once you have applied online and submitted your proposal, it will be used, along with other supporting documents such as your degree certificates, reports from your referees, and proof of your ability to converse and communicate in English, to make an assessment as to whether we wish to interview you. We will try to advise you as to whether you have been chose for interview as soon as possible after receiving your proposal.

Selection for Interview

On the basis of your application (which will include your research proposal and may include a personal statement), assessors in the School may decide to offer you an interview, either in person (if you are resident in the UK) or by video conferencing (Skype) or by telephone. The time and date of the interview will be agreed with you by the administrative staff within the School. To help you prepare for your interview, we can advise you that during the interview you are likely to be asked some general questions including the following:

• What are the reasons for your choice of research topic?
• How does the proposed research proposal build on your previous studies – such as your MA thesis?
• Have you carried out the appropriate background reading?
• Do you have an up-to-date and accurate view of the research field?
• Have you outlined the focus of your studies in sufficient detail?
• Is the scope of your proposed research study realistic in the time allocated?
• Is your proposed research sufficiently original and challenging?
• Will your research allow you to demonstrate your academic abilities?
• Will the research enable you to develop and refine your academic and personal skills?
• Are your proposed research methods appropriate to your study, and are you aware of their limitations?
• Will you be able to gain access to all the resources you will need to complete your study?
• Does your research raise any ethical issues, and if so, how will you deal with them?
• Is the proposed structure of your dissertation or project readily apparent and understandable?
• Will your proposed dissertation meet the requirements of the School and the University for research at doctoral level?
• Is your research likely to make a contribution to the existing knowledge in your field?
• Do you have the requisite English language qualifications for doctoral level (we require an IELTS Composite Score of 6.0, with not less than 5.5 for each of the constituent elements).
• What are the reasons for you choosing to come to Lincoln to study for your PhD?
• Do you have sponsorship, to enable you to meet the costs of your study?

School of Education Doctoral Supervisory Team

The following members of staff constitute the doctoral supervisory team within the School of Education. If you look through their individual profiles, you will be able to identify if any of the supervisory team have the subject knowledge to enable them to act as your doctoral supervisor.

 

 

Dr Andrea Abbas

 

Dr Andrea Abbas is the Acting Director of the School of Educations and teaches and supervises students on the doctoral and PGCE programmes. Andrea conducts research into higher education using qualitative methods and exploring the efficacy of different social theories. Andrea’s work draws upon biographical methods, qualitative interviewing, focus groups, art-based methods, videoing, photographic methods and ethnographic observation, as well as policy and other textual documentary analysis.

 

 

 

Andrea is able to offer doctoral supervision in the following broad areas:

Curriculum studies.

Education and diversity.

Education and inequality (gender, class, age, ethnicity, disability, etc.).

Educational policy.

Pedagogy.

Qualitative methods (more especially biographical approaches).

Sociological theory & education (Actor-Network Theory, Basil Bernstein, Critical Realism, Embodiment; Feminism; and Foucauldian approaches).

Sociology of education.

Special educational needs.

 

Contact: email Andrea at [email protected] to find out more

 

 

 

Professor Ian Abrahams

 

Ian Abrahams is Head of School of Education and Professor of Science Education.

He has published widely in the area of both primary and secondary school science education and has led large-scale evaluations of national educational interventions.

 

Ian would be keen to discuss possible full- or part-time supervision in the areas of science education, scientific literacy, as well as studies that seek to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of educational interventions. Currently he is supervising both UK and international PhD students in the following areas:

 

Anita Backhouse: A case study into the primary PGCE experience

Chris Otter: The use and effectiveness of drama in teaching ‘A’ level chemistry

Godwin Osakwe: Understanding students’ experiences of conceptualisations of technology and implications for classroom pedagogy in Nigeria.

Nikolaos Fotou: Greek students’ predictions in novel situations and the role of self-generated analogies in their reasoning.

Suliman Binmoshen: A comparative study of the effectiveness of online inquiry-based and traditional face-to-face professional development of primary science teachers’ pedagogical practice in Saudi Arabia

 

 

Contact: email Ian at [email protected] to find out more

 

 

 

 

Dr Sarah Amsler

 

Dr Sarah Amsler is a Reader in the School of Education and teaches and supervises students on the doctoral and PGCE programmes. Sara works on the politics of knowledge and education across a range of cultural contexts. As a critical theorist, she studies how political economies and discourses shape possibilities for democratic life. She draws on ethnographic, dialogic interview and documentary methods to understand and facilitate transformative practices in formal and popular education.

 

 

 

Sarah is able to offer doctoral supervision in the following broad areas:

Alternative and political education.

Critical education policy studies.

Critical pedagogies and Critical Pedagogy as a field.

Critical theory and philosophy (classical; Frankfurt School; post-structuralist; feminist;).

Curriculum studies.

Ethics of educational and social research.

Higher education/university studies.

History of education (19th and 20th century Anglophone).

Philosophy of education/knowledge/culture.

Politics of education (including critical political economy & social politics).

Public pedagogies.

Qualitative methods of research (especially on case study, dialogical interviewing, participatory and creative methods).

Sociology of education (institutions, practices, discourses)

 

Contact: email Sarah at [email protected] to find out more

 

 

Dr Julian Beckton

 

Dr Julian Beckton is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education and teaches and supervises students on the doctoral and PGCE programmes. Julian previously worked in various university libraries and his research interests include student attendance, educational technology and information management inside virtual learning environments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Julian is able to offer doctoral supervision in the following broad areas:

Academic Development.

Academic Development Units.

Academic integrity.

Attendance monitoring in h.e.

E-learning (with a special focus on VLEs).

 

Contact: email Julian at [email protected] to find out more

 

 

Professor Les Bell

 

Professor Les Bell has held posts at Coventry College of Education and the universities of Warwick, Leicester and Liverpool John Moores. He teaches on the School of Education’s EdD programme, and supervises PhD students. His latest publications are an edited four-volume work, Organising Public Education and a jointly authored book, Leading Schools in Challenging Circumstances: Strategies for Success.

 

 

 

 

Les is able to offer doctoral supervision in the following broad areas:

Curriculum design.

Education and schools policy.

Educational culture.

Educational leadership.

Educational management.

Educational organisational structure.

Professional development in education.

Professional roles in educational institutions.

 

Les is familiar with the educational systems of the Middle and Far East and Australia/New Zealand

 

Contact: email Les at [email protected] to find out more

 

 

Professor Terence Karran

 

Professor Terence Karran is a Senior Academic in the School of Education, where he teaches on the EdD programme and supervises PhD students. He is the University’s Erasmus Institutional Coordinator, with overall responsibilities for the university’s Erasmus activities. Professor Karran is also a Docent Professor in Educational Technology at the University of Oulu in Finland. From 2005-7, he was a Visiting Professor in educational technology at the Autonomous University of Guadalajara, and Director of the National Coordinator Centre of Mexico within the World Bank Institute’s Global Development Learning Network for Latin America and the Caribbean.

 

Terence is able to offer doctoral supervision in the following broad areas:

Academic freedom, theory, principles and practice.

Bologna Process and the European Credit Transfer System.

Comparative studies of academic freedom – Africa, the EU, the USAE.

E-learning in higher education.

Erasmus and EU educational policy.

Higher education policy and planning.

Quantitative research methods (including survey design, descriptive statistics, correlation, regression and path analysis, non-parametric testing).

 

Contact: email Terence at [email protected] to find out more

 

 

Dr Rachael Sharpe

 

Rachael Sharpe has lectured on undergraduate programmes at the University of York and has since joined the School of Education as a Senior Lecturer and programme leader for the PGCE (Secondary). In addition to being involved on the Master’s programme she also works with primary and secondary schools across Lincolnshire. She has experience of teaching in secondary schools and primary schools and is a trained secondary physics teacher. Rachael is interested in educational evaluations and a variety of aspects of secondary science education, including: The affective and effective value of practical work; Attitudes to science; and the uptake of science and has published in these areas. Rachael has worked on various research projects including:

• Examining practical skills in secondary school science (Gatsby funded project). As detailed in: Abrahams, I., Reiss, M.J., & Sharpe, R.M. (2013). The assessment of practical work in school science. Studies in Science Education, 49, 209-251.
• Evaluating a range of science teaching resources (Nuffield funded project).
• A DCSF funded ‘Getting Practical’ an initiative designed to improve practical work in school science. As detailed in: Abrahams, I., Reiss, M.J., & Sharpe, R. (2014). The impact of the ‘Getting Practical: Improving Practical Work in Science’ continuing professional development programme on teachers’ ideas and practice in science practical work. Research in Science & Technological Education, DOI: 10.1080/02635143.2014.931841.
• A report commissioned by the Royal Society for their STEM Vision Project which examined student attitudes, engagement and participation in STEM subjects. This is available from:
  Bennett, J., Braund, M., & Sharpe, R. M. (2014). Student attitudes, engagement and participation in STEM subjects. London: The Royal Society/DfE, The University of York.
• Evaluation of the National STEM Centre which was funded by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation whilst working in the Department of Education at the University of York.

 

Rachael is able to offer doctoral supervision in the following areas:

Primary and secondary science

Practical work and practical skills in schools

Teacher and student attitudes especially attitudes to STEM subjects

Teaching science with the use of drama and other practical based techniques

The effectiveness of educational initiatives in schools

Qualitative and quantitative methods in educational evaluations

 

Contact: email Rachael at [email protected] to find out more.

Professor Angela Thody

 

Professor Angela Thody specialises in academic writing methods and supervises EdD and PhD students in her research areas of education leadership, retired leaders, school and higher education organisatio and education management history. She has also written and edited numerous books, articles and journals. She been a professor at Lincoln since 1996, having previously held positions at Leicester, Luton, De Montfort and the Open University.

 

 

 

 

 

Angela is able to offer doctoral supervision in the following broad areas:

Curriculum areas in music and in literacy.

Faith schools.

Higher education – various areas such as access.

History of schooling and of leadership in schools.

Leadership in primary, secondary and tertiary education.

Leadership training and development in schools.

Management in schools.

Qualitative research methods (including interviewing but also other innovative approaches such as visual evidence, visual and virtual ethnographies, observation and diaries.

Retirement and ageing.

School governorship, lay and parental involvement.

Special needs in schools.

 

Contact: email Angela at [email protected] to find out more

.

Joss Winn

 

Joss Winn is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education where he is Co-ordinator for the EdD module: Introducing Educational Research and Development, and contributes to the Foundations of Education and Researching Education PGCE/MA modules. Previously, he held posts as Audiovisual Archivist at Amnesty International, Project Manager for Amnesty‘s Digital Asset Management system and worked in Collections Management as Moving Image Archivist at the BFI National Film and Television Archive. He returned to his home town of Lincoln in 2007 after studying and teaching in the USA, Japan and London. His current research began with an interest in the role of technology in higher education. It now extends more broadly to a critique of the political economy of higher education. As such, his writing and teaching is now focused on the history and political economy of science and technology in higher education, its affordances for and impact on academic labour, and the way by which academics can control the means of knowledge production through co-operative and ultimately post-capitalist forms of work and democracy. This work contributes to a number of contemporary themes in higher education, such as open education, academic identity, value critique, and co-operative education.

 

Joss is able to offer doctoral supervision in the following broad areas:

Education and technology;

Academic labour;

Alternative Education

 

Contact: email Joss at [email protected] to find out more

 

 

Beverley Potterton

 

Beverley Potterton is the Senior Administrator/PA to the Head of the School of Education. Her role is to oversee the administration of the School’s programmes and short courses, as well as to support the programme leaders and the Head of the School of Education. Her administrative responsibilities include: (please list them here)

Bev is currently studying for a part-time Business Studies degree.

 

 

 

 

 

Contact: email Beverley at [email protected] to find out more

 

 

 

Michelle Garvey

 

 

Michelle Garvey is an Administrator in the School of Education. Her administrative responsibilities include oversight of the taught phases of the EdD and PGCE courses and dealing with admissions to the EdD and PhD programmes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contact: email Michelle at [email protected] to find out more