Research Essay Proposal on radicalisation
The research proposal/plan helps focus and guide your final essay. There are a few key steps:
1. State your research question and your presumed argument. This is important as your argument and how you maintain it is the core aspect of your final essay. The argument must be included in your introduction of your proposal and your final essay. You should also identify possible arguments and how you might deal with them.
2. Identify the significance and objectives of your question for Security Studies. This takes two forms: practical and policy significance, and theoretical/academic significance. That is, does answering the question have policy implications? Are their gaps in the academic literature you are addressing? This is tied to the objectives of answering your question i.e. outlining the purpose and aim.
3. Identify your theoretical framework and define your key terms– this usually takes the form of the big three – Realism, Liberalism or Constructivism. This is important as it demonstrates to the reader how you “view the world.” However, this shouldn’t be left hanging. In the proposal you can consider how which theory suits your question the best, but when it comes to the final essay you will have to demonstrate you can apply theory to case.
The way to link the two together is defining your key terms through your theoretical framework. For example, in the question, “How serious are cyber-security threats” – your key terms are “serious” and “cyber security threats.” These have to be theoretically defined, for instance Realism would argue “serious” is a threat to the survival of the nation-state, whereas Constructivists would argue that it is a threat to the individual or societies.
4. Method/Preliminary research: The majority of students will use the methods of case studies to provide supporting evidence for your research. In your proposal you must state which cases (1-2) you will use, and you must also justify why you picked those cases.
5. Table of contents / Structure of final essay: Provide a bullet-point (numbered) outline.
Here are also some useful guides (but keep in mind that they are geared towards higher degree research):
1. ANU: http://www.anu.edu.au/students/learning-development/research-writing/research-proposals
2. MQ: Researching your assignment: https://www.mq.edu.au/about/campus-services-and-facilities/library/research/researching-your-assignment – this is important as your proposal needs to demonstrate you have done preliminary research and why you are answering this question.
