Research Proposal

Presentation date

Session 12 (May 8)

Your research group will prepare a research proposal on the basis of the preliminary research carried out in this course. You will submit this proposal to the annual Neighborhood Inquiry Grant competition of the Ruth Glass Foundation for Urban Research. You will also present your proposal.

Your final presentations for the Ruth Glass Foundation should include the following:

• Background and Research Question: Provide enough background for an uninitiated listener to understand the phenomenon you intend to study and clearly state your research question. Try to “sell” the significance of your research by relating it to the broader social context.
• Concise Overview of Key Concepts: Discuss 1-2 key concepts. You can briefly refer to relevant research by other scholars, but try to focus the audience’s attention on how the concepts relate to your own research question and your motives for asking it.
• Methods: Provide a detailed overview of the specific methods you plan to use, data you plan to collect, and objectives for using the selected methods. The core of your presentation is a methodological reflection. Dedicate at least 50% of the time to discussing the methodological aspects of your research design.
• Preliminary Findings: What have you learnt so far, and how do your findings relate to the research question you ask?
• A concluding argument why you think your research should be supported.

You can dream big: what kind of research would you like to conduct assuming time and money were not an issue?