Structure Of The Proposal And Expectations Last Moyo, PhD

Structure	Expectations
1.Statement of Intention	This is sometimes referred to as the Aim of the research project. Here you need to give a synopsis of the aim of your research in terms of what you are researching and where, and to a lesser extent how and why. Word economy is very important at this stage as you are really trying to summarize what your study is setting out to do before you give a detailed discussion of the problem in the Statement of the problem. Some supervisors may require you to explain your Aim in just a sentence or two while others may need a short and focused paragraph.
2.Research Problem	This section is primarily a statement of the research problem. It must be clear and exhaustive. The problem must be discussed at the following levels: a) Descriptive level: Say in simple terms what the research problem is. Avoid use of jargon at this stage. If this is inevitable, explain clearly what the specialized terms mean. b) Contextual level: Give a sense of context by describing the magnitude or intensity of the problem. Statistics and clear examples drawn from the context of your research can be very useful here: Examples 1. Research on media ownership in South Africa · The media in South Africa are owned and controlled by 4 major companies which are Naspers, Independent, Avusa, and Caxton. This demonstrates a development towards the concentration of ownership which can be potentially undemocratic. This research seeks to investigate the extent to which concentrated ownership has a negative influence on news diversity and the participation of ordinary people as news sources and news makers. 2.Research on representation of women · The representation of women in advertisements on both television and magazines in South Africa is generally seen as negative (See A, B, C, and D). NB: Highlighting related research in your area of study helps to reinforce your research problem. Note that at this stage you are not doing an exhaustive review of literature, but just spot lighting key studies closely related to what you are investigating. Unpublished dissertations and theses are usually very useful in creating the context of the problem. c) Analytical level: Discussion of the problem at the two above levels is useless unless you are able to discuss theoretical tensions observed in the problem that you are studying. You must also be able to discuss your research problem at conceptual and normative levels. NB: A, B and C must be done concurrently and this is a skill that you can develop through practice and analysis of presentational aspects of other dissertations.
3.Research Questions	Research questions must summarise your research problem. They must be SMART meaning that they have to be Specific, Achievable, and Realistic given the time frame of your research. Here you must use the funnelling approach where you have to distil your ideas until your questions are very clear and researchable.
4.Rationale	Here you must justify your research project at the following levels: a) Academic significance of your study: You can do this by showing what knowledge gaps you are trying to fill. To achieve this, you can review published and unpublished literature(dissertations and theses) and situate your own concerns. Ask yourself the question: What does my study seek to contribute to my field or area of study? b) Potential theoretical and policy interventions of your research: Does your study seek to contribute to an already existing theory? Are you breaking new ground and proposing alternative media policy trajectories? c) Justify selection and exclusion You also have to justify why you are studying selected news organizations, media texts and genres, and the period under which they will be studied.
5. Literature Review	You have to critically review available literature (books, journals and unpublished theses and dissertations). A literature review must not be a passive, dull reading but should always be analytical and discursive.
6. Theoretical and Conceptual Framework	Discuss the key theory or theories that underpin your work. Theories make the conceptual lens of your study. It is always good to use the ‘best’ theory which can generate rigorous, sound, critical, and analytical judgment over phenomena. Avoid using many theories at this stage as this can create an impression of theoretical dumping or clustering, especially if you fail to draw connections between theories and demonstrate their relevance to you research problem. Another disadvantage of using multiple theoretical frameworks is that it can pre-empty and weaken your analysis in your presentation and discussion of your findings. Remember the whole idea of academic research is to contribute to a body of theory or theories by way of a critical analysis that generates sound academic interventions. Using many theories denies you a specific theoretical standpoint and can also affect the identity of your thesis or dissertation. Contributing to theory or questioning theory assumes that your critique must show, through its efficacy in analysis, the strengths and weaknesses of the theory you are using. Clustering theories (especially if they belong to different traditions such as cultural studies, critical political economy (CPE), or critical theory) can affect how your study will contribute to knowledge. For example, if you use cultural studies mid- range theories, you can review the strengths of your analysis by ‘looking’ at your critique from other theoretical perspectives such as CPE.
7. Methodology	Discuss your research design and the data gathering techniques you are using. Remember you have to justify the methods that you choose to use. The discussion of the methods should not be abstract, but should be done in relation to your research problem. Ask yourself the question: To what extent does this method best address my research questions in terms of its efficacy as a data gathering tool?
8. Chapter Outline	List the chapters of your research and sections and subsections. See example below: Chapter 1: Introduction 1.0 Introduction 1.1 The Research Problem 1.1.1 Research Questions 1.1.2 Significance of Study 1.2.1 Justification of Selected News Media and Civic Organizations 1.2.2 Justification of the Period of Study 1.3 The Origins and Development of the Internet as a Medium 1.3.1 Understanding the Internet: convergence, digitization and interactivity
9. References	List all the key authors and books that you are using for your research. It may always help to Conduct a research on who are the key authors in the field that you are researching. To do this you can look at the references of the relevant journal articles, dissertations, and books that you already have access to.