PhD at Trinity - the proposal.

osarusan

Hi all,

I've been in contact with the graduate studies department in TCD with a view to applying for a PhD in Applied Linguistics.

It seems that the next step is to submit a proposal, and I'm wondering if anybody has any advice (specific to Trinity if possible) about the writing and submission process. Links to websites dealing with this, or even examples of submitted proposals (again, specific to Trinity would be great) would help a lot.

I have a Master's degree, but am a little concerned about whether I know enough about how to do and write up research at PhD level, so any advice and / or examples of what it all entails would be gratefully received.

Black Swan

Cannot specifically address Trinners. When applying to PhD programmes in the States for fall 2012 admission, I used this outline, and was accepted in 3-out-of-5 universities where I applied.

Research Proposal

• Chapter 1: Problem
• Chapter 2: Literature Review
• Chapter 3: Methodology
• Chapter 4: Results
• Chapter 5: Summary and Conclusions
• References

Essentially it's a mini-version of a 5-chapter dissertation/outline. The first three chapters very briefly define the research problem (including proposed theoretical model, research and null hypotheses, assumptions, and parameters), a small part of the relevant literature (including a definition of concepts), and offer a rather complete research methodology. The remaining Results, and Summary and Conclusions chapters 4-5 are shells with a proposed framework, but obviously lack any data, analysis, summary, or conclusions.

I did venture to spell out the anticipated limitations that I may experience in the conduct of the study in Chapter 5. Of course the references were limited to what sources I used in this very brief outline of proposed research.

When introducing Chapter 1 "Problem," I did note that the proposal was preliminary, and that it would be subject to many revisions as I progressed through the doctoral curriculum, along with changes as a result of faculty guidance and interactions.

My proposal was obviously deductive, and quantitative, whereas yours (if literary criticism) will probably be qualitative, and may be inductive, examining emergent patterns in the data (see Wallace's Wheel of Science for a diagram of approaches to research).

cambridge

osarusan wrote: »

Hi all,

I've been in contact with the graduate studies department in TCD with a view to applying for a PhD in Applied Linguistics.

It seems that the next step is to submit a proposal, and I'm wondering if anybody has any advice (specific to Trinity if possible) about the writing and submission process. Links to websites dealing with this, or even examples of submitted proposals (again, specific to Trinity would be great) would help a lot.

I have a Master's degree, but am a little concerned about whether I know enough about how to do and write up research at PhD level, so any advice and / or examples of what it all entails would be gratefully received.

would you not want to be getting on directly to the your intended supervisor for advice on how to word it?

Gae

cambridge wrote: »

would you not want to be getting on directly to the your intended supervisor for advice on how to word it?

+1 for this. OP should contact the School and discuss his ideas with staff before submitting anything. They will give feedback, help identify a potential supervisor, advise on the proposal, possibly help find funding etc. I don't think 'out of the blue' applications for PhDs are a good idea - much better to talk to them first.

blucey

cambridge wrote: »

would you not want to be getting on directly to the your intended supervisor for advice on how to word it?

exactly
Unless its an issue on funding, the actual TCD proposal is almost irrelevant IF you have a supervisor ready

TroutMask

No harm to have a preliminary Lit. Review and a proposal prepared. If you get the green light from a supervisor, then you might be asked for these documents. The turnaround can be quite fast sometimes, so it does not hurt to be prepared.