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Journalism Research Proposal Guidelines for Applicants

All applications for the Journalism research program must be accompanied by a comprehensive research proposal and will be assessed on the relevance of the proposal to the research interests of the Program in Journalism. Other topics will be considered against the research expertise available in the Faculty.

In thinking through your research topic, it is advisable that you consider the following questions:

• Is there current public interest in your chosen topic?
  
• Is there a gap in knowledge that your research topic could help fill?
  
• Is it possible for you to focus on a small enough segment of the topic so that you can manage the work within the allocated period of study?
  
• How would you research the topic that will allow you to draw conclusions with substantial objectivity?
  
• How would you collect the data to support your thesis?
  
• Are the data easily accessible?
  
• Do you have a clear statement of the purpose, scope, objectives, procedures, and limitations of your research?

The practical questions you should be asking yourself before you submit your application are:

"Why am I conducting this research?" ; "What do I hope to achieve?"; and "Am I sufficiently disciplined to carry out independent research?".

If you are satisfied with this self-dialogue, you are welcome to submit your research proposal. Please structure your proposal according to the following sections:

Research Topic: A descriptive sentence containing all the keywords of your research will suffice.

Rationale of the Topic: Explain why you think your topic is significant.

Research Questions: What are the questions to be explored and answered in your research.

Hypotheses (if any): What are your assumptions or informed conjectures you want to test in your research.

Literature Review: If appropriate, please mention whatever literature or information you have read which prompts your research topic. A brief explanation will suffice.

Applicants who are currently working in the media industry may choose to embark on professional production work as an alternative project to the academic thesis, which can range from an Internet project, to visual, sound and multimedia production.

In this case you will need to consult with the relevant Journalism staff. All production will be accompanied by a mini-thesis of about 15,000 words.