SCHOOL OF LAW

HOW TO WRITE A RESEARCH PROPOSAL

I. The importance of a research proposal
An application for a research degree (MPhil or PhD) must be accompanied by a
research proposal. The statement is an essential component of the admission
process for the following reasons:

1. You may only gain admission if there is a member of staff who is able to offer
adequate supervision. Your proposal will be passed to members of staff with
research interests in the area who will indicate whether they are able to offer you
supervision.

2. The Law School must consider whether it possesses adequate resources to
support your proposed research, such as books, journals and law reports. We expect
PhD students to visit other institutions and libraries but we must ensure that there
is a sufficiently comprehensive core of materials available here.

3. Your proposal is a means of assessing whether you have given sufficient thought
to the demands of a PhD programme and whether you have undertaken sufficient
preliminary research into the topic.


II. Choosing a subject for a PhD
Under the University of Leicesters regulations, a PhD thesis has a maximum length
of 80,000 words. It must be a work of advanced study and research, containing
original work and material deemed worthy of publication (as judged ultimately by
the final examiners).

The key words here are advanced study and original work.

(a) advanced
For the study to be advanced, it will be inappropriate to carry out a thesis that looks
like a textbook. Advanced research must be more than a purely descriptive account
of the law on a given topic. For example, if you propose a thesis on the topic The
Rights of National Minorities, this is likely to be too broad. This topic would have to
be narrowed down to a specific issue (for example the concept of a national
minority under the Council of Europes Framework Convention on National
Minorities).

(b) original
For the study to be original, either it will have to look at a new area of law on which
little has been written or it can be a study that presents a new perspective on a topic
where there already exists a body of academic literature. The key thing is that the
work must not reproduce existing knowledge. For example, a thesis on the topic
Affirmative action and the case-law of the US Supreme Court is unlikely to be
sufficiently original (given that this has been the subject of a lot of academic
literature). Nevertheless, even a topic where a significant volume of literature
already exists can, in some circumstances, be original if a fresh perspective on the
subject-matter is provided.


III. Types of PhD research
There are a number of ways of writing a PhD. Below we have identified four
possible approaches that may underpin a PhD. This is not to say that there are no
other ways of undertaking doctoral research and note also that these approaches
may overlap and a proposal may cover more than one of these methods.

(a) Analysis of new and emerging areas of law
A project could examine a new area of law, on which there has been little written to
date. Such projects typically examine the law and attempt to provide an explanation
by placing it in a useful theoretical context or by offering a critique from a particular
perspective, e.g. a feminist critique. This kind of work will mostly involve study of
primary sources (legislation and case-law) as well as secondary literature in the
area and in the theoretical/conceptual dimensions of the research project.

(b) Empirical Research
You might be interested in an empirical review of a particular area of law to see how
the law works in practice. For example, you could investigate the effectiveness of
criminal law on preventing racist speech at football matches. This kind of project
would involve fieldwork as well as library study. Conducting empirical research
demands considerable attention to the appropriate methodology. You will need to
explain in your research proposal what research methods you are intending to use
and why these are suitable for your research topic. In addition, you need to consider
research ethics, such as principles of consent and confidentiality. The University has
rules on research ethics and any research involving human subjects will require
ethical approval.

(c) Providing new insights on established areas of law
A proposal could be a review of existing areas of law from a different perspective.
This will involve taking a subject which has already been the subject of academic
literature, but advancing the state of knowledge by presenting a new way of looking
at or analysing the topic. If this is the type of research you wish to engage in, then
your research proposal needs to indicate an awareness of the approaches already
taken in the existing literature and, in general terms, how your PhD would seek to
be different.

(d) Comparative legal research
Many of our existing PhD candidates are incorporating comparative approaches
into their research. This might involve comparing national law in several countries
or comparing the approach of different legal frameworks (such as the European
Convention of Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples
Rights). If you are proposing to engage in comparative legal research, you need to
consider why the jurisdictions selected will be suitable for comparison. In addition,
you will also need to address access to information.

The University of Leicesters library holdings are predominantly in English, so if
your sources will be in another language you will need to consider how you will
obtain sufficient access (eg through using other international libraries). Finally,
your proposal should explain the rationale for the comparison. Purely descriptive
work will not be suitable for a PhD, so why is it important or useful to make the
comparison?


IV. Preparation for the proposal
Once you have decided on the area, you should read widely consult existing work
to get a feel for the kind of academic work that has been done. If it is a completely
new area where little academic literature exists, then other contemporary sources
need to be reviewed, such as newspapers and periodicals in order to get a flavour of
the debates surrounding this particular legal development. If possible, you should
look at previous PhDs in related areas if you have access to a University library
there will be bound copies of PhDs submitted there. You will also find that some
monographs were originally PhD projects and reading through these will also give
you a sense of the work that is involved.


V. Writing the proposal: a checklist
Your research proposal should be around 2,000-2,500 words in length.

In it, you are strongly advised to address the following issues:
Define your research question or hypothesis (ie what topic are you
investigating or what proposition are you seeking to establish?)
Explain the rationale for your research proposal. In particular, you need
to explain what makes it an original contribution in relation to the
existing published works on this subject.
What methodology will you adopt? (ie will you be relying purely on
library-based research or do you propose to engage in empirical
research?)
Include a bibliography of the sources you have consulted in preparing the
research proposal.

In order to facilitate your task we provide a standard form for a research proposal
(see website link). The standard form is only meant to help you express your full
research potential by so enhancing your chances to get an offer from us. By
reflecting on each and every heading included in the standard form we provide, you
may have the invaluable opportunity to further elaborate on any preliminary draft
you might have already prepared and enrich it with additional elements. This may,
in turn, prove to be a decisive factor in convincing us of your potential as a research
student. Therefore, we believe that it is in your best interest to use the form
provided, fill all the fields contained in it, and engage with it closely when drafting
the research proposal you intend to use in your application for our PhD programme

For further guidance, it is recommended that you consult E Phillips and D Pugh,
How to Get a PhD a Handbook for Students and Their Supervisors (5th ed, Open
University Press, Maidenhead 2010), especially chapters 3 and 6.

October 2013