sample law thesis proposal

Legal Dissertation: Research and Writing Guide

About this guide, video on choosing a topic, tools on westlaw, lexis and bloomberg, circuit splits, research methodologies, additional methodology resources, conducting a literature review, beginning research, writing style guides, citation guides, ask a librarian.

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About This Page

Choosing a topic can be one of the most challenging aspects of writing an extensive paper. This page has resources to help you find topics and inspiration, before you get started on the in-depth research process.

Related Guides

Citation and Writing Resources

Legal Research Tutorials

Secondary Sources for Legal Research

Methods of Finding Cases

Methods of Finding Statutes

Current Awareness and Alerting Resources

Compiling State Legislative Histories

Locating International and Foreign Law Journals

This guide contains resources to help students researching and writing a legal dissertation or other upper-level writing project. Some of the resources in this guide are directed at researching and writing in general, not specifically on legal topics, but the strategies and tips can still be applied.

The Law Library maintains a number of other guides on related skills and topics that may be of interest:

The Wells Library also maintains guides. A few that may be helpful for managing research can be found here:

Choosing a Topic

This video discusses tips and strategies for choosing a dissertation topic.

Note: this video is not specific to legal dissertation topics, but it may still be of interest as an overview generally.

The Bloomberg/BNA publication United States Law Week can be a helpful resource for tracking down the major legal stories of the day.  Log into Bloomberg Law, in the big search box, start typing United States Law Week and the title will appear in the drop down menu beneath the box. This publication provides coverage of top legal news stories, and in-depth "insight" features.

If you have a general idea of the area of law you wish to write about, check out the Practice Centers on Bloomberg. From the homepage, click the Browse link in the top left-hand corner. Then select Practice Centers and look for your area of law. Practice Centers are helpful because they gather cases, statutes, administrative proceedings, news, and more on the selected legal area.

Bloomberg has other news sources available as well. From the homepage, click the Browse link in the top left-hand corner. Then select News and Analysis, then select News or Analysis, and browse the available topics.

If you know what area of law you'd like to write about, you may find the Browse Topics feature in Lexis Advance helpful for narrowing down your topic. 

Log into Lexis Advance, click the Browse Topics tab, and select a topic.  If you don't see your topic listed, try using the provided search bar to see whether your topic is categorized as a sub-topic within this list. 

Once you click on a topic, a box pops up with several options.  If you click on Get Topic Document, you'll see results listed in a number of categories, including Cases, Legislation, and more.  The News and Legal News categories at the right end of the list may help you identify current developments of interest for your note.  Don't forget about the filtering options on the left that will allow you to search within your results, narrow your jurisdiction, and more.

Similar to Lexis Advance, Westlaw Edge has a Topics tab that may be helpful if you know what area of law you'd like to write about.

Log onto Westlaw Edge, and click on the Topics tab.  This time, you won't be able to search within this list, so if you're area is not listed, you should either run a regular search from the main search bar at the top or try out some of the topics listed under this tab - once you click on a topic, you can search within its contents.

What is great about the Topics in Westlaw Edge is the Practitioner Insights page you access by clicking on a topic.  This is an information portal that allows you quick access to cases, legislation, top news, and more on your selected topic.

In United States federal courts, a circuit split occurs whenever two or more circuit courts of appeals issue conflicting rulings on the same legal question. Circuit splits are ripe for legal analysis and commentary because they present a situation in which federal law is being applied in different ways in different parts of the country, even if the underlying litigants themselves are otherwise similarly situated. The Supreme Court also frequently accepts cases on appeal that involve these types of conflicted rulings from various sister circuits.

To find a circuit split on a topic of interest to you, try searching on Lexis and Westlaw using this method:

in the search box, enter the following: (circuit or court w/s split) AND [insert terms or phrases to narrow the search]

You can also browse for circuit splits on Bloomberg. On the Bloomberg homepage, in the "Law School Success" box, Circuit Splits Charts appear listed under Secondary Sources.

Other sources for circuit splits are American Law Reports (ALR) and American Jurisprudence (AmJur). These publications provide summaries of the law, point out circuit splits, and provide references for further research.

"Blawgs" or law-related blogs are often written by scholars or practitioners in the legal field.  Ordinarily covering current events and developments in law, these posts can provide inspiration for note topics.  To help you find blawgs on a specific topic, consider perusing the ABA's Blawg Directory or Justia's Blawg Search .

Research Methodology

Types of research methodologies.

There are different types of research methodologies. Methodology refers to the strategy employed in conducting research. The following methodologies are some of the most commonly used in legal and social science research.

Doctrinal legal research methodology, also called "black letter" methodology, focuses on the letter of the law rather than the law in action. Using this method, a researcher composes a descriptive and detailed analysis of legal rules found in primary sources (cases, statutes, or regulations). The purpose of this method is to gather, organize, and describe the law; provide commentary on the sources used; then, identify and describe the underlying theme or system and how each source of law is connected.

Doctrinal methodology is good for areas of law that are largely black letter law, such as contract or property law. Under this approach, the researcher conducts a critical, qualitative analysis of legal materials to support a hypothesis. The researcher must identify specific legal rules, then discuss the legal meaning of the rule, its underlying principles, and decision-making under the rule (whether cases interpreting the rule fit together in a coherent system or not). The researcher must also identify ambiguities and criticisms of the law, and offer solutions. Sources of data in doctrinal research include the rule itself, cases generated under the rule, legislative history where applicable, and commentaries and literature on the rule.

This approach is beneficial by providing a solid structure for crafting a thesis, organizing the paper, and enabling a thorough definition and explanation of the rule. The drawbacks of this approach are that it may be too formalistic, and may lead to oversimplifying the legal doctrine.

Comparative

Comparative legal research methodology involves critical analysis of different bodies of law to examine how the outcome of a legal issue could be different under each set of laws. Comparisons could be made between different jurisdictions, such as comparing analysis of a legal issue under American law and the laws of another country, or researchers may conduct historical comparisons.

When using a comparative approach be sure to define the reasons for choosing this approach, and identify the benefits of comparing laws from different jurisdictions or time periods, such as finding common ground or determining best practices and solutions. The comparative method can be used by a researcher to better understand their home jurisdiction by analyzing how other jurisdictions handle the same issue. This method can also be used as a critical analytical tool to distinguish particular features of a law. The drawback of this method is that it can be difficult to find material from other jurisdictions. Also, researchers should be sure that the comparisons are relevant to the thesis and not just used for description.

This type of research uses data analysis to study legal systems. A detailed guide on empirical methods can be found here . The process of empirical research involves four steps: design the project, collect and code the data, analyze the data, determine best method of presenting the results. The first step, designing the project, is when researchers define their hypothesis and concepts in concrete terms that can be observed. Next, researchers must collect and code the data by determining the possible sources of information and available collection methods, and then putting the data into a format that can be analyzed. When researchers analyze the data, they are comparing the data to their hypothesis. If the overlap between the two is significant, then their hypothesis is confirmed, but if there is little to no overlap, then their hypothesis is incorrect. Analysis involves summarizing the data and drawing inferences. There are two types of statistical inference in empirical research, descriptive and causal. Descriptive inference is close to summary, but the researcher uses the known data from the sample to draw conclusions about the whole population. Causal inference is the difference between two descriptive inferences.

Two main types of empirical legal research are qualitative and quantitative.

Quantitative, or numerical, empirical legal research involves taking information about cases and courts, translating that information into numbers, and then analyzing those numbers with statistical tools.

Qualitative, or non-numerical, empirical legal research involves extracting  information from the text of court documents, then interpreting and organizing the text into categories, and using that information to identify patterns.

Drafting The Methodology Section

This is the part of your paper that describes the research methodology, or methodologies if you used more than one. This section will contain a detailed description of how the research was conducted and why it was conducted in that way. First, draft an outline of what you must include in this section and gather the information needed.

Generally, a methodology section will contain the following:

• Statement of research objectives
• Reasons for the research methodology used
• Description and rationale of the data collection tools, sampling techniques, and data sources used, including a description of how the data collection tools were administered
• Discussion of the limitations
• Discussion of the data analysis tools used

Be sure that you have clearly defined the reasoning behind the chosen methodology and sources.

• Legal Reasoning, Research, and Writing for International Graduate Students Nadia E. Nedzel Aspen (2004) A guide to American legal research and the federal system, written for international students. Includes information on the research process, and tips for writing. Located in the Law Library, 3rd Floor: KF 240 .N43 2004.
• Methodologies of Legal Research: Which Kind of Method for What Kind of Discipline? Mark van Hoecke Oxford (2013) This book examines different methods of legal research including doctrinal, comparative, and interdisciplinary. Located at Lilly Law Library, Indianapolis, 2nd Floor: K 235 .M476 2013. IU students may request item via IUCAT.
• An Introduction to Empirical Legal Research Lee Epstein and Andrew D. Martin Oxford University Press (2014) This book includes information on designing research, collecting and coding data, analyzing data, and drafting the final paper. Located at Lilly Law Library, Indianapolis, 2nd Floor: K 85 .E678 2014. IU students may request item via IUCAT.
• Emplirical Legal Studies Blog The ELS blog was created by several law professors, and focuses on using empirical methods in legal research, theory, and scholarship. Search or browse the blog to find entries on methodology, data sources, software, and other tips and techniques.

Literature Review

The literature review provides an examination of existing pieces of research, and serves as a foundation for further research. It allows the researcher to critically evaluate existing scholarship and research practices, and puts the new thesis in context. When conducting a literature review, one should consider the following: who are the leading scholars in the subject area; what has been published on the subject; what factors or subtopics have these scholars identified as important for further examination; what research methods have others used; what were the pros and cons of using those methods; what other theories have been explored.

The literature review should include a description of coverage. The researcher should describe what material was selected and why, and how those selections are relevant to the thesis. Discuss what has been written on the topic and where the thesis fits in the context of existing scholarship. The researcher should evaluate the sources and methodologies used by other researchers, and describe how the thesis different.

The following video gives an overview of conducting a literature review.

Note: this video is not specific to legal literature, however it may be helpful as a general overview.

Not sure where to start? Here are a few suggestions for digging into sources once you have selected a topic.

Research Guides

Research guides are discovery tools, or gateways of information. They pull together lists of sources on a topic. Some guides even offer brief overviews and additional research steps specifically for that topic. Many law libraries offer guides on a variety of subjects. You can locate guides by visiting library websites, such as this Library's site , the Law Library of Congress , or other schools like Georgetown . Some organizations also compile research guides, such as the American Society of International Law . Utilizing a research guide on your topic to generate an introductory source list can save you valuable time.

Secondary Sources

It is often a good idea to begin research with secondary sources. These resources summarize, explain, and analyze the law. They also provide references to primary sources and other secondary sources. This saves you time and effort, and can help you quickly identify major themes under your topic and help you place your thesis in context.

Encyclopedias provide broad coverage of all areas of the law, but do not go in-depth on narrow topics, or discuss differences by jurisdiction, or  include all of the pertinent cases. American Jurisprudence ( AmJur ) and Corpus Juris Secundum ( CJS ) have nationwide coverage, while the Indiana Law Encyclopedia focuses on Indiana state law. A number of other states also have their own state-specific encyclopedias.

American Law Reports ( ALR ) are annotations that synopsize various cases on narrow legal topics. Each annotation covers a different topic, and provides a leading or typical case on the topic, plus cases from different jurisdictions that follow different rules, or cases where different facts applying the same rule led to different outcomes. The annotations also refer to other secondary sources.  

Legal periodicals include several different types of publications such as law reviews from academic institutions or organizations, bar journals, and commercial journals/newspapers/newsletters. Legal periodicals feature articles that describe the current state of the law and often explore underlying policies. They also critique laws, court decisions, and policies, and often advocate for changes. Articles also discuss emerging issues and notify the profession of new developments. Law reviews can be useful for in-depth coverage on narrow topics, and references to primary and other secondary sources. However, content can become outdated and researchers must be mindful of biases in articles. 

Treatises/Hornbooks/Practice Guides are a type of secondary source that provides comprehensive coverage of a legal subject. It could be broad, such as a treatise covering all of contract law, or very narrow such as a treatise focused only on search and seizure cases. These sources are good when you have some general background on the topic, but you need more in-depth coverage of the legal rules and policies. Treatises are generally well organized, and provide you with finding aids (index, table of contents, etc.) and extensive footnotes or endnotes that will lead you to primary sources like cases, statutes, and regulations. They may also include appendices with supporting material like forms. However, treatises may not be updated as frequently as other sources and may not cover your specific issue or jurisdiction.

Citation and Writing Style

• Legal Writing in Plain English Bryan A. Garner University of Chicago Press, 2001. Call # KF 250 .G373 2001 Location: Law Library, 3rd Floor Provides lawyers, judges, paralegals, law students, and legal scholars with sound advice and practical tools for improving their written work. The leading guide to clear writing in the field, this book offers valuable insights into the writing process: how to organize ideas, create and refine prose, and improve editing skills. This guide uses real-life writing samples that Garner has gathered through decades of teaching experience. Includes sets of basic, intermediate, and advanced exercises in each section.
• The Elements of Legal Style Bryan A. Garner Oxford University Press, 2002. Call # KF 250 .G37 2002 Location: Law Library, 1st Floor, Reference This book explains the full range of what legal writers need to know: mechanics, word choice, structure, and rhetoric, as well as all the special conventions that legal writers should follow in using headings, defined terms, quotations, and many other devices. Garner also provides examples from highly regarded legal writers, including Oliver Wendell Holmes, Clarence Darrow, Frank Easterbrook, and Antonin Scalia.
• Grammarly Blog Blog featuring helpful information about quirks of the English language, for example when to use "affect" or "effect" and other tips. Use the search feature to locate an article relevant to your grammar query.
• Plain English for Lawyers Richard C. Wydick Carolina Academic Press, 2005. Call # KF 250 .W9 2005 Location: Law Library, 3rd Floor Award-winning book that contains guidance to improve the writing of lawyers and law students and to promote the modern trend toward a clear, plain style of legal writing. Includes exercises at the end of each chapter.
• The Chicago Manual of Style University of Chicago Press, 2010. Call # Z 253 .U69 2010 Location: Law Library, 2nd Floor While not addressing legal writing specifically, The Chicago Manual of Style is one of the most widely used and respected style guides in the United States. It focuses on American English and deals with aspects of editorial practice, including grammar and usage, as well as document preparation and formatting.
• The Chicago Manual of Style (Online) Bryan A. Garner and William S. Strong The University of Chicago Press, 2017. Online edition: use the link above to view record in IUCAT, then click the Access link (for IU students only).
• The Bluebook Compiled by the editors of the Columbia Law Review, the Harvard Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and the Yale Law Journal. Harvard Law Review Association, 2015. Call # KF245 .B58 2015 Location: Law Library, 1st Floor, Circulation Desk The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation is a style guide that prescribes the most widely used legal citation system in the United States. The Bluebook is taught and used at a majority of U.S. law schools, law reviews and journals, and used in a majority of U.S. federal courts.
• User's Guide to the Bluebook Alan L. Dworsky William S. Hein & Co., Inc., 2015. Call # KF 245 .D853 2015 Location: Law Library, Circulation Desk "This User's Guide is written for practitioners (law students, law clerks, lawyers, legal secretaries and paralegals), and is designed to make the task of mastering citation form as easy and painless as possible. To help alleviate the obstacles faced when using proper citation form, this text is set up as a how-to manual with a step-by-step approach to learning the basic skills of citation and includes the numbers of the relevant Bluebook rules under most chapter subheadings for easy reference when more information is needed"--Provided by the publisher.
• Legal Citation in a Nutshell Larry L. Teply West Academic Publishing, 2016. Call # KF 245 .T47 2016 Location: Law Library, 1st Floor, Circulation Desk This book is designed to ease the task of learning legal citation. It initially focuses on conventions that underlie all accepted forms and systems of legal citation. Building on that understanding and an explanation of the “process” of using citations in legal writing, the book then discusses and illustrates the basic rules.
• Introduction to Basic Legal Citation (Online) Peter W. Martin Cornell Legal Information Institute, 2017. Free online resource. Includes a thorough review of the relevant rules of appellate practice of federal and state courts. It takes account of the latest edition of The Bluebook, published in 2015, and provides a correlation table between this free online citation guide and the Bluebook.
• Last Updated: Oct 24, 2019 11:00 AM
• URL: https://law.indiana.libguides.com/dissertationguide

• School of Law
• Postgraduate

Writing a PhD research proposal

The following guidance has been compiled to help you submit a high quality application that is targeted to the research strengths of The School of Law.

Choosing a research topic

PhDs are supposed to contain an element of originality and innovation. Originality need not mean that you explore a wholly new concept. For instance, it might also include applying new methods or new theories to existing scholarship on the topic. They also need to be backed up by logically reasoned evidence and argument – whether that is provided by theoretical or empirical sources.

The types of thesis that could be constructed:

An analysis of a specific area of law or criminology on which there is no significant existing literature. The lack of existing literature may be explained by the relative newness of the body of law and/or creation of institutions; or the previous lack of attention given to the practical impact of the chosen area of study. A thesis in this area might attempt to describe, explain and rationalise the development of this particular area of law and/ or critically analyse the content of the legal system being researched.

An analysis applying, analysing, or evaluating existing studies in a new context. For instance, one might extend a study of one jurisdiction to another, providing comparative evidence that tests the applicability of existing research and enables the existing theory to be challenged, reconsidered, or expanded upon.

An empirical study of  an area of law or criminology where there is existing doctrinal, conceptual, or theoretical literature, but limited empirical evidence to test those doctrines, concepts, or theories. Such an empirical study would still require a degree of originality but would be academically interesting if it offers a view of the area of study not previously attempted and/or allowed for an appraisal of the effectiveness of the law as it currently stands and is organised.

An in-depth critical study of a specific aspect of law or criminology. Such an examination may consist solely or mainly of library based or theoretical work, or include an element of socio-legal research. As well as recognising existing literature, such an approach needs to make clear how this project would build on and add to that work. The answer may be that the area of law or criminology has evolved or the work itself takes a very different approach to analysing the problem.

Before drafting a research proposal it is a good idea to consult with any academic contacts you already have for their feedback.

The Research Proposal

Applications must include an outline research proposal. If a proposal is submitted without a proposal it will be automatically rejected.

The application asks you to give a description of your research project, including the research questions to be addressed, the methodology to be used, the sources to be consulted and a brief timetable. Your proposal should be included in the application as a separate attachment, and distinguished from your supporting statement (if you include one).

There is no set format or page length for proposals, although to keep the proposal concise and clear while still providing enough information, we recommend limiting yourself to 1,500-2,500 words. Within your application it is useful to identify and bear in mind some or all of the following points:

It is important that you demonstrate clearly the area that you intend to research and provide some indication that you are already knowledgeable in the area that you intend to research. This can be achieved through suitable references and/or by supplying a bibliography to support your application.

Research is about more than collating knowledge already in the public domain. Within your application you should indicate how you intend to add to the knowledge that you will be uncovering. Examples of potential aims include: adding to existing theory; disproving previous understandings; a critique of the current legal position; a defended positive/negative prognosis of the impact of a new legal provision; new empirically obtained findings. You may find it helpful to express your research aims as questions to be answered, or as aims to fulfil by doing the research. Try to limit the number of aims of your study as much as possible.

A research application is more likely to be accepted if you can demonstrate that it has relevance and academic merit. Ultimately PhDs are awarded where a piece of work can demonstrate some originality and innovation. This should be explained within your application.

It is rare for an entirely original piece of research to be written. Therefore, the links with existing research should be made clear, as should the possibilities your work might open up for future research. You should provide some background to the research, exploring the wider literature and making as clear as possible what makes your proposed research original in the context of that literature.

In other words, how do you intend to undertake the research? Methods may include reviewing library-based resources or empirical research. If the latter, then what form – e.g. quantitative or qualitative analysis, and what evidence can you provide that you have the skills to undertake such research. These methods should be carefully considered in relation to the research aims and questions you are seeking to address in the proposed research.

You must consider the partnerships, knowledge exchange and impacts associated with your proposed research. If you already have collaborative arrangements in place with relevant external stakeholders then you should describe these and potentially also provide letters of support, in principle, if you have them. You should consider the likely impacts of your proposed research and how these will be achieved, as well as your plans for disseminating your research findings beyond academia.

If you are applying for WRDTP or WRoCAH scholarships, it is essential that you consider how your proposed research fits in with the research pathways or clusters of these two funders. The quality of your scholarship application will be judged partly by the fit of your research within these pathways or clusters.

Your application should not be too unrealistic as to what can be delivered. It is also wise to predict the likely challenges that you will face in undertaking the research and suggest ways in which those challenges can be overcome.

What to avoid

Research proposals should not be viewed as binding contracts. Most first-year PhD students adapt their research proposal once they start studying the topic in more depth and working with their supervisor. Nevertheless, a PhD proposal should amount to a coherent, intelligent, realistic and relatively well thought-out idea of an area of potential research.

The following errors should be avoided if possible:

Simplistic descriptions of an area of study should be avoided – eg ‘I want to research EU law’. The specific focus of the research must be clear.

Offer to review or analyse an area of law on which there is already a significant existing literature. PhDs should be attempting something more than bringing together knowledge that already exists.

Develop a research proposal primarily because the topic is or has been fashionable. Topics such as the legality of the war in Iraq, the operation of the International Criminal Court or the Human Rights Act 1998 remain extremely important areas of academic study, but as a PhD student it is going to be very difficult to say anything interesting, new or original about these topics.

Avoid trying to resolve grand problems in one thesis. The best research proposals tend to focus on discrete and well-confined subject areas.

Relying upon a comparison to provide the intellectual component of the proposal, whether that is a comparison between different institutions, different bodies of law or different countries. Comparative research proposals are worthy if properly thought out. If the comparison is between different legal systems for instance, in the submission it needs to be made clear why that comparison could be a useful one and what can be learnt from the comparison. For instance, you may be undertaking research in the UK and from Botswana, but that does not mean that there are any valid reasons why comparing the UK to Botswana is actually worthwhile in your subject area.

Relatedly, you should consider the research expertise of supervisors at the University of Sheffield, and the value that studying at Sheffield adds to your research. Generally a PhD submitted in a UK university should contribute to knowledge about the UK, or about global/international issues. If you want to research another country of jurisdiction, you need to provide a credible reason for why Sheffield is a good place to undertake that study, as opposed to an institution in that country.

Make sure that your methodology is as clear and specific as you can make it at this early stage. Proposals that say, “I will use qualitative methods” are unlikely to succeed because they suggest an ignorance of the diversity of qualitative methods. Ideally, you should be able to say something about: 

the methods you will use (e.g. surveys, documentary analysis, interviews, observation, ethnography, audio-visual methods...); 

the target populations of your research (eg, a study of criminal courts might seek to recruit judges, lawyers, ushers, defendants, police officers, or other actors. Which groups do you want to participate in your research, and why? The answer to this question should bear some relation to your research aims); and, 

If possible, the approximate number of participants you want to recruit for each method (for instance, you might want to conduct 10-15 interviews with each of two groups of participants, or to survey 500 people) and how they will be accessed/recruited. Try to be realistic about how long empirical research takes, and how many research participants it is possible to study.

How these chosen methods are likely to illuminate the research questions of the proposed research

Ethical considerations of the research in relation to things like informed consent, anonymity, the safeguarding of researchers and participants

It may not be possible to say much at this stage, but the more details you can provide, the clearer it will be that you have thought seriously about your research project, and the easier it will be for the School of Law to evaluate its feasibility.

Positive steps to take

When we make an offer we will do so on the basis of various considerations. Making an effort to foreshadow those considerations in your application is a good idea. It is advisable to submit a supporting statement alongside the research proposal. Issues to consider include:

Why did you choose to apply to the University of Sheffield?

Can you provide any evidence to suggest that you are capable of completing an extensive piece of research and have the character to undertake three years of study, on a relatively low income and with only supervisory support?

Does the research proposal fit into one of the areas in which the Law School has a speciality ? Often a proposal only needs minor adaptation to fall within an area the School can supervise, but to improve your chances of success it is worthwhile reviewing the academic profile of the various staff in the Law School before you submit an application.

If you are able, it would be helpful to have a look at some past PhD theses in your own area of interest which have been successfully submitted at a UK university. Most UK universities have copies in the library of all past successful PhDs, either as physical copies or in an online repository. 

The online application form requires you to provide some standard information about yourself and your past academic performance. Please ensure that this information is correct and that you provide evidence to support your qualifications.

The references that your referees provide are important sources of information for us. Wherever possible, it is helpful to provide (where possible) a reference from at least one academic who is aware of your research potential and has read some of your work.

Search for PhD opportunities at Sheffield and be part of our world-leading research.

• Faculty of Social Sciences
• School of Law
• Research degrees

Writing a research proposal

As part of the process of applying for a research degree, you will need to prepare an outline of your proposed research. 

Please see our guidance on what to include below, including word count:

*Word count excludes footnotes. 

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School of Law

Writing a research proposal.

• Our research students

Preparing your research proposal is the important first step to becoming a postgraduate research student at the School of Law.

The focus of your proposal will be slightly different depending on whether you wish to do a PhD or an LLM by research, but the principles of what to include and who to contact for advice are the same.

Speaking to a potential supervisor

Before you write your detailed research proposal, you may wish to contact a member of  our research staff  with knowledge of the subject area. They who should be able to advise you whether or not your proposed topic is feasible. 

This can be done prior to a formal application. 

If you are not sure who is the best person to contact, an initial enquiry can be made to our Postgraduate Administrator,  Susan Holmes .

What to include in your proposal

A proposal for an LLM by research or a PhD should not exceed 15 pages in length and is unlikely to be less than 8 pages in length.

Check the limit specified by the funding body to which you are applying.

It should include the following:

A working title

The research context.

This is the background against which your research will be carried out.

It should be a brief introduction outlining the general area of study and identifying the subject area within which your study falls. You should also refer to the current state of knowledge (i.e. what research has been done to date) and any recent debates on the subject.

You need to reference this in the same way as you would do if you were writing an essay e.g. any articles or books you refer to should have a footnote with the full details of author, title, publication date, etc.

The research issue, aims or questions

Outline the contribution that your research will make. It is normally best to do this in the form of specific aims or research questions or issues.

The importance of your proposed research

Demonstrate how your research fills a gap in existing research, by showing that it hasn’t been done before.

Explain why your research is important. It is not enough to say that this has not been studied previously, you need to explain why it is important or interesting enough to be studied.

‎Research methods

Here you need to explain how you will obtain the information necessary to write your thesis.

• Explain whether you will use secondary and/or primary sources
• Give some detail on exactly how you will obtain your information

For most law students, you will probably rely on documentary sources – information that already exists in some form e.g. journal articles, case reports, legislation, treaties, historical records.

In this case you need to say a little about how you will access these (bearing in mind that as a student of the University you will be provided with access to legal databases including Westlaw and LexisLibrary).

If yours is a comparative or international study, you will need to explain how you will obtain the relevant international materials and whether or not this will involve travel.

Some studies, however, might involve empirical research – information that is gathered through direct interaction with people and processes such as interviews, questionnaires, court observation or analysis of private records.

If you plan to undertake empirical research, you need to explain why this is an appropriate research method and give details of your planned methodology (e.g. who you hope to interview, how many interviews you will carry out).

In this section, you should also explain any special skills you have that will assist you in obtaining information, for example, if you plan to look at French law and you can read or speak French.

You should provide a very approximate timetable for the research.

For example, the timetable for a research LLM thesis comparing French law and Scots law might be:

• months 1-3 reading theoretical material and developing theoretical framework
• months 4-6 reading and analysing French materials
• months 7-9 reading and analysing Scottish materials
• months 9-12 writing up the thesis

Research proposals for a PhD

When choosing a subject for your thesis, consider the requirements for a relevant degree and whether you can stick within the time and word limits. A PhD thesis must be from 70,000 to 100,000 words including footnotes.

Consider how your study will demonstrate originality. It is not enough simply to reproduce existing knowledge. There are many ways in which you can do this – it does not necessarily require you to study something that has never been studied before in any way, shape or form. For example, you could:

• Study something that has never been studied before
• Bring new insights to an existing area of legal thought
• Work between disciplines eg. by applying philosophical, psychological or sociological analysis to legal issues
• Bring together areas of legal thought that have not been brought together before eg. use concepts from property law to analyse sexual offences
• Analyse new case law/new legislation in a particular area of law
• Identify new problems with existing case law/legislation in a particular area of law
• Undertake an empirical study to see if the law is achieving its objectives

You also need to make sure your topic is not too broad.  It is inappropriate to write a thesis that reads like a textbook.  This is not sufficiently advanced work and your treatment will be too superficial.  You need to choose something that will give you the scope both to describe and critically analyse the law.  For example, a thesis on “the law relating to criminal defences inScotland” or “a review of EC law governing the enforcement of European law in national courts of member states” would be too broad.  You would have to narrow down your topic to consideration of one particular aspect of the topic (e.g. one specific defence or one specific aspect of European law).

Recent and current PhD thesis topics have included: 

• Peacekeepers as enforcers? A legal analysis of the attribution of enforcement powers to UN peacekeeping operations in the new millenium
• The impact of the World Trade Organisation on the formulation of the anti-monopoly law of the People’s Republic ofChina
• Access to employment and career progression for women in the European labour market
• Consent to medical treatment and the competent adult
• Migratory things on or beneath land: a study of property and rights of use
• The effect of the constitutional relations betweenScotlandandEnglandon their conflict of laws relations: a Scottish perspective
• Persuasion: a historical-comparative study of the role of persuasion within the judicial decision-making process
• Law reform proposals for the protection of the right to seek refugee status in the European Community
• Historicizing the criminalization of youth

Research proposals for an LLM by research

For an LLM by research, your study should still be critical rather than simply describing the law in a particular area.

The field of study is likely to be significantly narrower than for a PhD, as it has a 30,000 word limit.

Recent and current LLM by research thesis topics have included:

• Sustainable development and urban governance in planning law
• Domestic abuse and Scots law
• Criminal liability for individuals who fail to prevent harm
• Legal and scientific evidence of torture
• The responsibility of international organisations: efforts of the international law commission

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Sample PHD Law Dissertation Proposal

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Thesis Proposal

Are we participating collectively in the violation of human rights, constructing legal discourse at the un security council related to refugee crisis and countries’ refusal to enter migrants., introduction.

It is difficult to pinpoint the precise origin of the recent migration crisis that is currently engulfing Europe. Still, the migrant that fell from the sky on 9th September 20101 to enter Europe and then later on the images of Aylan Kurdi, a three-year-old boy washed up on a Turkish beach in 20152 foreshadowed a phenomenal crisis of a much larger scale which has presumably shaken European integration at its very centre.

According to the recent reports United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there is currently a mass movement of millions of refugees and migrants attempting to flee from conflict areas such as Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq into European countries since 20153. The migrant crisis has generated an excessive disruption and disunity in the European Union and its member states to handle ongoing arrivals.

However, the crisis is primarily and principally a humanitarian cataclysm of a kind that Europe has not witnessed since the 1930s and 1940s4. Images from Greece and Turkey portray the magnitude and enormity of the human costs related to the growing crisis at a drastic rate even at this writing5. This paper proposes to argue that this particular humanitarian crisis and the methods with which European Union (EU) member states are dealing with the situation points to collectively violating human rights.

The collective violation of such human rights for migrants and refugees stems from deeply embedded and unresolved EU’s governance issues. As the EU and its member states are struggling with the pressure of mass migration of displaced persons, the treatment of these refugees and migrants exposes what can only be seen as the calamity of core European values. The

1 “Heathrow Stowaway Who Fell to Death Identified as Mozambican Migrant | World News | The Guardian”  <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/10/heathrow-stowaway-who-fell-to-death-identified-as-mozambican-migrant>  accessed November 22, 2016.

2 “Image of Drowned Syrian Boy Echoes Around World – WSJ”  <http://www.wsj.com/articles/image-of-syrian-boy-washed-up-on-beach-hits-hard-1441282847>  accessed November 22, 2016.

3 Eurostat, “Asylum Quarterly Report – Statistics Explained”  https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Asylum_quarterly_report  accessed November 22, 2016.

4 Justin Borg-Barthet and Carole Lyons, “The European Union Migration Crisis” (2016) 20 Edinburgh Law Review 230.

5 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (“UNHCR”), Refugees/Migrants Emergency Response- Mediterranean (20 November 2016) http://data.unhcr.org/mediterranean/country.php?id=83; accessed November 21, 2016.

Treatment of such people exposes the shortcomings in implementing fundamental European rights and humanitarian law, international human rights, and EU’s neighbourhood policy.

Central Research Questions

The migrant crisis in Europe is ongoing and will continue to grow until and unless policy measures are taken by the EU and the United Nations General Council. The UN Security Council plays a more active role in the crisis and its root cause. Therefore, the major research questions that arise include the following;

Is the International community, specifically the EU and UK, collectively violate human rights against refugees?.

Subsequent questions that build upon the main research question are;

1. Are the measures implemented by EU member states and UK governments that limit refugees’ movement legal?

2. What is the distinction between refugees and migrants? What term is best to describe the individuals involved in the EU and the UK’s mass movement?

3. Do “migrant caps” violate international law?

4. What is the impact of interpretations of Article 33 of the 1951 Refugee Convention6 regarding refugee rights and protection against refoulement7?

5. How can the UN Security Council play an active role in enforcing international law protecting refugees while also resolving the root cause of the issue leading to the migrant crisis?

6. How can legal discourse be developed with the UN Security Council to tackle refugees’ refusal to EU countries?

Proposed Methodologies

The proposed research aims to follow the characteristics of descriptive study methodology while utilising the positivist approach as a research paradigm. This research method accurately describes a given phenomenon and determines associations between different dimensions of the phenomena8. A descriptive study is concerned with describing the characteristics of a specific

6 Duncan Sim, “Experiences of ‘Post-Status’ Refugees: Evidence from Glasgow” (2012) 79 (First Serie Scottish Affairs 82.

7 Nikola Stojanovic, “Crisis in the Mediterranean Neighbourhood: A Test for the European Union Migration Policy” (2015) 67 Medjunarodni problem 328

8 CG Wren and JR Wren, “Teaching of Legal Research, The” [1988] Law Libr. J.

Individual or phenomenon with the aim of the detailed description of different aspects of it9. It is often defined as a fact-finding study coupled with adequate interpretation using presupposed prior knowledge of the issues being investigated.

The method of conducting legal research is also implemented to conduct the proposed study, which includes the following steps;

1. Preliminary Analysis

2. Investigation of Secondary Sources

3. Locating and Analysing Primary Authorities

4. Interpretations of Sources

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Principle Issues: Ethical, Moral, and Legal Issues

Principle Issues: Ethical, Moral, and Legal Issues One of the main ethical issues that arise from the refugee crisis is the moral obligation of developed countries in accepting refugees. The current study analyses this moral obligation using deontological ethics and the United Nations Convention Relations to the Status of Refugees (1951)12.

The Refugee convention sets up two normative obligations for states:

1. Obligations related to actions required by the states when asylum seekers arrive on their territory13.

2. Obligations towards refugees who have fled home countries and currently reside in refugee camps or informal settlements14.

Based on the preliminary review of available literature, there is an asymmetrical view of the two sets of obligations. The former is stronger and widely recognized than the latter. This is because signatories of the Refugee Convention have no obligation to fund refugees’ protection, and any contribution to the issue is considered strictly voluntary15. This voluntary stance needs to be analyzed based on international law and ethical theories such as deontology to comprehend how this stance leads to the collective violation of human rights, defined and legally agreed upon. There is also the absence of moral and legal obligations to refugees that reach EU states, specifically regarding discrepancies arising from burden-sharing.

9 L Sossin, “Discourse Politics: Legal Research and Writing’s Search for a Pedagogy of Its Own” [1994] New Eng. L. Rev.

10 C Alexander and AJ Burke, “How to Locate Educational Information and Data.”

11 CG Wren and JR Wren,” Teaching of Legal Research, Th” [1988] Law Libr. J.

12 Resolution 2198 (XXI), United Nations General Assembly

13 Catherine Dauvergne, Making People Illegal: What Globalization Means for Migration and Law (reprint, Cambridge University Press 2008) p. 125

14 Ibid. p. 126

15 Anna Sergeevna Matveevskaya,””Modern Trends of EuropeanUnion’ss Migration Polic”” (2016) 0 Krasnoyarsk Science 29.

16 Sergio Carrera, Leonhard D Hertog, and Joanna Parkin,” EU Migration Policy in the Wake of the Arab Spring: What Prospects for EU-Southern Mediterranean Relations” ”

Burden sharing refers to the Global South17 playing a larger role in hosting refugees than Western democracies responsible for essentially funding this scheme in which 87 percent of refugees are hosted in the Global South. In contrast, less than one percent of refugees are resettled in Western countries18. Lastly, there is no morally or legally accepted obligation to resettle refugees, with a majority remaining in protracted refugee situations in the Global South, primarily in the long-term encampment, which has turned into a de facto solution to the global refugee crisis.

The proposed study can be defined as interdisciplinary in terms of combining international law with political science, international relations, and human rights to explore and discuss the current issues faced under the refugee crisis. Political science and international relations theories give rise to four primary schools of thought: realism, liberalism, institutionalism, and constructivism19. These four mains schools examine through an interdisciplinary approach to examine the content of legal rules and institutions to explain legal institutions” origins and their effectiveness.

The methods have resulted in legal scholars reconceptualizing international law from a more general perspective. The proposed study uses the international legal process theories to conduct research and answer the developed research questions. The classical global legal technique is studying how international law is practically applied, functions with international policy, and studies how international law can be improved.

According to O’Connell (1999)20, the classical International Legal Proces” “concentrates not so much on the exposition of rules and their content regarding how makers of foreign policy national legal rule”.” This particular theory is also used to measure the extent to which individuals are held accountable for abuses in international conflicts. The proposed study will base its premises most heavily on liberalism, the school of thought which revolves around three interrelated principles;

1. Rejection of power politics as the only possible result of internal relations while also questioning realism principles, especially security and warfare21.

2. Emphasize mutual benefits and international cooperation22.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256031941_EU_Migration_Policy_in_the_Wake_of_the_Arab_Spring_What_Prospects_for_EU-Southern_Mediterranean_Relations

17 Reference to countries of the rest of the world mostly located in the Southern Hemisphere, such as Turkey, which holds the largest refugee population as of 2016.

18 Yasin Kerem Gumus” “What Explains Differences iCountries’s’ Migration Policie”?” (2016) 4 International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478) 51.

19 J Samue Barkin, “Realist Constructivism” (2003) 5 International Studies Review 325.

20 Ibid. p. 326

21 M La Caze” “At the Intersection: Kant, Derrida, and the Relation Between Ethics and Politi”s” (2007) 35 Political theory 781.

22 Ibid. p. 781

3. Uses international organizations and non-governmental actors for shaping state preferences and policy choices23. Under this thought, international institutions such as the UN Security Council, a primary component for the current study, play a crucial role in cooperation among states. The present study will also implement the theory of institutional liberalism to formulate arguments. This modern international relations theory claims that international institutions such as United Nations and European Union can increase and aid cooperation between states24. Using this theory, states will be treated as rational actors operating in an international political system while no hierarchy is enforced.

23 Ibid. p. 782 24 Ibid. p. 782

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If you need assistance with writing your dissertation proposal, our professional dissertation proposal writers are here to help!

Bibliography.

Alexander C and Burke A “How to Locate Educational Information and Data”  <http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/search.do?recordID=US201300333537>  [Accessed 10th November 2016]

Anna Sergeevna Matveevskaya, “Modern Trends of European Union’s Migration Policy” (2016). Krasnoyarsk Science 29.

Barkin JS, “Realist Constructivism” (2003) 5 International Studies Review 325

Berring R and Heuvel K, “Legal Research: Should Students Learn It or Wing It” (1989). Law Libr. J.  <http://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/llj81&section=44>  [Accessed 15th November 2016]

Borg-Barthet J and Lyons C, “The European Union Migration Crisis” (2016). 20 Edinburgh Law Review 230

Catherine Dauvergne, Making People Illegal: What Globalization Means for Migration and Law (reprint, Cambridge University Press 2008)

Carrera S, Hertog LD and Parkin J, “EU Migration Policy in the Wake of the Arab Spring: What Prospects for EU-Southern Mediterranean Relations?”

Cohen M, Berring R and Olson K, “How to Find the Law” (1983)

Duncan Sim, “Experiences of ‘Post-Status’ Refugees: Evidence from Glasgow” (2012). 79 (First Serie Scottish Affairs 82.

Eurostat,“Asylum Quarterly Report – Statistics Explained”  https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Asylum_quarterly_report  accessed November 22, 2016 Gumus YK, “What Explains Differences in Countries’ Migration Policies?” (2016).

Gumus YK, “What Explains Differences in Countries’ Migration Policies?” (2016). 4 International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478) 51

“Heathrow Stowaway Who Fell to Death Identified as Mozambican Migrant | World News | The Guardian” (2016)  <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/10/heathrow-stowaway-who-fell-to-death-identified-as-mozambican-migrant>  [Accessed 20th November 2016]

“Image of Drowned Syrian Boy Echoes Around World – WSJ” (2016).  <http://www.wsj.com/articles/image-of-syrian-boy-washed-up-on-beach-hits-hard-1441282847>  [Accessed 14th November 2016]

La Caze M, “At the Intersection: Kant, Derrida, and the Relation Between Ethics and Politics” (2007). 35 Political theory 781

Matveevskaya AS, “Modern Trends of European Union’s Migration Policy” (2016). Krasnoyarsk Science 29

Shores L. and Focke H., “Basic Reference Sources” <http://alagappauniversity.ac.in/downloads/examinations/modelQP/Dec2010DDE/CCLIS.doc> [Accessed 10th November 2016]

Sossin L, “Discourse Politics: Legal Research and Writing’s Search for a Pedagogy of Its Own” (1994). New Eng. L. Rev.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (“UNHCR”), Refugees/Migrants Emergency Response- Mediterranean  https://data2.unhcr.org/en/situations/mediterranean?id=83  [Accessed 18th November 2016]

Wren C and Wren J, “Teaching of Legal Research, The” (1988). Law Libr. J.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to write an undergraduate dissertation proposal.

To write an undergraduate dissertation proposal:

• Choose a research topic.
• Outline objectives and research questions.
• Describe methodology and data sources.
• Provide a brief literature review.
• State significance and potential outcomes.
• Include a timeline and list of references.

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How to Write a Dissertation Proposal | A Step-by-Step Guide

Published on 14 February 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on 11 November 2022.

A dissertation proposal describes the research you want to do: what it’s about, how you’ll conduct it, and why it’s worthwhile. You will probably have to write a proposal before starting your dissertation as an undergraduate or postgraduate student.

A dissertation proposal should generally include:

• An introduction to your topic and aims
• A literature review  of the current state of knowledge
• An outline of your proposed methodology
• A discussion of the possible implications of the research
• A bibliography  of relevant sources

Dissertation proposals vary a lot in terms of length and structure, so make sure to follow any guidelines given to you by your institution, and check with your supervisor when you’re unsure.

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Table of contents

Step 1: coming up with an idea, step 2: presenting your idea in the introduction, step 3: exploring related research in the literature review, step 4: describing your methodology, step 5: outlining the potential implications of your research, step 6: creating a reference list or bibliography.

Before writing your proposal, it’s important to come up with a strong idea for your dissertation.

Find an area of your field that interests you and do some preliminary reading in that area. What are the key concerns of other researchers? What do they suggest as areas for further research, and what strikes you personally as an interesting gap in the field?

Once you have an idea, consider how to narrow it down and the best way to frame it. Don’t be too ambitious or too vague – a dissertation topic needs to be specific enough to be feasible. Move from a broad field of interest to a specific niche:

• Russian literature 19th century Russian literature The novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky
• Social media Mental health effects of social media Influence of social media on young adults suffering from anxiety

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Like most academic texts, a dissertation proposal begins with an introduction . This is where you introduce the topic of your research, provide some background, and most importantly, present your aim , objectives and research question(s) .

Try to dive straight into your chosen topic: What’s at stake in your research? Why is it interesting? Don’t spend too long on generalisations or grand statements:

• Social media is the most important technological trend of the 21st century. It has changed the world and influences our lives every day.
• Psychologists generally agree that the ubiquity of social media in the lives of young adults today has a profound impact on their mental health. However, the exact nature of this impact needs further investigation.

Once your area of research is clear, you can present more background and context. What does the reader need to know to understand your proposed questions? What’s the current state of research on this topic, and what will your dissertation contribute to the field?

If you’re including a literature review, you don’t need to go into too much detail at this point, but give the reader a general sense of the debates that you’re intervening in.

This leads you into the most important part of the introduction: your aim, objectives and research question(s) . These should be clearly identifiable and stand out from the text – for example, you could present them using bullet points or bold font.

Make sure that your research questions are specific and workable – something you can reasonably answer within the scope of your dissertation. Avoid being too broad or having too many different questions. Remember that your goal in a dissertation proposal is to convince the reader that your research is valuable and feasible:

• Does social media harm mental health?
• What is the impact of daily social media use on 18– to 25–year–olds suffering from general anxiety disorder?

Now that your topic is clear, it’s time to explore existing research covering similar ideas. This is important because it shows you what is missing from other research in the field and ensures that you’re not asking a question someone else has already answered.

You’ve probably already done some preliminary reading, but now that your topic is more clearly defined, you need to thoroughly analyse and evaluate the most relevant sources in your literature review .

Here you should summarise the findings of other researchers and comment on gaps and problems in their studies. There may be a lot of research to cover, so make effective use of paraphrasing to write concisely:

• Smith and Prakash state that ‘our results indicate a 25% decrease in the incidence of mechanical failure after the new formula was applied’.
• Smith and Prakash’s formula reduced mechanical failures by 25%.

The point is to identify findings and theories that will influence your own research, but also to highlight gaps and limitations in previous research which your dissertation can address:

• Subsequent research has failed to replicate this result, however, suggesting a flaw in Smith and Prakash’s methods. It is likely that the failure resulted from…

Next, you’ll describe your proposed methodology : the specific things you hope to do, the structure of your research and the methods that you will use to gather and analyse data.

You should get quite specific in this section – you need to convince your supervisor that you’ve thought through your approach to the research and can realistically carry it out. This section will look quite different, and vary in length, depending on your field of study.

You may be engaged in more empirical research, focusing on data collection and discovering new information, or more theoretical research, attempting to develop a new conceptual model or add nuance to an existing one.

Dissertation research often involves both, but the content of your methodology section will vary according to how important each approach is to your dissertation.

Empirical research

Empirical research involves collecting new data and analysing it in order to answer your research questions. It can be quantitative (focused on numbers), qualitative (focused on words and meanings), or a combination of both.

With empirical research, it’s important to describe in detail how you plan to collect your data:

• Will you use surveys ? A lab experiment ? Interviews?
• What variables will you measure?
• How will you select a representative sample ?
• If other people will participate in your research, what measures will you take to ensure they are treated ethically?
• What tools (conceptual and physical) will you use, and why?

It’s appropriate to cite other research here. When you need to justify your choice of a particular research method or tool, for example, you can cite a text describing the advantages and appropriate usage of that method.

Don’t overdo this, though; you don’t need to reiterate the whole theoretical literature, just what’s relevant to the choices you have made.

Moreover, your research will necessarily involve analysing the data after you have collected it. Though you don’t know yet what the data will look like, it’s important to know what you’re looking for and indicate what methods (e.g. statistical tests , thematic analysis ) you will use.

Theoretical research

You can also do theoretical research that doesn’t involve original data collection. In this case, your methodology section will focus more on the theory you plan to work with in your dissertation: relevant conceptual models and the approach you intend to take.

For example, a literary analysis dissertation rarely involves collecting new data, but it’s still necessary to explain the theoretical approach that will be taken to the text(s) under discussion, as well as which parts of the text(s) you will focus on:

• This dissertation will utilise Foucault’s theory of panopticism to explore the theme of surveillance in Orwell’s 1984 and Kafka’s The Trial…

Here, you may refer to the same theorists you have already discussed in the literature review. In this case, the emphasis is placed on how you plan to use their contributions in your own research.

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You’ll usually conclude your dissertation proposal with a section discussing what you expect your research to achieve.

You obviously can’t be too sure: you don’t know yet what your results and conclusions will be. Instead, you should describe the projected implications and contribution to knowledge of your dissertation.

First, consider the potential implications of your research. Will you:

• Develop or test a theory?
• Provide new information to governments or businesses?
• Challenge a commonly held belief?
• Suggest an improvement to a specific process?

Describe the intended result of your research and the theoretical or practical impact it will have:

Finally, it’s sensible to conclude by briefly restating the contribution to knowledge you hope to make: the specific question(s) you hope to answer and the gap the answer(s) will fill in existing knowledge:

Like any academic text, it’s important that your dissertation proposal effectively references all the sources you have used. You need to include a properly formatted reference list or bibliography at the end of your proposal.

Different institutions recommend different styles of referencing – commonly used styles include Harvard , Vancouver , APA , or MHRA . If your department does not have specific requirements, choose a style and apply it consistently.

A reference list includes only the sources that you cited in your proposal. A bibliography is slightly different: it can include every source you consulted in preparing the proposal, even if you didn’t mention it in the text. In the case of a dissertation proposal, a bibliography may also list relevant sources that you haven’t yet read, but that you intend to use during the research itself.

Check with your supervisor what type of bibliography or reference list you should include.

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Law: Proposal and Dissertation Writing

Structure of the proposal.

• Conventions of Scholarship
• Dissertation Writing
• Getting started
• Generate Research Ideas
• Brainstorming
• Scanning Material
• Suitability Analysis
• Difference between a topic and a research question
• Literature Review
• Referencing

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A proposal should proceed along the following steps:

(1) a clear problem statement is formulated;

(2) the significance of the problem is explained;

(3) a clear research question is formulated;

(4) an answer or solution to the problem is suggested;

(5) the originality of the answer or solution is indicated through a literature survey;

(6) the way in the which the argument will be substantiated in the bulk of the dissertation is outlined;

(7) the method used (and its suitability) to answer or solve the problem is explained;

(8) any definitional issues are clarified; and

(9) a bibliography of materials used is supplied.

• Step 1: Problem Statement
• Step 2: Significance of the Problem/Issue
• Step 3: Research Question
• Step 4: Argument/Answer
• Step 5: Originality of Argument(Literature Survey)
• Step 6: Substantiating the Argument (Chapter Outline)
• Step 7: Methodology
• Step 8: Defining Concepts (Optional)
• Step 9: Bibliography

A proposal commences with a clear problem statement.

• What is the problem that intrigues you?
• What is the issue that you want to deal with?
• What is the question that you want to answer?
• It is often useful to state in your first paragraph as clearly and succinctly as possible what is the problem that you are addressing. Once that is done, the problem is unpacked.
• What is the background to the problem?
• What are the logical building blocks in law and practice that lead to the problem?

These building blocks are very important because they are again reflected in the chapters, where argument is substantiated. Vital to a successful dissertation is a narrowly defined problem. As a research paper is confined to 18 000 words, the issue must be much more limited than that for a mini-dissertation (30 000), full thesis (50 000) or a doctoral dissertation (100 000).

As you will be spending a considerable amount of time on the dissertation, you have to justify this endeavour to yourself, your supervisor and your examiners. Moreover, if the problem is significant, the solution or answer to the problem will be equally important. The significance of the problem may lie in a number of areas. In the case of divergent judgments on an issue, the conflict creates confusion and conflict in practice. The importance could lie in poor service delivery because of badly designed governance structures. Overall, the aim is to state the importance of the research that you will be doing.

Given the problem outlined and having shown its significance, a research question must be formulated that it captures the problem statement. What is the issue or problem that you want to answer? This is a short, concise statement that hones the problem statement into one or more questions.

Very important is that this research question must have a legal focus. It is the legal question you want to answer. Although sub-questions may include issues of development, etc., the main focus must be on some form of law/regulation,etc.

This should also be a measurable question. Indicating your research question as "Examining the effectiveness of insider trading legislation" is not feasible. How will you measure the effectiveness of this legislation?

Having done the reading of the relevant materials you have by now developed a tentative argument or an answer to the problem. You need to state upfront how you will be addressing the problem, what will be the answer or solution. This argument is what binds the dissertation together – providing the central measuring rod in deciding whether any material is relevant or not.

When you start off the proposal writing, you will have some idea of what the answer / argument will be. However, as you develop and substantiate the argument in the various chapters through your thorough engagement with the materials, you may find that the argument is refined, adapted, or changed. This is totally acceptable and even expected. Therefore, while the proposal signals the commencement of the dissertation (and is chapter 1 of the dissertation), it may also be last piece that you write in order to reflect the refinement and reshaping of the argument that occurred along the way.

The criterion by which you will be measured is whether your dissertation has added or contributed to knowledge on the topic. What is the point of the dissertation if the problem has already been solved or the issue addressed?

You must demonstrate the originality of the argument by showing how it compares with the existing literature on the issue. This is done by reading extensively around the issue to determine what other authors have written. In some cases, when you have described the literature on the topic (who wrote and what did they say – not a listing of article or book titles!), you may conclude that no one has yet addressed the particular issue, and therefore, you will provide a unique contribution. Even if you find that the issue has been addressed, you may conclude that it was wrongly or inadequately done. You may argue, for example, that the academic interpretation of a line of court judgments was wrong. The academic enterprise is about challenging accepted views and doctrines.

The focus in the literature survey is on “literature”, namely what other scholars have written. This is not the place to describe the Constitution, legislation or court cases.

The main purpose of the literature survey is to:

(A) Indicate what has been written on the subject and

(B) What will your contribution be? ie, What has not been covered by the literature? How will you contribute?

The bulk of the dissertation is devoted to substantiating the argument. This is done through breaking down your argument into its basic components and devoting a chapter to each component. In the proposal the chapters are outlined, showing how each form part of the argument and contributes to the answer or solution. This is not done by just providing chapter headings. You have to indicate whatthe purpose is of each chapter and what will be argued in that chapter. The emphasis falls on the logical flow of the argument and how each chapter contributes to that flow.

This should be done by way of a brief paragraph description of what will be covered in each proposed chapter.

Having outlined how the argument will be substantiated in the various chapters, you have to show how you will go about this task. What are the materials that you will rely on? What is the methodology that you will follow? If you are analysing court judgments, your primary source of information are case reports. A further primary source of information is legislation, official documents, policies, notices, etc. A secondary source is what other authors have written about the same cases or legislation in the relevant field. As all these materials are found in a library or the internet you may refer to it as a desktop study.

You may want to use empirical data in substantiating your argument. There are a variety ways of collecting such data. Official sources may be used. Newspapers may also be referred to. You may even venture out and collect your own data by, for example, conducting interviews, or inspecting court records. In the case of interviews you need ethical clearance from the University’s Senate Research Committee.

If you are going to do a comparative research, you must explain why, indicate your comparators (comparative countries, etc.) and you must explain why you are using these specific comparators.

In the context of your proposal (and later in chapter 1 of the dissertation), it may be necessary to define some key concepts that will be used in the chapters. This is done to provide the necessary clarity when confusion and ambiguity may be present.

All the materials referred to in the proposal must be listed alphabetically in the bibliography. Use the following main headings:

• Laws, regulation and other legal instruments
• Other government publications: policies, reports, etc.
• Books, chapters in books, articles, reports, internet sources
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Writing Thesis Proposal

Proposal maker.

Going towards the end of a semester is always the most stressful. Apart from paper works and final exams, you also need to worry about the thesis proposal that will help you complete your year as a student, whether you’re taking an undergraduate degree, a master’s degree or a doctorate degree. Writing a thesis has to be one of the most challenging parts of being a student, considering how it serves as a requirement to complete a course.

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But developing a good thesis proposal can be quite daunting. Not only do you need to find an interesting topic to discuss, but you have to make sure your proposal document is good enough for you to move forward.

Thesis Proposal Example

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Thesis Proposal: What You Need to Know

The average thesis proposal is composed of the following elements:

• Table of contents
• Introduction
• Statement of the problem
• Significance of the study
• Methodology
• Review of Related Literature
• Definition of terms
• List of references

What is written in your proposal will very much be the same as your actual thesis document, except for a few minor adjustments. Understanding the structure of each element is also important, as this will help you construct your statements properly. Remember, a thesis proposal is a lot similar to a business proposal where formality is advised. Pay close attention to spelling, grammar, and sentence construction to avoid any misinterpretations. Keep it brief yet concise enough to send a clear message to your audience.

Guidelines to Achieve a Successful Thesis Proposal

1. choose a research topic you are interested in.

You can never pursue a good thesis proposal unless you are fully invested in the topic you are studying about. There will always be good days and bad days. One moment, you are filled with motivation and enthusiasm to finish your thesis. During the bad times, you’ll start to question whether or not you made the right choice. But if you’re really passionate about what you do, you’ll come to realize how much you want something so bad and strive to reach your academic goals . It might be an emotional and physically draining journey ahead, but the results will definitely be worth the hard work.

2. Ask open-ended questions.

Most people define the success of a thesis proposal on its possible outcomes. For instance, a thesis that generates negative results tend to be less interesting and unpublishable. This is because positive outcomes are more inspiring than those that are not. So, when constructing your thesis questions, make sure they are open-ended. This will serve as a basis for the rest of your study, allowing you to properly get your point across. You may also like free proposal examples .

3. Identify your objectives.

What do you wish to accomplish with your study? In your thesis proposal sample , it’s important to define your objectives clearly for readers to comprehend. This will guide you in your journey of uncovering hidden mysteries and information that are yet to be discovered. While you can’t guarantee the success of your thesis with just a proposal, this can serve as a guide for you to follow.

4. Collect data from reliable sources.

Writing a thesis proposal involves a lot of research. You need to invest your time and energy into reading and studying various journals, facts, concepts, and theories regarding your topic. But in doing so, you need to make sure this information comes from a valid source. The best way to do so is to look for published articles, ideas, and sample statements from different reading materials. A trip to your local library will definitely be much of help. Be sure to cite these references at the end of your proposal to give credit where it is due.

5. Prepare an outline.

Similar to writing a school speech of any type, preparing an outline can help you keep your material organized. This means jotting down the important points you want to convey in each chapter, giving you subtopics to support your central message. This is one step that must be done before you begin writing your proposal to ensure a smooth flow of words and ideas.

FAQs in Writing a Thesis Proposal

Here are some frequently asked questions when writing a thesis proposal:

1. What format do I follow?  Most guidelines suggest using Arial and Times New Roman with a font size of 12. Double spacing and justifying each paragraph may also be necessary. But all these may change depending on the instructions given to you by your instructor or thesis adviser. To avoid confusion, it would be best to have this clarified before you begin printing.

2. How many respondents do I need?  The number of respondents needed to answer a survey questionnaire for your study may depend on the data that must be acquired. Research projects that greatly rely on demographics tend to require a larger number of respondents than those that don’t. If you want to generate precise and reliable data, an average of 30-50 respondents would be recommendable.

3. Do graphs, tables, and diagrams need to be accurate?  Truth is, the data attained from studies, researchers, and surveys are never completely accurate. This is because data is usually acquired from a relatively small group of individuals compared to the vast majority, simply saying that this does not represent every single person of a population. Whatever is seen in a graph, table, and diagram should be properly presented and explained to readers. While the data isn’t fully accurate, it’s as close as it can get. You may also like proposal examples in PDF .

Planning on how to write your thesis proposal is one thing, but getting it done is another. You will go through a number of drafts before you are finally satisfied with what you have made, so prepare yourself for that. The best thing you could do is to start early, seek guidance from your supervisors, and don’t give up. It’s a long journey of sleepless nights and cups of coffee, but it will all be worth it in the end. You may also like proposal templates .

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Generate a proposal for a new school recycling program

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How the House v. NCAA settlement could reshape college sports: What you need to know

Big 12 presidents and chancellors voted to approve proposals of what is expected to be a multi-billion dollar settlement in the House v. NCAA class-action lawsuit Tuesday, a source briefed on the decision confirmed to  The Athletic. Their approval is another step toward a resolution in the landmark case likely to reshape the college sports business model.

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The Big 12 is the first of the suit’s defendants to vote on the settlement terms, with the remaining power conferences and NCAA Board of Governors also expected to do so this week. It’s expected the settlement will cost them nearly $3 billion in damages and allow power-conference athletes to finally share in annual revenues.

House v. NCAA seeks back pay for Division I college athletes who were barred from earning name, image and likeness (NIL) compensation prior to the NCAA changing its policy in summer 2021, while also pursuing a cut of future broadcast revenues for athletes at power-conference schools.

As college sports face a reckoning on multiple fronts, and with the prospect of the NCAA owing as much as $20 billion in damages were it to lose the House case at trial, settlement efforts intensified in recent weeks.

In addition to more than $2.7 billion in NIL back-pay damages, a settlement would include a system in which roughly $20 million a year can be distributed directly from a power-conference school to its athletes, multiple people briefed on the negotiations confirmed to The Athletic .

All indications are that the last vestiges of amateurism in college sports are coming to an end.

“I expect the athletes who are generating the most money would get the greatest economic return,” said Jeffrey Kessler, one of the lead lawyers representing the plaintiffs. “That’s the economic competitive market we live in.”

A House settlement would be the next legal domino in what has been a busy stretch of forced change for the NCAA, including the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upholding the NCAA v. Alston decision in 2021 and agreeing that the NCAA’s cap on education-related expenses was an antitrust violation. State legislatures helped usher in the NIL era weeks later. Lawsuits filed by multiple state attorneys general have since forced the NCAA to halt enforcement of NIL regulations and allow multi-time transfers immediate eligibility.

Over the past three years, these lawsuits and policy changes have created (and exposed) cracks in the foundation of the collegiate model.

Why is the NCAA proposing a new subdivision? Explaining the related legal battles

“The most important part about the settlement — and let’s face it, there’s still a lot of work to be done there — is it creates some clarity and some visibility on a whole bunch of issues that have sort of been roiling everybody for a while,” NCAA president Charlie Baker said last week . “The other thing it does is create predictability and stability for schools. It creates a tremendous opportunity for student-athletes.”

So what does this mean for fans of college sports? Most immediately, it simply means that the power-conference programs you follow and root for, which bring in millions of dollars in revenue annually from television contracts and ticket sales, can start paying athletes with that money — a significant budgetary adjustment, but not so functionally different from how school-affiliated NIL collectives have started paying players.

College football portal confidential: How tampering, NIL deals and portal chaos happen

Yet in the broader scope, this settlement will further widen the gap between high-major revenue sports — particularly power-conference football — and the rest of college athletics. It’s another step toward a future in which the biggest programs stratify or fully separate from the rest of the NCAA into some version of super conferences or a super league. To that end, there’s also been some organized, internal pushback within the NCAA from smaller Division I conferences that believe they will be forced to shoulder a disproportionate amount of the damages in the proposed settlement.

Plenty of hurdles remain beyond the House case as well, including whether athletes will ultimately unionize and/or be deemed employees, or if the NCAA can secure antitrust exemptions from Congress. Regardless, big changes are on the horizon, and in a way the NCAA has long fought.

Here’s more on what’s at stake in House v. NCAA, and what could come next.

Potential settlement details

The NCAA is backed into a corner.

House v. NCAA was filed in June 2020 with Grant House, a former Arizona State swimmer, and Sedona Prince, a former Oregon and current TCU women’s basketball player, as the two named plaintiffs. In November, U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken, who has a track record of ruling against the NCAA in similar cases (O’Bannon, Alston), granted class-action certification for the damages portion of the House case, expanding it to any Division I athlete dating back to 2016 (in accordance with a four-year statute of limitations).

This exponentially elevated the potential cost — and impact — of the case, which is currently scheduled to go to trial in January 2025.

U.S. antitrust laws grant plaintiffs three times the damages they are awarded — known as “treble damages” — meaning if the NCAA lost at trial, it would automatically be on the hook for triple the damage amount ordered by the judge. According to documents circulated among power conference presidents and administrators and obtained by Yahoo Sports , that final class-action figure could be as high as $20 billion, and enough to force the NCAA to file for bankruptcy.

A loss at trial would also strike down any existing constraints on NIL.

“So essentially, if we win, there would be a complete free market in NIL, including from broadcast payments,” said Kessler.

The combination of triple damages, which would likely have to be paid out immediately, and the NIL floodgates fully opening would be a death rattle for the NCAA, and why a settlement is seen as the surest path to the organization’s survival, at least in the short term.

Through a spokesperson, the NCAA declined to comment.

Certain details of the settlement, though not finalized, have been reported by multiple outlets and confirmed to The Athletic . The nearly $3 billion in back-pay damages would be paid out over 10 years, and power-conference programs could opt into the annual $20 million revenue-sharing allocation likely starting with the 2025-26 season.

This would coincide with a change in roster limits that would eliminate existing caps on scholarships, such as a baseball team’s 11.7 scholarships that get divvied up among 30-plus players. If the baseball roster limit was set at 25, for example, schools would have 25-player teams and could fully fund up to 25 scholarships. This impacts football as well, where teams currently have 85 allotted scholarships but can carry up to 115 total players on the roster. There’s fear among coaches that the new roster limit could eliminate walk-ons.

“Our game is not the pro game,” said Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson, a member of the American Football Coaches Association board. “We get players that need to be taught and coached when they come out of high school. …(In the NFL ), they have a practice squad, they have access to players and other teams. Once we start practice, our roster is set for the year, and they have to be students.”

ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said those roster determinations would be “local decisions” for each university, with better-resourced schools likely to do more than others within the Power 4 leagues. Roster limits are expected to be part of Thursday’s vote by the conferences, and multiple administrators told The Athletic that they expect specific scholarship figures to be decided collectively by the Power 4 conferences in the coming months.

What the NCAA could avoid with a settlement

The compromises of a possible House settlement are obvious, but so are the benefits. The NCAA doesn’t risk the immediately payable treble damages at trial and can negotiate terms on a revenue-sharing model while maintaining a similar operating structure.

College athletes receive scholarships and other benefits, but the anticipated rate of revenue sharing wouldn’t be nearly as high as their counterparts in the pros. The roughly $20 million annual amount represents 22 percent of the average Power 4 school’s annual revenue. Revenue sharing in the major American professional sports is usually around 50 percent for the players.

A settlement would also address another major NCAA issue by simultaneously resolving other high-profile antitrust cases, including Hubbard v. NCAA and Carter v. NCAA; plaintiffs in both cases are also represented by Steve Berman and Kessler.

Hubbard is similar to House in the sense that it is seeking retroactive damages for education-related Alston payments; Carter argues that rules prohibiting college athletes from receiving “pay for play” violate antitrust law. A House settlement would resolve each of them.

One other antitrust case factors in: Fontenot v. NCAA, a separate, class-action suit filed in Colorado that is seeking similar claims and damages as Carter. A motion to transfer the case to the same Northern District of California court as the other antitrust suits has been requested, ostensibly to have it resolved by a settlement in the House case. A hearing on the transfer is also set for Thursday.

Resolving all four antitrust cases — House, Hubbard, Carter and Fontenot — is a crucial aspect of the settlement for the NCAA, according to people briefed on the negotiations.

“In the current world we live in, planning is very hard to do,” Baker said. “If we can land this thing … I think it creates a lot of stability and clarity for schools. And it makes it possible for all of us to start thinking about what the next act will look like as it rolls out instead of feeling like you’re waiting for the next shoe to drop.”

How it would work

Assuming the NCAA and power conferences sign off on terms this week, there would still be a number of steps to complete a settlement, including official filing, an approval from Judge Wilken and a 90-day period for review and any objections.

If approved, the power-conference revenue sharing will be optional, and there are no specifications on how the money will be distributed, as long as it stays within the capped allotment.

It’s expected that most if not all power-conference programs will opt in to some degree of revenue sharing in order to remain competitive. But even for a number of the schools at that level, it could be a gradual financial process that requires cuts elsewhere.

“As it currently stands, I don’t know many schools that will be able to pay even remotely close to ($20 million) without eliminating some portion of what they currently spend,” said Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard.

For back-pay damages, the NCAA would use its reserves to cover $1.1 billion, and the remaining approximately $1.6 billion would come from withheld revenue distributions, chiefly via the NCAA men’s basketball tournament credits. Of that $1.6 billion, nearly 60 percent is expected to come from leagues outside the Power 4 conferences (including the Group of 5), according to people familiar with the settlement proposal.

The 22 smaller, non-FBS conferences (colloquially referred to as the CCA22) were not initially briefed on the settlement talks until earlier this month, multiple administrators said, once the financial structure of payouts had already been formulated.

One Division I commissioner estimated that non-FBS conferences would be on the hook for $2.5 million per year to help cover the NCAA’s costs of the settlement. Two sources in different CCA22 leagues said that equates to roughly 25 percent of the annual revenue those schools receive from the NCAA. That level of reduction could lead to cutting sports and athlete resources, despite a lawsuit that was clearly aimed at power-conference schools with the most lucrative media deals.

“The burden that’s being pushed to us is not following any sort of logic as it relates to the court order,” one non-Power 4 source said.

However, the damages payment model that is being voted on is a slightly tweaked version of the original breakdown put forth by the NCAA, a college administrator briefed on the proposal told The Athletic . That’s despite the non-FBS leagues submitting a formal request to the NCAA’s Board of Governors and Division I Board of Directors on Monday, according to sources briefed on the proposal, asking to either delay a final decision on the financial breakdown or adjust it to an equivalent rate of revenue reductions for each conference. The latter would have made the power conferences responsible for roughly 60 percent of the damages.

The Board of Directors and Board of Governors (the NCAA’s highest governing body) are also scheduled to vote on settlement details this week, including authorizing the NCAA to use its financial reserves.

Another area to be addressed is how the terms of a settlement apply to the new classes of athletes each year. Berman mentioned a potential solution.

“Every year, when an NCAA athlete reports in to start the year, they could be given a copy of the class notice and the settlement, and given an opportunity to object within a few months receiving that notice,” said Berman.

Jim Cavale, the founder of the players organization Athletes.org, questions the forward-looking part of the settlement, saying it lacked athlete input. His organization includes about 1,500 power-conference athletes and recently signed up the entire UAB football team.

“How involved are the current athletes?” he said. “On top of that, how involved if at all are future athletes on these terms? The answer is not at all. The results of a (collective bargaining agreement), the terms of the athlete experience and even these caps are not really the responsibility of these plaintiffs’ lawyers in a class-action lawsuit.”

Some industry sources believe there could be less incentive or motivation for players to unionize once they’re getting a piece of the pie. Cavale disagrees.

“Should it be approved, if we got 500 of our 3,000 athletes to object, the way it’s written, you’re going to have 500 different hearings,” he said.

Other unknowns

Plenty more questions remain.

• How will Title IX apply to revenue-sharing distributions? Will proportional payments need to be made to male and female athletes in order to remain compliant — meaning an athletic department can’t spend all or most of its revenue-sharing dollars on football or other men’s sports — or would schools argue that proportional scholarship opportunities satisfy Title IX? This is not something that can be stipulated by the settlement and could be challenged in court. Multiple administrators at Power 4 schools told The Athletic they believe the total dollar figure needs to be equal between male and female athletes, but that their understanding is that each school can determine how to allot the money between its athletes and sports.

• How would this impact potential unionizing and collective bargaining ventures?. Unionizing efforts by the Dartmouth men’s basketball team and national advocacy organizations such as Cavale’s Athletes.Org and the College Football Players Association have yet to gain widespread support, a challenge within something as wide-ranging and transient as college sports. But the topic could receive renewed attention in the wake of a settlement, along with the ongoing discussion of whether college athletes should be deemed employees, which is at the heart of both the Johnson v. NCAA suit and a National Labor Relations Board complaint against USC , the Pac-12 and the NCAA.

In any event, settling House and resolving the other prominent antitrust lawsuits will not fully shield the NCAA from future legal battles, which is why Baker and the organization will continue to pursue Congressional antitrust exemptions.

“(A settlement) creates a framework that makes it possible to then have a different kind of conversation with Congress,” said Baker. “So, in many ways, I’m hopeful.”

• What about NIL collectives? A settlement wouldn’t fully address the role of these third-party organizations and the culture of pay for play, though Yahoo Sports reported that the informational documents it obtained mentioned “economic incentives” for athletic departments to bring collectives in-house.

• How will the financial adjustments trickle down? Will schools decide to cut athlete benefits, administrative positions or entire sports? Will this finally stem the tide of ballooning, seven-figure annual coaching salaries, bloated staffs and multi-million-dollar buyouts? Wholesale changes to the structure of collegiate athletics and the NCAA’s governance remain likely years away, but that doesn’t mean reverberations won’t be felt sooner in other areas.

“It could be the sports you sponsor,” Pollard said. “It could be what you do for the sports you sponsor. It could be the number of staff you have in football. It could be the number of players you have on a football team. Everything’s going to be on the table.”

— The Athletic ’s Chris Vannini and Scott Dochterman contributed reporting.

(Photo Illustration: Pavlo Gonchar / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images)

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