Guidelines for the research proposal
Through the work on the research proposal you are to plan and prepare for the completion of your thesis.
The research proposal shall contribute to ensuring the academic quality and efficiency of your research project.
Tentative title of the Master's Thesis
Formulate a tentative title which is clear and informative.
Background, topic, aims and objectives
Describe what you would like to investigate. What is the background for the research topic you have chosen, and what would you like to achieve with your dissertation? Describe one or more aspects which forms the theoretical and empirical framework of the project:
- problems related to the field of practice, or to own experiences
- relevant research
- theoretical point of departure/framework
This should be elaborated on with one or more research questions.
Research questions
Formulate a research question which is focused and feasible to answer within the given timeframe. The research question can be defined as one overall question with several sub-question which are clearly connected to the overall question. The research question may also be formulated as a specific thematic aim or as one or several hypotheses.
Research design and methods
- Outline a possible research design and the methodological approach you think would be effective to answering your research questions
- Outline how you will select participants/sources and how you plan to gain access to them
- Outline how you will collect data
- Outline how you will analyse the data
Ethical aspects
Describe the ethical aspects that must be considered in your project. Are there any specific ethical issues or challenges related to your project? How should these be dealt with?
Note that if you are to carry out interviews with participants, your project must most probably be notified to Data Protection Services at Sikt (formerly NSD) for an assessment of privacy. Your may find more information on data handling in for master's students here.
Timeline
The research proposal must include a time schedule for how you plan to proceed with the project month by month until the submission deadline. Activities that you should include in the time schedule are i.e. notifying your project to Data Protection Services at Sikt, data collection, literature reading, analysis, writing etc. Bear in mind that the writing should start early.
Reference list
The research proposal must include a literature list of the references you have used.
The reference list must be written according to the APA guidelines.
Cover page
The research proposal must have a cover page which contains:
- Name of author
- The proposed title of the Master's Thesis
- Research proposal for Master's Thesis
- Year and semester (e.g. Autumn 2025)
Formatting requirements
- Times New Roman or Calibri (text size 12)
- Line spacing must be one and a half (1,5)
- Page number
- Margins must be standard
- Maximum number of words: 2500 (excluding references)
Submission
You submit the research proposal in Inspera in the end of August.
Assessment
The research proposals will be assessed as passed/not passed.
If you do not pass, you will be given a second attempt to pass.
Validity
An approved research proposal is valid for three years. If you are delayed, and your research proposal is older than three years when you are to initiate your work on your Master's Thesis, you must deliver an updated research proposal for the Department's approval. The updated research proposal must be approved before you are assigned a supervisor and can start working on your thesis. Contact master@isp.uio.no if this applies to you.