Objective & Structure
This research proposal emphasizes the methodology of a selected paper. The selected paper
is preferable to lie within your research area and be relevant to your doctoral thesis or your
research idea. Kindly select a paper with a quantitative orientation – a clear quantitative
methodology section or analysis. Your research proposal should unfold as follows:
1. Section 1 – Introduction: A brief discussion of the selected research paper’s topic
(suggested length: max. two paragraphs).
2. Section 2 – Presentation of the variables, sources, and time frame used in the selected
paper. The same section should also discuss (alternative) variables used in other papers
dealing with similar topics with your selected paper. (Note: papers in the same research
area are available in the selected paper’s literature review section. Also, relevant papers
published after the selected paper can be found by clicking “Cited by” under the selected
paper’s research result on scholar.google.com).
3. Section 3 – Presentation of the methodology used in the selected paper. Kindly discuss
the main points of this approach. Practically, this discussion is a methodology-oriented
literature review, which should be supported by references to related studies.
4. Section 4 – Presentation of alternative (quantitative) approaches used in the literature
for dealing with the same or similar topics.
