example of research proposal international relations

Designing a Research Proposal

Before conducting research, whether this is for an undergraduate project/essay,or a dissertation or thesis, it is important that you design a research proposal first. This will serve as a plan to orient you as you conduct your research and seek to answer the question(s) you have set. Every university (and programme within) will have its own guidelines for this, but the resources below give some accessible overviews on how a research proposal works in general, and then lists some examples the E-International Relations team has found useful from universities around the world.

The resources below have been curated by the E-International Relations team. You can find more resources on our methods homepage .

How to Develop a Good Research Topic by KStateLibraries (YouTube)

How To Write A Strong Research Proposal by Dr Amina Yonis (Youtube)

‘The Perfect Proposal’ by Dr. Hastings of the Texas A&M University Writing Center (YouTube)

Developing Research Questions by Monash University (website).

Doing a Literature Review

An essential part of any proposal is a review of the relevant literature already published on the topic you are researching. This shows that you understand where the existing debates are focused and (for more advanced works) can identify any gaps in the extant research that your work may address. Generally, literature falls into two broad categories: (1) Academic literature – this is books, journal articles and academic PhD theses… anything peer reviewed. (2) ‘Grey’ Literature – essentially anything not peer reviewed but useful to your research. this is a broad category that incorporates Newspaper/Magazine articles, policy or technical reports, government publications/archives, multimedia content (Podcasts, videos etc.) etc. Both academic and grey literature can be online or physical/in print and the distinction is less important than the nature and use of the materials in your literature review.

Get Lit: The Literature Review by Dr. Candace Hastings (YouTube)

Literature Review by University of Waterloo (website).

Andrew Booth, Diana Papaioannou, and Anthea Sutton, Systematic Approaches to Successful Literature Review (SAGE, 2012), pp.1–16. https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/43465_Booth_et_al.pdf

Chris Hart, Doing a Literature Review (SAGE, 1998), pp.1–25. https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/28728_LitReview___hart_chapter_1.pdf

Robin Kiteley and Chris Stogdon, Literature Reviews in Social Work (SAGE, 2014), pp.5–22. The Selection of a Research Approach. https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/58106_Kiteley_&_Stogdon.pdf

John W. Creswell, Research Design Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches Fourth Edition (Sage, 2014). https://us.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/55588_Chapter_1_Sample_Creswell_Research_Design_4e.pdf

Examples of different university guides for research proposals

University of Nottingham https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/pgstudy/how-to-apply/research-proposal.aspx

Oxford University https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/about/writing-your-research-proposal

King’s College London, Department of European and International Studies https://www.kcl.ac.uk/eis/postgraduate/eis-phd-research-proposal-guidelines

Guidelines for elaborating a master’s thesis or project. ISCTE Business School (Lisbon, Portugal). https://www.iscte-iul.pt/assets/files/2020/11/02/1604315461085_Guidelines_for_elaborating_a_Master_s_dissertation_or_project.pdf

Dissertation Proposal Template. Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics. https://www.clsbe.lisboa.ucp.pt/system/files/assets/files/dissertation-proposal-template.pdf

Writing a research proposal. University of Melbourne https://students.unimelb.edu.au/academic-skills/explore-our-resources/graduate-research/writing-a-research-proposal

Types of Research Design. – University of Southern California. https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/researchdesigns

Guidelines for the Preparation of Research Project, Dissertation and Thesis – University of Malaya. https://inpuma.um.edu.my/Guidelines_for_Preparation_of_Research_Project_Dissertation_and_Thesis.pdf

Research Proposal Guidelines. – University of Pretoria. https://www.up.ac.za/communication-management-division/article/2417100/research-proposal-guidelines

Writing a Research Proposal. – Victoria University of Wellington. https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/1341273/Writing-a-Research-Proposal.pdf

How to Prepare: Thesis Proposal. – University of Hong Kong. https://gradsch.hku.hk/f/page/476/1666/thesis-proposal.pdf

George Washington University, Dissertation Content and Style Guide. https://gsehd.gwu.edu/sites/default/files/gsehd_dissertation_content_and_style_guide.pdf.

Organizing your Social Sciences Research Paper. https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide

Tips for Writing a Good Quality Social Science Research Paper. https://globaljournals.org/journals/human-social-science/tips-for-writing-a-good-quality-social-science-research-paper

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper. https://libguides.pointloma.edu/c.php?g=944338&p=6806892

The Open University. (2021). “Postgraduate Study Skills”. The Open University. https://help.open.ac.uk/conducting-an-interview .

Types of Research Designs. University of Southern California Libraries. https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/researchdesigns

Writing your research proposal (York St. John University). https://www.yorksj.ac.uk/study/research/apply/examples-of-research-proposals/

Further Reading on E-International Relations

• Designing and Conducting Surveys
• Research Ethics
• Introduction to Research Methods
• Quantitative Analysis Tools
• Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches
• 9/11 and the War on Terror

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International Relations Research Proposals Samples For Students

6 samples of this type

Do you feel the need to examine some previously written Research Proposals on International Relations before you begin writing an own piece? In this free directory of International Relations Research Proposal examples, you are granted a thrilling opportunity to examine meaningful topics, content structuring techniques, text flow, formatting styles, and other academically acclaimed writing practices. Using them while composing your own International Relations Research Proposal will definitely allow you to complete the piece faster.

Presenting the finest samples isn't the only way our free essays service can help students in their writing endeavors – our authors can also compose from scratch a fully customized Research Proposal on International Relations that would make a strong basis for your own academic work.

History of international relations research proposal sample

International relations concerns relationships between countries or states. The relationships also concern Inter-governmental, International nongovernmental (INGO) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) (Buzan & Little 8). International relations encompass state relationships in trade and economics, politics, social-cultural activities such as sports among others. The history of international relations can be traced from thousands of years. Political scientists, Little and Buzan, considered interactions among ancient Sumerian cities in 3,500 BC as a fully-established international system (9).

Free Research Proposal About The Newborn State Of Kosovo: The Actual Developments On International Relations And Security

Sample research proposal on biases and errors in the assessment of information that resulted to flawed decisions made in the yom kipur war, introduction.

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Research Proposal On Saudi Arabian-Iranian Wars: Research Design

The role of china in the relation between thailand and cambodia research proposal, background of the study, theoretical framework and analysis research proposal.

I work for the government in the field of security and military diplomacy. I have several years experience in bilateral and multilateral activities in the ASEAN and in China. As a result of this work, I have many contacts in both the ASEAN and in China. Furthermore, I have a good grasp of the Thai, English and Chinese languages. This will help in communicating directly with people who are involved in all areas of the subject.

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Preparing a proposal

Although your proposal will be assessed by subject specialists, please bear in mind that non-specialists are also involved in the admissions process and that decisions about studentship awards are likely to be taken by academics from different disciplinary backgrounds.

You should ensure, therefore, that the aims, structure and outline content of the proposed research are comprehensible to a broad academic audience.

Proposals should up to 5000 words long (at least 5 -7 double-spaced pages). You will be expected to situate your research within relevant scholarly literatures and to provide a full reference list. In particular, the proposal should include:

1. A statement of aims

These should outline the purposes of the research with reference to the general field and/or problematic you wish to examine.

2. The contribution

The contribution that the research intends to make to existing knowledge.

3. Rationale which demonstrates why the contribution is valuable

A rationale for the research which demonstrates why the intended contribution is interesting or valuable – if similar research has been done, why is a new approach necessary; if your research fills a gap in the literature, why should it be filled?

4. Discussion of the theoretical approach and/or the conceptual framework or analysis

You should indicate here what the primary structure of the research will be and what issues/concepts/ideas/policies or events will be discussed or analysed within it. If you intend to work to a hypothesis, you should state what this is.

5. Reflection on methodology

A reflection on methodology which shows how the assumptions of the research will be addressed in the analysis and why they are appropriate to it.

6. Discussion of the sources

A discussion of the sources – eg. interviews/published or unpublished data/archival or policy documents. If you intend to conduct field work you should give details. In all cases you should be as specific as you can and assess the possibility of access to relevant sources.

7. Research methods

A discussion of the research methods you will use to analyse your sources – eg. sampling, survey or interview design, data collection, discourse analysis.

8. Indication of study skills

An indication of your study skills: necessary language competence, familiarity with interview techniques/data processing etc.  

9. Chapter plan

A provisional chapter plan which shows how you intend to develop the argument of the thesis.

10. Research plan

A provisional research plan which indicates how you intend to schedule necessary research methods training/field or archival work/data design or collection.

• Department of Politics and International Relations

Writing a research proposal

The key feature of the PhD is that it is yours; the topic, planning, motivation, and thinking all come from you. It will be the most challenging type of academic work you have ever done, but also the most rewarding.

The Research Proposal – an outline

The research proposal constitutes the main way in which the department evaluates the potential quality of your PhD plans. The proposal should be approximately 1,500 words in length and include:

• A provisional title

Question or hypothesis

Value of the phd, existing literature, methods of work.

The title indicates the ‘headline’ character of the PhD. It should include any key concepts, empirical focus, or lines of inquiry that you aim to pursue. For example: ‘Are NGOs practising sustainable development? An investigation into NGO practice in rural Botswana’, or ‘Understanding the Preferential Turn in EU External Trade Strategy: A Constructivist International Political Economy Approach’. You can negotiate changes in the title with your supervisor should you be successful but it is important to devise a title that describes what you aspire to research – and which looks original and exciting.

You need a question or hypothesis to drive the research forward. The question/hypothesis will provide your motivation; to answer the question or prove/disprove the hypothesis. The question/hypothesis will need to be something that has not been posed before. This involves looking at something that no-one has looked at before, or it might mean taking a fresh approach to an existing topic or issue.

The aims of your research should be a short list of answers to the question - what will the PhD do? So, for example ‘this PhD will explore...’ or ‘by carrying out this research, I will contribute to debates about...’. The aims are broader than the questions/hypotheses; they give a prospective statement about the overall destination of the PhD and its potential impact.

The value of the PhD follows closely from the aims. Think about how the ways it might improve our political thinking - a new perspective or the generation of new evidence? To whom might the PhD be interesting - scholars looking at a particular issue, communities within specific institutions or certain groups of people?

A short note of key existing literature situates the PhD in existing research. Literature reviews are not simply descriptive mapping exercises at PhD level. Here you should identify a small number of key texts and say something about how these books are important for your research - whether it is to support, extend, or challenge existing work.

The resources you require can vary according to the nature of the research: access to a particular archive, specialist library, visits to field sites, the use of analytical software, access to databases, training, workshop attendance and so on. It is important to list any of these resources and give a very brief account of how they will enhance the PhD.

The methods of work is a particularly important section. This is where you can say something about how you will answer your question or prove your hypothesis. It is relatively easy to ask a new question; it is more challenging to set out how you might come up with a convincing answer! Methods do not only mean empirical methodologies such as semi-structured interviews or surveys and statistical interpretation; it also might involve a statement on the kind of theoretical framework you will employ, a certain kind of approach to history or a way to understand political ideas. Methods are, therefore, qualitative, quantitative, theoretical, empirical, positivistic, heuristic... whatever fits with your research.

The research also needs a  timetable . This should be set out over three years with clear indications of how long you will need to prepare for and carry out research (however defined) and allow time for writing up. Try to be as detailed as you can at this stage.

Each of these criteria helps the Department of Politics and International Relations selectors make a good judgement about your proposal. By following these criteria you will have your best chance of getting your proposal accepted.

Three more important points:

• Try to be concise. Do not write too much – be as specific as you can but not wordy. It is a difficult balance to strike.
• Bear in mind that the proposal is a starting point. If you are registered to read for a PhD you will be able to work the proposal through with your supervisor in more detail in the early months.
• Take a look at the department’s  staff profiles . Can you identify possible supervisors and intellectual support networks within the department? The better able the department is to support your research, the better it will be for your proposal.