IRDR0005 Practice and Appraisal of Research


Research Proposal Literature Review Assignment

NB: This is NOT the same as the research proposal for your dissertation. It
also has a different submission deadline. This exercise is intended to help you
learn how to create part of a good research proposal. Feedback on your
assignment will be given before the dissertation proposal is due to be
submitted.


Formulate a research question and write a critical review of the literature on it.
• the question should not be too broad
• the review should be restricted to only the most relevant and pertinent literature,
and not more than 15 items
• your review should identify and explain where there are gaps in knowledge that
can be filled by research
• end your review by suggesting what needs to be done next in research on the
issue you are tackling
• what would be a good research question to answer and a good hypothesis to
test in the next round of research on this topic?
• Your text should be not more than 1,500 words long (usually about four pages)
• Include an abstract, for to six key words and a list of references (they will not
be included in your word-limit)
• use a proper citation style (Smith and Brown 2018).
• You can include illustrations (diagrams, tables, etc.) if necessary but they are
not obligatory.

Examples of typical research questions might be as follows:-
• "Is the risk of major flooding in a North Sea storm surge increasing on England's
east coast?"
• "Are prolonged, wide-area electricity black-outs likely in London as a
consequence of a major space weather incident?"
• "Was the failure of the tsunami warning system a major factor in the death toll
of the 2018 Palu earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia?"

To recap: research question – review of principal literature (not merely descriptive) –
critical appraisal of current research status – promising gaps in research – what
research on this topic can be done next.

The essay should be submitted on IRDR0005 Turnitin by Friday 17th December