Investigating the challenges and opportunities of managing a multicultural creative workforce: A Nigerian Fashion Industry Perspective

GUIDELINES FOR DISSERTATION PROPOSAL EXERCISE

1) Short Title

The title should succinctly sum up the project as a whole. It does not need to take the form of a question (although it should obviously reflect some aspect of your Research Question): most titles are statements.

2) Research Question (50-100 words)

This is a summary and focused statement of the question that your research will address. A good way to phrase this is to complete the following sentence: ‘This dissertation asks how / why / if / whether / to what extent …’.

3) Thesis Statement (50-100 words)

This is a summary statement of the thesis or argument of your dissertation. A good way to phrase this is to complete the following sentence: ‘This dissertation argues that …’.

4) Project Detail (850 words)

Your proposal should address the following points. You are advised to use these subheadings in your proposal.

1. Outline of topic (Suggested length: 400 words)
2. Approach (Suggested length: 150 words)
3. Preparation (Suggested length: 150 words)
4. Objectives and Milestones (Suggested length: 150 words)

Writing the Dissertation Proposal

Your dissertation proposal will require research and reflection. Build on the work we have done in class, your initial posts for the Continuous Assessment forum, and discussions with your supervisor, but leave sufficient time for editing and revision. Except for the short title, all parts of the proposal should be written in proper sentences (no notes or sentence fragments). Whilst it is anticipated that your proposal will have emerged from the ideas you have been developing during the Research Training workshops, we will accept your proposal of a new idea providing this is approved in advance by your academic supervisor. In developing your proposal, you are advised to ask your Cluster tutor and members of your Research Cluster to comment on your plans (though your final submission should, of course, reflect your own work).

Assessment and Next Steps

Your proposal will be assessed by your dissertation supervisor, and (providing it meets basic disciplinary and intellectual standards) will be formally accepted as your dissertation topic. You will receive your mark and feedback for the proposal shortly after the end of Reading Week. The Research Training workshops that follow during weeks 8-10 will help you to develop your project further, in preparation for a further meeting with your supervisor before the end of the semester.

ETHICAL CLEARANCE

Any project that anticipates conducting research involving human participants, their data, or samples, requires QMUL Ethics Committee clearance.

We work on the assumption that no undergraduate dissertation project in the Department of English falls under this category.

If you DO envisage conducting research involving human participants, please contact the module convenors before submitting this assignment. Note that our likely recommendation will be that such research activities cannot be supported within the parameters of ESH6000 English Research Dissertation.