公派研究生(聯(lián)合培養(yǎng)博士生)研修計劃書ResearchPlanforPhDMobilityProgram-final公派研究生（聯(lián)合培養(yǎng)博士生）研修計劃書ResearchPlanforPhDMobilityProgram12第二篇：PhD_Research_Proposal_Guidelines12000字1Ph.D.ResearchProposalGuidelinesEnglish,PolyUThePh.D.ResearchProposalisacriticalphaseoftheextendedprocessofundertakingtodoaPh.D..ItisthecentralpartofyourapplicationtobeadmittedtoaPh.D.programme,anddependingonthenatureandqualityofyourproposal,youwilleitherbeadmittedornot.Themaingoalsofyourresearchproposalare(i)togiveyouanopportunitytothinkthroughyourareaofresearchcarefullyandsystematicallyand(ii)todemonstratethatyourresearchwouldbebothdesirableandfeasibletoundertake—thatitwouldmakeapositivedifferencetotheresearchcommunity(andeventothewidercommunity),andtoshowthatyouareabletoundertaketheresearchthatyoupropose,e.g.thatyouarefamiliarwiththecentralaspectsoftheareaofresearchwithinwhichtheresearchyouproposecanbelocated.Previousexperiencewithresearchwillofcoursebeveryhelpfultoyou,includingcoursesonresearchmethodology.Youcanalsogaininsightsbyreadingabouthowtodevelopandwriteresearchproposals(seereferencesbelow),andbyreadinganumberofexamplesofresearchproposals,inparticular—butnotonly—inyourownareaofresearch.Similarly,reviewingthesesthathavebeensubmittedisahelpfulwayofdevelopingaclearsenseofthenatureandscopeofPh.D.research.ItishelpfultothinkaboutaproposalforPh.D.researchinthesamewayyouwouldthinkaboutaresearchproposalyouproduceinordertosubmittosomefundingagencytoseekaresearchgrant:youareessentiallyaskingforconsiderablesupportandresources,soyouhavetomakeastrongcasethattheresearchyouproposemeritsthesupportandtheresourcesandthatyouarewellpreparedtoundertakeit.Youareofcoursemakingtheheaviestinvestmentyourself:youareproposingtodevotethreetofouryears(orthepart-timeequivalent)ofyourworkinglifetothisproject,soitshouldbeonethatreallyfascinatesyouandonethatyoucanremaincommittedtoforaconsiderablelengthoftime.Likeallresearchproposals,yourproposalforPh.D.researchwillgothroughanumberofdraftversionsbeforeyoufinalizeitandsubmititaspartofyourapplication.Ifyouareadmitted,youcanstillchangeaspectsoftheresearchthatyouputforwardinyourproposal,inconsultationwithyoursupervisorandtheDepartmentalResearchCommittee.Itisquitenormalinresearchprojectsthattheexecutionofresearchplanswillproduceresultsthatwerenotentirelypredictable,sotherewillbegoodreasontoadjusttheresearchplan,particularlyintheearlystagesoftheresearch.Thisisonereasonwhyitishelpfultobuildapilotstudyintotheoverallresearchproject.Whenyouwriteeachsectionoftheproposal,trytoproducethemostcentralornuclearstatementsfirstsothattheoverallorganizationoftheproposalisclearandeasytofollow.Makesureyouproofreadtheproposalcarefully,usingtoolslikespell-checkers.2YoucanfindmanyusefuldiscussionsofthetaskofdevelopingaPh.D.researchproposalontheweb,e.g.Naturallyyouhavetodrawonsuchmaterialselectivelysinceresearchproposalsmayvaryconsiderablyfromonedisciplinetoanother.YouwillalsofinditinterestingandhelpfultoreadaccountsreportingonresearchintothegenericstructureofPh.D.thesesindifferentfieldsaspartofthegeneralstudyofscientific/academicregisters(e.g.theworkbyDavidBuntonattheUniversityofHongKong).ThesistitleandresearchtopicSpecifythegeneralareaofresearch,usingrecognizedclassificationsasfaraspossible.Theresearchclassificationcanbestatedintermsoffieldofresearch(e.g.languagedescription,secondlanguageacquisition,sociolinguistics,lexicology,translationstudies,multimodalstudies),researchmethodology(e.g.textanalysis,corpus-basedresearch,questionnaire-basedresearch,actionresearch,experimentation),andtheoreticalapproach(e.g.corpuslinguistics,criticaldiscourseanalysis,systemicfunctionallinguistics).ThemajorresearchareasintheDepartmentare:?Professionalcommunication?Appliedcorpuslinguistics?Englishlanguageteachingandlearning?Englishlanguagestudies?Languageassessment?SystemicFunctionalLinguistictheory,description,analysisandapplicationTheseareofcoursecomplementary,notmutuallyexclusive;theymaybecombinedindifferentways.However,youneedtoensurethattheresearchyouproposefallswithinoneoftheareasofdepartmentalexpertise.TrytofamiliarizeyourselfwiththeresearchworkcarriedoutwithintheDepartment—byresearchcentresandgroupsandbyindividualresearchers.Proposeaworkingtitleforthethesis.Asfaraspossible,thetitleshouldbeaccessibletoscholarswhoarenotspecialistsinthefieldofyourresearch,so3includetransparentdescriptivetermsandavoidabbreviationsinthetitlesuchasCDA,CA,LFG,SFL.AimsofresearchOutlinetheaims(goals,objectives)oftheresearchyouareproposing.Indicatewhatparticularproblemorproblemsthatcanbeidentifiedintheareaofresearchyouproposetoaddress,givingreferenceswhereverpossible.Explainhowyourresearchwillhelpsolvetheproblems—howitwillconstituteanadvanceoverthecurrentstateofknowledge:anoriginalcontributiontothefieldyouareworkingin.Keepinmindthattheaimsshouldbefeasiblerelativetothetimeandresourcesatyourdisposalfortheresearch.Itmaybehelpfultodifferentiatebetweenthemainaimoftheresearchandsubsidiaryaimsthatyoucanderivefromthismainaim.Thestatementofyouraimswillbestrongeriftheaimsarerelatedtooneanotherinaclearwayinsteadofmerelybeinglisted.Whenyouconsidertheaimsofyourproposedresearch,itishelpfultokeepinmindwhataPh.D.represents.TheawardofaPh.D.indicatesthattheuniversity(inthiscasePolyU)andthewiderscholarlycommunityacknowledgethatyouareaspecialistinyourfieldandthatyoupossessahighlevelofscholarshipandresearchskills.Thethesisshouldconstituteanewandsignificantcontributiontoknowledgeandshouldcontainworkofapublishablestandard.BackgroundofresearchSketchthedevelopmentofyourareaofresearchtoshowhowtheproblemsyouidentifygrowoutofpreviouswork,thuslocatingtheresearchyouproposetoundertakeinrelationtotheworkthatareyouarebasingitonorproposinganalternativeto.Thiswillsupporttheprevioussectionontheaimsofyourresearchandleadintothenextsectionconcernedwiththedesignandmethodologyofyourresearch.Reviewtherelevantliteratureinyourareaofresearch,identifyingup-to-dateoverviewsofthestateoftheartofthisarea.Youcandothiseitheraspartofthesketchofthedevelopmentleadinguptotheresearchyouareproposingorasaseparatesubsection.Showhowyouengagewiththeworkbyotherresearchers;donotjustlisttheircontributions.Asfaraspossible,trytoclassifyandinterprettheirworkinrelationtothedevelopmentofthefield.ResearchdesignandmethodologyExplainyourchoiceofaparticulartheoreticalfoundation,orselectionoffoundations,uponwhichyouwillbaseyourresearch,indicatinghowyourchoiceisjustifiedinviewoftheaimsthatyouhavespecifiedandinrelationtothebackgroundofyourresearch.Givereferencestokeytheoreticalworksrelevanttoyourstudy.4Basedonyourchoiceoftheoreticalfoundation,discusswhatwillconstitutedatainyourresearch(naturallyoccurringsamplesoflanguage,elicitedsamplesoflanguage,surveyresults,andsoon)andwhatmethodologyormethodologiesforobtainingandprocessingthedatawillbebestsuitedtoallowyoutopursueyourresearchaims.Themethodologymayinvolvemethodsofdifferentkinds,e.g.(1)ethnographicobservationofnaturallyoccurringtextsandotheractivitiesininstitutionalsettings,(2)samplingofnaturallyoccurringtexts(intheirinstitutionalsettings),analysisoftexts(manualanalysisand/orautomatedanalysis),interpretationoftheresultsoftheanalysis;(3)theelicitationoftextthroughsomeelicitationtechniquesuchastranslationfromanotherlanguage;(4)thedesignanduseofsurveysandquestionnaires;(5)experimentationofsomeform,asinpsycholinguisticstudies.Whereverpossible,refertodiscussionsintheliteratureofrelevantmethodology,and/orgiveexamplesofstudiesthathaveemployedthekindofmethodologyyouplantouse.Givenyourchoiceofresearchmethods,indicatewhatrequirementsforresourcesyourresearchwillinvolve(e.g.hardwareandsoftwarerequirements)andwhetherthereareethicalconsiderations(e.g.theneedtoseekapprovalfromparticipantsinyourresearch).Inconductingresearch,itisusuallyhelpfultoconductaformativepilotstudybeforeyouundertakethefull-scalestudy—thatis,asmallerstudywhereyoucantryoutyourdesignandmethodologybeforeyouscaleitup.Indicatewhetheryouhavealreadyundertakensuchapilotstudyorwhetheryouplantoincorporateonewithintheresearchprojectyouareproposing.Onecentralaspectofyourmethodologyisthetime-lineofyourresearch.Specifythebasicphasesofyourresearch:theearlyworkonformulatingtheresearch,surveyingtheliteratureandcollectingthedata,thedataanalysis,theinterpretationoftheresultsofthedataanalysis,andtheproductionofthethesisitself.SignificanceandvalueofresearchInthepreviouspartsofyourresearchproposal,youhaveindicatedthescopeofyourresearchandindicatedthatitisfeasible.Hereyourtaskistomakeaconvincingcasethatyourresearchwillmakeapositivedifference—thatyouwillproduceanoriginalandsignificantcontribution.Discussthesignificanceofyourresearchandexplainitsacademicand/orcommunityvaluewithinthecontextthatyouareproposingtoundertakeit.Trytoanswerthequestionofwhowillbenefitfromtheresearchyouproposetoundertake.Thesignificancemaybeimmediateanddirect,oritmaybeindirect,involvinganadditionalstepofapplyingtheresultsofyourresearch.Forexample,ifyourresearchconcernssecondlanguagelearning,thesignificancemayliepartlyinpedagogicimplications.Thevaluemaybespecifictosomeparticularinstitutionorgroup,includingofcoursetheDepartmentofEnglish,theFacultyof5Humanities,andTheHongKongPolytechnicUniversity,oritmaybeofsomekindofnationalbenefit.OutlineofthesisGivetheproposedoutlineofyourthesis,chapterbychap