Assignment: Overview
This assignment asks you to produce a formal proposal of at least 1,200 words
describing a Cybersecurity research project you intend to pursue. You may use
the template provided on Blackboard as a guide for your proposal. The proposal
will be graded under the following areas(note these may not be actual headings
in your proposal but I should be able to easily identify the content somewhere):
– Abstract, Introduction and Problem Statement (15%)
– Background and Significance (30%)
– Research Design and Methods (35%)
– Style, Formatting, Citations/references, Grammar, Sentence Structure,
Punctuation, and Word Choice (20%)
See the assessment sheet on Blackboard for further details on these.
– Use 12 point Times new Roman font for the normal text.
– Slightly larger font size for Headings.
– Line spacing should be 1.5.
– Include page numbers and section numbers.
– Margins should be “Normal” i.e. 2.54cm all round.
– Please have a title page with at least the proposal title, your name, student
number and word count clearly visible.
An exceptional research proposal will contain:
• An interesting, focused introduction that captures the reader’s attention,
clearly identifies the topic within the context of current literature, and
concludes with either a hypothesis or a research question that provides a
strong guiding principle for the rest of the proposal
• Clear articulation of topic; a move toward sophistication and complexity
of approach which narrows a broad topic to a manageable scope
• Strong transitions between sentences and ideas, producing prose that is
fluid, with clear and logical structure, producing an overall sense of
coherence in the proposal
• Use of clear, concrete language to develop ideas; attention to detail
• Strong sense of audience, including an understanding of the readers’
values, assumptions, expectations, and level of expertise in the topic
under discussion
• Strong control of style, language, word choice, diction, syntax, sentence
structure, and consistent and authoritative voice in writing
• Effective use of source material (textual and visual as appropriate), which
is integrated into the author’s prose and argument, and is properly
documented using the Harvard citation format
• Attention to strategic and powerful document design
• Well-developed sections, creating a strong underlying structure for the
proposal: an introduction; research methods; timeline; preliminary
literature review
• A research method section that includes specific examples of texts,
methodologies, and search strategies, with rationales for the use of that
particular research plan
• A timeline that integrates attention to class deadlines for the research
project with the student’s individual research practices and
academic/extracurricular commitments
• At least 1,200 words of concise, clear and powerful writing
Rewrite it according to the sample template attached
