Assignment is to write a Research Project Plan Title: The Damages of Armed Conflict on Africa’s most populous Nation Nigeria, its impact and why it should not be ignored. Guidelines 5000 words/ Harvard Referencing • The report should first outline a clear research question which is valid and worth answering. You should explain in detail why you set the particular question and why it is important. • The report should also draw out the contour of a research design which would be feasible in both theory and practice. • You need to clearly identify the approach (qualitative vs. quantitative) and method(s) (QCA, interviewing, ethnography, archive etc.) • you plan to deploy for solving your research question, and more importantly, • You need to justify why your choice of methods and approach is legitimate. • You are also required to briefly describe how you may operationalize your research design. Last but not least, you should reflect upon potential ethical issues and how you intend to address them • Your research plan should be properly annotated. A. Introduction, Aims and Objectives, Review Question Your main thesis or research question: explain in one paragraph what you will be exploring and what you will try to establish. This should be interesting, and new, for someone who already has a good knowledge of your topic B. Significance of the research (theoretical methodologies) The significance (originality/relevance) of your project: give your assessment of the existing literature on your topic and explain in what ways your own research will enrich that literature. In other words, state how you hope to advance knowledge in your chosen discipline/field. What theoretical view will inform your research: explain how you locate yourself in the theoretical field –both the field of social theory in general and the specific field to which your topic pertains – and what set of conceptual tools and investigation methodologies will inform your research. This is a very important part of your proposal. C. Data Analysis /Evaluation (1) How you will develop your thesis: explain how you will apply your theoretical and methodological approach to the development of your main thesis (summarized in point A), i.e. the main sections of the thesis that you envisage to write and the stages of your investigation: a. the theoretical investigation; what literature you plan to survey and discuss. b. the empirical investigation and your plans for fieldwork (if applicable); what research method you intend to use and how you will use it concretely (depending on your kind of research: archival and data resources, interviews, polls, case studies, etc.); what kind of evidence you will seek to substantiate the principal argument of your thesis.
