history research proposal template

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Preparing a History PhD proposal

The carefully thought-out and detailed research proposal to be submitted with the formal application is the product of a sometimes prolonged negotiation with your potential supervisor. The supervisor may be enthusiastic about your project or might advise you to consider a different subject or change your angle on it; they may query aspects of your plan such as its breadth, the availability of primary sources or the extent to which you are familiar with the secondary literature. You may be asked to demonstrate the originality of your research question or be advised to consider applying to another institution which may have more appropriate expertise. During this process you will likely be asked to submit a specimen of written-up historical research, such as your Masters or BA dissertation. The sooner you start developing the structure that is expected in a research proposal, the more productive your exchanges with your potential supervisor will be.

You may find different advice for writing a research proposal across different OU webpages. Given that a research proposal can vary significantly across different disciplines, when applying to the History Department you should follow the guidance provided here.

The research proposal you submit in January should be approximately 1000 words, plus a bibliography, and should contain the following:

A title, possibly with a subtitle

The title should not take the form of a question and it may run to a dozen words or more. Like the title of a book, it should clearly convey the topic you propose to work on. A subtitle may explain the chronological or geographical focus of your work, or the methodological approach you will take. Choosing a title is a good way for focusing on the topic you want to investigate and the approach you want to take.

These are examples of poor titles and topics to research:

Captain Cook’s Third Voyage
Women in eighteenth-century England

These would be poor topics to research because they lack a strong question and it is not clear which approach they take to their already well-researched subjects. They are generic or merely descriptive.

Examples of good research topics

Constructing the Eternal City: visual representations of Rome, 1500-1700
Rearing citizens for the state: manuals for parents in France, 1900-1950

These projects combine a sharp chronological and geographical focus with a clear indication of how the sources will be analysed to respond to a precise question. In the first case, for example, the premise is that visual representations are critical in the making of a city’s eminence. This indicates the type of sources that will be analysed (paintings, engravings and other visual sources). The chronology is particularly well chosen because in these two centuries Rome turned from being the capital of the Catholic world to becoming the much sought-after destination of the Grand Tour; interesting questions of change and continuity come into focus.

Brief summary of your argument

An acceptable PhD thesis must have a central argument, a 'thesis'. You need to have something to argue for or against, a point to prove or disprove, a question to answer. What goes into this section of the proposal is a statement of your question and the answer you plan to give, even if, for now, it remains a hypothesis.

Why this subject is important

We expect originality in a thesis and so under this rubric we expect you to explain why the knowledge you seek on the subject you propose to work on is important for its period and place, or for historians’ views on its period and place. Finding some early-modern English laundry lists would not suffice on its own to justify writing a PhD thesis about them. But those laundry lists could be important evidence for a thesis about the spread of the Great Plague in London, for example.

Framing your research

Your proposal has to show awareness of other scholarly writing on the subject. This section positions your approach to the subject in relation to approaches in some of those works, summarising how far you think it differs. For instance, you could challenge existing interpretations of the end the Cold War, or you might want to support one historian or another; you could open up a neglected aspect of the debate - say by considering the role of an overlooked group or national government - and perhaps kick-start a debate of your own. All this is to show that you have read into your subject and familiarised yourself with its contours. We don’t expect you to have done all your research at the start, but it is essential for you to show familiarity with the key texts and main authors in your chosen field.

What sources might you need to consult in libraries and archives?

Here you should describe or at least list the primary materials you are likely to use in researching your thesis. This demonstrates your confidence that enough relevant sources exist to support a sustained scholarly argument. Many archival catalogues are available online and can be searched remotely, including The National Archives, the National Archives of Scotland, the National Archives (Ireland), the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and Archives Wales. You can search the London-based Historical Manuscripts Commission and the National Register of Archives, both of which provide access to local county record offices. Databases such as ‘Eighteenth Century Collections Online’ and the British Library’s ‘British Newspapers Online 1600-1900’ will help you identify and locate relevant sources.

What skills are required to work on the sources you plan to use?

You need to show that you have the linguistic competence to pursue your research. With few exceptions, original sources must be read in the original languages; if the principal historical literature is not in English, you must be able to read it too. Palaeographic problems aren’t confined to ancient writing. You might have to tackle early modern or other scripts that are hard to decipher. Even with fluent German, an applicant baffled by the Gothic script and typeface would flounder without undertaking ancillary study. Training is available at The Open University, or in some circumstances you can be funded to undertake training elsewhere, and you should demonstrate awareness of the skills that you need to acquire.

Do you have the technical competence to handle any data-analysis your thesis may require?

Databases, statistical evidence and spreadsheets are used increasingly by historians in certain fields. If your research involves, say, demographic or economic data, you will need to consider whether you have the necessary IT and statistical skills and, if not, how you will acquire them.

How will you arrange access to the libraries and archives where you need to work?

Although primary sources are increasingly available in digitised form, you should consider that important sources may be closed or in private hands. To consult them may require some travelling and so you should be realistic as to what you will be able to do, particularly if you are applying to study part-time as not all archives are open out of regular office hours.

A bibliography

This should come at the end and include a list of the primary sources you plan to use and the relevant secondary literature on the subject. While you should show that you are on top of recent work (and of important older studies) on the topic, there is no point in having a long list of works only marginally related to your subject. As always, specificity is the best policy.

Please follow this link to see an example of a successful research proposal [PDF].

All this may seem daunting, as if the department is asking you to write a thesis before you apply. But that is not our intention; the advice is to help you perform the necessary spadework before entering the formal application process. Working up a proposal under the headings suggested above will, if your application is successful, save you and your supervisor(s) much time if and when the real work begins.

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Effective Proposal-Writing Style (for History students)

Contributed by B. Zakarin, Office of Fellowships, [email protected] Posted: 2010 Originally written for History students writing proposals for a senior honors thesis, but applicable to all proposal writing

printable file (Word)

Personal pronouns

Writers use first person (“I,” “my”) when discussing their own interests and plans. This is appropriate in a research proposal because you will be admitted to the Senior Thesis Program and/or awarded a summer grant.

Well-organized paragraphs and headings

For the most part, writers use topic sentences to signal a paragraph’s key point. That point often corresponds to a required element, such as “what I want to learn,” “what scholars have previously studied,” or “where I plan to find sources.” Writers then add details that explain the topic sentence or argue the point it makes. Also, paragraphs should not be overly long.

In addition to well-organized paragraphs, writers sometimes use headings to identify key sections. Such organization is helpful because readers often skim the beginnings of sections and paragraphs to find a proposal’s main argument before they go back for details. Headings and topic sentences highlight a proposal’s structure.

Action-Oriented sentences

A preponderance of sentences should use active voice. In other words, sentences emphasize who (or what) performs the action:

My project will use…
The current literature does not show…
I contend…
I have prepared for this work by…
To answer these questions, I will analyze…
This project will allow me to…
This study focuses on…
Bibliographies mention…
I need to visit…

Active voice makes sentences shorter and clearer and makes writers sound confident. Use passive voice when you have a legitimate reason for doing so, such as when the actor is not important or when passive voice promotes coherence. Consider these examples from the model proposals:

“Several Connecticut newspapers circulated in Windham were known for their extreme zealotry.” It is not necessary for Alex Jarrell to say that the public knew these newspapers for their zealotry.
“In the 18 th century, prostitutes were increasingly considered to be outside the sphere of womanhood. In the late 1760s, 2069 women were arrested.” Who “considered” or “arrested” the women is obvious and unimportant for Arianne Urus’s purposes.
“Elisabeth Julie Lacroix, for example, was a 49-year-old woman arrested in 1778, who had been abandoned by her husband, out of work four to five days, and without food for one day. Her story is replicated countless times…” Arianne’s use of the passive voice allows her to keep the focus on Elisabeth’s story.

Active or passive voice is only an issue with action (transitive) verbs, which have objects. Some sentences simply use state-of-being (intransitive) verbs, such as “is” or “was”:

“The New London Gazette is available at the Northwestern Library on microfilm.” ( Alex )
“Martin Luther King’s status in the community was under fire.” ( Casey Kuklick )

These intransitive verbs are often necessary, but in a well-written proposal, active verbs in the active voice will dominate.

Conciseness

Good proposal writers explain their ideas as succinctly as possible. Most writers start with a proposal that is a little too long. Then they solicit help from advisors and peer reviewers to trim the fat. Along with unnecessary background information, you should be vigilant about clunky phrases and excessive qualifying words. The following strategies for revision will help.

Change passive to active voice (see above)
Wordy: “It is these three facts that call Jones’s theory into question.” Concise: “These three facts call Jones’s theory into question.”
Wordy: “There were numerous laws in the 1890s that led to the arrests.” Concise: “Numerous laws in the 1890s led to the arrests.”
Wordy: “It is my contention in this proposal that…” Concise: “In this proposal, I contend that…”
Wordy: “It is the belief of most scholars that…” Concise: “Most scholars believe that…”
Wordy: “This project focuses on the analysis of…” Concise: “This project will analyze…”
Wordy: “Identification and evaluation of the first problem are necessary for resolution of the second.” Concise: “We must identify and evaluate the first problem before we can resolve the second.”
Wordy: “Most critics are in agreement with this assessment.” Concise: “Most critics agree with this assessment.”
Wordy: “at this point in time” Concise: “now”
Wordy: “due to the fact that” Concise: “because”
Wordy: “at a later time” Concise: “later” or “next” or “then”
Wordy: “for the purpose of” (as in “for the purpose of determining”) Concise: “for” or “to” (as in “for determining” or “to determine”)
Wordy: “a majority of” Concise: “most”

Effective use of transitions

Transitional words and phrases show how sentences and ideas are related to each other. Used correctly, they make it easier for readers to follow your argument. The following transitions at or near the beginnings of sentences will make your logic come through clearly and coherently to readers.

To show results —“therefore,” “as a result,” “consequently,” “thus,” “hence.”
To show addition —“moreover,” “furthermore,” “also,” “too,” “besides,” “in addition.”
To show similarity —“likewise,” “also,” “similarly.”
To show contrast —“however,” “but,” “yet,” “still,” “conversely,” “nevertheless,” “on the other hand” (if you have used “on the one hand” previously).
To show examples —“for example,” “for instance,” “specifically,” “as an illustration.”
To show sequence or tim e—“first,” “second,” “third”; “previously,” “now,” “finally,” “later”; “next,” “then.”
To show spatial relations —“on the east,” “on the west”; “left,” “right”; “close up,” “far away.”

Repetition and parallelism

As the model proposals show, it is often effective to repeat key terms and phrases: “I will pursue research in three areas…; I will travel to X in July in order to…; I will then go to Y so that I can…“ The repetition in these sentences helps readers focus on the student’s proposed actions.

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Examples of research proposals

How to write your research proposal, with examples of good proposals.

Research proposals

Your research proposal is a key part of your application. It tells us about the question you want to answer through your research. It is a chance for you to show your knowledge of the subject area and tell us about the methods you want to use.

We use your research proposal to match you with a supervisor or team of supervisors.

In your proposal, please tell us if you have an interest in the work of a specific academic at York St John. You can get in touch with this academic to discuss your proposal. You can also speak to one of our Research Leads. There is a list of our Research Leads on the Apply page.

When you write your proposal you need to:

Highlight how it is original or significant
Explain how it will develop or challenge current knowledge of your subject
Identify the importance of your research
Show why you are the right person to do this research
Research Proposal Example 1 (DOC, 49kB)
Research Proposal Example 2 (DOC, 0.9MB)
Research Proposal Example 3 (DOC, 55.5kB)
Research Proposal Example 4 (DOC, 49.5kB)

Subject specific guidance

Writing a Humanities PhD Proposal (PDF, 0.1MB)
Writing a Creative Writing PhD Proposal (PDF, 0.1MB)
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