Provide A Brief Account Of Professional Practice Experiences: Masters In Leadership In Early Years Education And Care Thesis Proposal, ITC, Ireland

Rationale

Provide a brief account of professional practice experiences and/or reading which led to an interest in this topic.  Why is this topic currently significant?  For example, if looking at the area of outdoor play the importance of children being physically active for at least one hour per day is currently a topic of concern and debate following the publication of guidelines from the Department of Health and Human Services (2019).

Literature

Provide a short summary of the key literature to contextualize the study (this literature will be fully covered in your literature review in chapter two).  Identify the contribution this study will make to the existing literature on this topic.

Research question

What is your overarching research question?  (A research question ends with a ?).

Paradigms and philosophies

Explain and justify the paradigmatic positioning of your study.  (One of the external examiners last year specifically mentioned the need to address paradigms in MA theses).

Research approach

What research approach will you take to answer your research question and why did you choose this approach?  Reference accordingly from research methods books.

 Research method(s)

What research method(s) will you use and why was this method best suited to your research question?  What other methods were considered and discounted.  Reference accordingly from research methods books.

 Sampling

Identify and justify your chosen sampling strategy and selected participants.  Reference accordingly from research methods books.  Who will be your participants?  Why have they been chosen?  How will they be recruited?

Researcher positioning and reflexivity

What is your positioning as the researcher in this study?

Summarise the advantages and disadvantages of your positioning and the action will you take to minimize bias.  Reference accordingly from research methods books.

 Ethics

What code of ethics will be followed and what ethical issues were considered and addressed? This section should demonstrate knowledge and understanding of key ethical principles and issues in relation to social research, their relevance/importance for your research, and how they will be addressed.  What ethical procedures, e.g. participant information sheet and consent form, will you use to ensure the research adheres to clear ethical guidelines and principles?