What should your PhD proposal contain?
 

It is best to structure your proposal as follows:
A working title – Your title should give a clear indication of the  intent of your project, directing attention explicitly to the central  issue that you will address.
Overview of the research – In this section you should provide a short  overview of your research: the key issue(s) that you wish to  investigate, and why these are important. You should state why you have  chosen to apply to our Division at the University of Southampton. If you  want to, you can refer to the research areas and priorities of a  particular research grouping or supervisor.
Ground your research in existing literature – It is unlikely that you  can review all the relevant literature at this stage, but you should be  able to reflect some major debates and issues and to show your  familiarity with some of the main works addressing the research issue  that you are proposing. In this part of the proposal, you should  reference the most important texts related to the research, demonstrate  your understanding of the research issues, and identify existing gaps  (both theoretical and practical) that your research is intended to  address. A PhD is an original piece of research, so you should  demonstrate that your proposed topic has not been studied before, or  that you are taking a new perspective on an issue.
Research design, methodology and timescale – This section should  identify the information or data that you will need in order to address  the central issue of your research, how you are going to access the  material and the possible research methods or techniques that you will  use. You should also include some reflection on potential problems that  you may face in the research process (access to interviews, primary  material etc).
Timescale – Provide a realistic time plan for completing your research  degree study in, three years full-time or six years part-time for a PhD.
Indicative list of references and sources – Here you should list the  main published literature that you envisage using to guide your research  (with reference to the theoretical framework and the substance of the  research), as well any available data sources you may draw on.
The keys to writing a strong research proposal are to:
clearly state and explain your research idea. This may take the form of a  hypothesis or you may identify a more open-ended question or issue
establish the relevance and value of the proposed research question in the context of current academic thinking
describe and evaluate the data or source material you need for your research
outline a clear and practical methodology which enables you to address your research topic and to answer your research questions
suggest what you sort of impact your research might have, and what new areas your work might open up
demonstrate that your research will not take longer than three years full-time or six years part-time  
explain why you are qualified and capable of conducting the proposed research, and finally
do the above in a concise, unambiguous and grammatical manner.