MPhil in Politics at Oxford - Research Proposal?

[JohannaKap]

Hi there!

I am currently applying to the MPhil in Political Theory at Oxford and have come across difficulties writing my personal statement. I am not sure if I am having troubles understanding what exactly is needed from me because I am foreign to UK universities (as well as grad school haha), so I am hoping someone can help me figure this out: The "How to Apply" Section on the website describes what to include in the personal statement, and mentions that I should "give an indication of the area of my proposed research project", but I am really uncertain as to what that actually means. In the second year of the MPhil I would have to write a thesis for which the website provides options that earlier years had, would this be the research project alluded to earlier? Does that mean I should already know what I would want to write about, without even knowing which areas might be offered next year? It also seems that they would like me to be very specific about "the extent of your research question, sources and method". Do you think this is a decisive part of the application? I realize I should have finished this much earlier, but my current schedule did not allow me to put much time aside before the holidays, and I did not realize the extent of the specificity required from me at this point.

I would be super grateful for any insight on how to understand this part of the personal statement!

Cheers,
Johanna