Hello!

I'm applying (somewhat last minute) for places on Sociology MA and PhD programmes at York and Manchester, and need to write research proposals for each.

So far I have plenty in the way of ideas, and my research questions are getting there, and literature is coming together slowly but (sort of) surely.

I have no idea about methods though.

I know this needs to be a particularly robust part of my application, so I'm freaking out a fair bit. But it's been 2 years since I finished undergrad so I can't go into my Sociology department there and discuss this with them.

I want to do something using mixed methods, studying online communities and blog posts that connect fandom with political participation. I'm hoping to analyse the content and trajectory particularly popular/effective posts, as well as speak to members of these communities - perhaps initially through surveys circulated online, and then through more in depth interviews with - who?

What methods should I be looking at? How do I decide which posts to analyse and how should I analyse them? What kinds of surveys could I use? What about interviews - how should I be sampling in a project like this? What implications might I be missing? How many methods can I feasibly put into a proposal before it's too much?

Any reading direction, thoughts, or suggestions anyone can give would be vastly appreciated!