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How to Write a Dissertation Proposal | A Step-by-Step Guide

Published on 14 February 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on 11 November 2022.

A dissertation proposal describes the research you want to do: what it’s about, how you’ll conduct it, and why it’s worthwhile. You will probably have to write a proposal before starting your dissertation as an undergraduate or postgraduate student.

A dissertation proposal should generally include:

• An introduction to your topic and aims
• A literature review  of the current state of knowledge
• An outline of your proposed methodology
• A discussion of the possible implications of the research
• A bibliography  of relevant sources

Dissertation proposals vary a lot in terms of length and structure, so make sure to follow any guidelines given to you by your institution, and check with your supervisor when you’re unsure.

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Table of contents

Step 1: coming up with an idea, step 2: presenting your idea in the introduction, step 3: exploring related research in the literature review, step 4: describing your methodology, step 5: outlining the potential implications of your research, step 6: creating a reference list or bibliography.

Before writing your proposal, it’s important to come up with a strong idea for your dissertation.

Find an area of your field that interests you and do some preliminary reading in that area. What are the key concerns of other researchers? What do they suggest as areas for further research, and what strikes you personally as an interesting gap in the field?

Once you have an idea, consider how to narrow it down and the best way to frame it. Don’t be too ambitious or too vague – a dissertation topic needs to be specific enough to be feasible. Move from a broad field of interest to a specific niche:

• Russian literature 19th century Russian literature The novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky
• Social media Mental health effects of social media Influence of social media on young adults suffering from anxiety

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Like most academic texts, a dissertation proposal begins with an introduction . This is where you introduce the topic of your research, provide some background, and most importantly, present your aim , objectives and research question(s) .

Try to dive straight into your chosen topic: What’s at stake in your research? Why is it interesting? Don’t spend too long on generalisations or grand statements:

• Social media is the most important technological trend of the 21st century. It has changed the world and influences our lives every day.
• Psychologists generally agree that the ubiquity of social media in the lives of young adults today has a profound impact on their mental health. However, the exact nature of this impact needs further investigation.

Once your area of research is clear, you can present more background and context. What does the reader need to know to understand your proposed questions? What’s the current state of research on this topic, and what will your dissertation contribute to the field?

If you’re including a literature review, you don’t need to go into too much detail at this point, but give the reader a general sense of the debates that you’re intervening in.

This leads you into the most important part of the introduction: your aim, objectives and research question(s) . These should be clearly identifiable and stand out from the text – for example, you could present them using bullet points or bold font.

Make sure that your research questions are specific and workable – something you can reasonably answer within the scope of your dissertation. Avoid being too broad or having too many different questions. Remember that your goal in a dissertation proposal is to convince the reader that your research is valuable and feasible:

• Does social media harm mental health?
• What is the impact of daily social media use on 18– to 25–year–olds suffering from general anxiety disorder?

Now that your topic is clear, it’s time to explore existing research covering similar ideas. This is important because it shows you what is missing from other research in the field and ensures that you’re not asking a question someone else has already answered.

You’ve probably already done some preliminary reading, but now that your topic is more clearly defined, you need to thoroughly analyse and evaluate the most relevant sources in your literature review .

Here you should summarise the findings of other researchers and comment on gaps and problems in their studies. There may be a lot of research to cover, so make effective use of paraphrasing to write concisely:

• Smith and Prakash state that ‘our results indicate a 25% decrease in the incidence of mechanical failure after the new formula was applied’.
• Smith and Prakash’s formula reduced mechanical failures by 25%.

The point is to identify findings and theories that will influence your own research, but also to highlight gaps and limitations in previous research which your dissertation can address:

• Subsequent research has failed to replicate this result, however, suggesting a flaw in Smith and Prakash’s methods. It is likely that the failure resulted from…

Next, you’ll describe your proposed methodology : the specific things you hope to do, the structure of your research and the methods that you will use to gather and analyse data.

You should get quite specific in this section – you need to convince your supervisor that you’ve thought through your approach to the research and can realistically carry it out. This section will look quite different, and vary in length, depending on your field of study.

You may be engaged in more empirical research, focusing on data collection and discovering new information, or more theoretical research, attempting to develop a new conceptual model or add nuance to an existing one.

Dissertation research often involves both, but the content of your methodology section will vary according to how important each approach is to your dissertation.

Empirical research

Empirical research involves collecting new data and analysing it in order to answer your research questions. It can be quantitative (focused on numbers), qualitative (focused on words and meanings), or a combination of both.

With empirical research, it’s important to describe in detail how you plan to collect your data:

• Will you use surveys ? A lab experiment ? Interviews?
• What variables will you measure?
• How will you select a representative sample ?
• If other people will participate in your research, what measures will you take to ensure they are treated ethically?
• What tools (conceptual and physical) will you use, and why?

It’s appropriate to cite other research here. When you need to justify your choice of a particular research method or tool, for example, you can cite a text describing the advantages and appropriate usage of that method.

Don’t overdo this, though; you don’t need to reiterate the whole theoretical literature, just what’s relevant to the choices you have made.

Moreover, your research will necessarily involve analysing the data after you have collected it. Though you don’t know yet what the data will look like, it’s important to know what you’re looking for and indicate what methods (e.g. statistical tests , thematic analysis ) you will use.

Theoretical research

You can also do theoretical research that doesn’t involve original data collection. In this case, your methodology section will focus more on the theory you plan to work with in your dissertation: relevant conceptual models and the approach you intend to take.

For example, a literary analysis dissertation rarely involves collecting new data, but it’s still necessary to explain the theoretical approach that will be taken to the text(s) under discussion, as well as which parts of the text(s) you will focus on:

• This dissertation will utilise Foucault’s theory of panopticism to explore the theme of surveillance in Orwell’s 1984 and Kafka’s The Trial…

Here, you may refer to the same theorists you have already discussed in the literature review. In this case, the emphasis is placed on how you plan to use their contributions in your own research.

You’ll usually conclude your dissertation proposal with a section discussing what you expect your research to achieve.

You obviously can’t be too sure: you don’t know yet what your results and conclusions will be. Instead, you should describe the projected implications and contribution to knowledge of your dissertation.

First, consider the potential implications of your research. Will you:

• Develop or test a theory?
• Provide new information to governments or businesses?
• Challenge a commonly held belief?
• Suggest an improvement to a specific process?

Describe the intended result of your research and the theoretical or practical impact it will have:

Finally, it’s sensible to conclude by briefly restating the contribution to knowledge you hope to make: the specific question(s) you hope to answer and the gap the answer(s) will fill in existing knowledge:

Like any academic text, it’s important that your dissertation proposal effectively references all the sources you have used. You need to include a properly formatted reference list or bibliography at the end of your proposal.

Different institutions recommend different styles of referencing – commonly used styles include Harvard , Vancouver , APA , or MHRA . If your department does not have specific requirements, choose a style and apply it consistently.

A reference list includes only the sources that you cited in your proposal. A bibliography is slightly different: it can include every source you consulted in preparing the proposal, even if you didn’t mention it in the text. In the case of a dissertation proposal, a bibliography may also list relevant sources that you haven’t yet read, but that you intend to use during the research itself.

Check with your supervisor what type of bibliography or reference list you should include.

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Writing a dissertation proposal.

What is a dissertation proposal?

Dissertation proposals are like the table of contents for your research project , and will help you explain what it is you intend to examine, and roughly, how you intend to go about collecting and analysing your data. You won’t be required to have everything planned out exactly, as your topic may change slightly in the course of your research, but for the most part, writing your proposal should help you better identify the direction for your dissertation.

When you’ve chosen a topic for your dissertation , you’ll need to make sure that it is both appropriate to your field of study and narrow enough to be completed by the end of your course. Your dissertation proposal will help you define and determine both of these things and will also allow your department and instructors to make sure that you are being advised by the best person to help you complete your research.

A dissertation proposal should include:

• An introduction to your dissertation topic
• Aims and objectives of your dissertation
• A literature review of the current research undertaken in your field
• Proposed methodology to be used
• Implications of your research
• Limitations of your research
• Bibliography 

Although this content all needs to be included in your dissertation proposal, the content isn’t set in stone so it can be changed later if necessary, depending on your topic of study, university or degree. Think of your dissertation proposal as more of a guide to writing your dissertation rather than something to be strictly adhered to – this will be discussed later. 

Why is a dissertation proposal important?

A dissertation proposal is very important because it helps shape the actual dissertation, which is arguably the most important piece of writing a postgraduate student will undertake. By having a well-structured dissertation proposal, you will have a strong foundation for your dissertation and a good template to follow. The dissertation itself is key to postgraduate success as it will contribute to your overall grade . Writing your dissertation will also help you to develop research and communication skills, which could become invaluable in your employment success and future career. By making sure you’re fully briefed on the current research available in your chosen dissertation topic, as well as keeping details of your bibliography up to date, you will be in a great position to write an excellent dissertation.

Next, we’ll be outlining things you can do to help you produce the best postgraduate dissertation proposal possible.

How to begin your dissertation proposal

1. Narrow the topic down  

It’s important that when you sit down to draft your proposal, you’ve carefully thought out your topic and are able to narrow it down enough to present a clear and succinct understanding of what you aim to do and hope to accomplish in your dissertation.

How do I decide on a dissertation topic?

A simple way to begin choosing a topic for your dissertation is to go back through your assignments and lectures. Was there a topic that stood out to you? Was there an idea that wasn’t fully explored? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, then you have a great starting point! If not, then consider one of your more personal interests. Use Google Scholar to explore studies and journals on your topic to find any areas that could go into more detail or explore a more niche topic within your personal interest. 

Keep track of all publications

It’s important to keep track of all the publications that you use while you research. You can use this in your literature review.

You need to keep track of:

• The title of the study/research paper/book/journal
• Who wrote/took part in the study/research paper
• Chapter title
• Page number(s)

The more research you do, the more you should be able to narrow down your topic and find an interesting area to focus on. You’ll also be able to write about everything you find in your literature review which will make your proposal stronger.

While doing your research, consider the following:

• When was your source published? Is the information outdated? Has new information come to light since?
• Can you determine if any of the methodologies could have been carried out more efficiently? Are there any errors or gaps?
• Are there any ethical concerns that should be considered in future studies on the same topic?
• Could anything external (for example new events happening) have influenced the research?

Read more about picking a topic for your dissertation . 

How long should the dissertation proposal be?

There is usually no set length for a dissertation proposal, but you should aim for 1,000 words or more. Your dissertation proposal will give an outline of the topic of your dissertation, some of the questions you hope to answer with your research, what sort of studies and type of data you aim to employ in your research, and the sort of analysis you will carry out.

Different courses may have different requirements for things like length and the specific information to include, as well as what structure is preferred, so be sure to check what special requirements your course has.  

2. What should I include in a dissertation proposal?

Your dissertation proposal should have several key aspects regardless of the structure. The introduction, the methodology, aims and objectives, the literature review, and the constraints of your research all need to be included to ensure that you provide your supervisor with a comprehensive proposal. But what are they? Here's a checklist to get you started.

• Introduction

The introduction will state your central research question and give background on the subject, as well as relating it contextually to any broader issues surrounding it. 

The dissertation proposal introduction should outline exactly what you intend to investigate in your final research project.

Make sure you outline the structure of the dissertation proposal in your introduction, i.e. part one covers methodology, part two covers a literature review, part three covers research limitations, and so forth.

Your introduction should also include the working title for your dissertation – although don't worry if you want to change this at a later stage as your supervisors will not expect this to be set in stone.

Dissertation methodology

The dissertation methodology will break down what sources you aim to use for your research and what sort of data you will collect from it, either quantitative or qualitative. You may also want to include how you will analyse the data you gather and what, if any, bias there may be in your chosen methods.

Depending on the level of detail that your specific course requires, you may also want to explain why your chosen approaches to gathering data are more appropriate to your research than others.

Consider and explain how you will conduct empirical research. For example, will you use interviews? Surveys? Observation? Lab experiments?

In your dissertation methodology, outline the variables that you will measure in your research and how you will select your data or participant sample to ensure valid results.

Finally, are there any specific tools that you will use for your methodology? If so, make sure you provide this information in the methodology section of your dissertation proposal.

• Aims and objectives

Your aim should not be too broad but should equally not be too specific.

An example of a dissertation aim could be: ‘To examine the key content features and social contexts that construct successful viral marketing content distribution on X’.

In comparison, an example of a dissertation aim that is perhaps too broad would be: ‘To investigate how things go viral on X’.

The aim of your dissertation proposal should relate directly to your research question.

• Literature review

The literature review will list the books and materials that you will be using to do your research. This is where you can list materials that gave you more background on your topic, or contain research carried out previously that you referred to in your own studies. 

The literature review is also a good place to demonstrate how your research connects to previous academic studies and how your methods may differ from or build upon those used by other researchers. While it’s important to give enough information about the materials to show that you have read and understood them, don’t forget to include your analysis of their value to your work.

Where there are shortfalls in other pieces of academic work, identify these and address how you will overcome these shortcomings in your own research.

Constraints and limitations of your research

Lastly, you will also need to include the constraints of your research. Many topics will have broad links to numerous larger and more complex issues, so by clearly stating the constraints of your research, you are displaying your understanding and acknowledgment of these larger issues, and the role they play by focusing your research on just one section or part of the subject.

In this section it is important to Include examples of possible limitations, for example, issues with sample size, participant drop out, lack of existing research on the topic, time constraints, and other factors that may affect your study.

• Ethical considerations

Confidentiality and ethical concerns are an important part of any research.

Ethics are key, as your dissertation will need to undergo ethical approval if you are working with participants. This means that it’s important to allow for and explain ethical considerations in your dissertation proposal.

Keep confidentiality in mind and keep your participants informed, so they are aware of how the data provided is being used and are assured that all personal information is being kept confidential.

Consider how involved your patients will be with your research, this will help you think about what ethical considerations to take and discuss them fully in your dissertation proposal. For example, face-to-face participant interview methods could require more ethical measures and confidentiality considerations than methods that do not require participants, such as corpus data (a collection of existing written texts) analysis. 

3. Dissertation proposal example

Once you know what sections you need or do not need to include, it may help focus your writing to break the proposal up into separate headings, and tackle each piece individually. You may also want to consider including a title. Writing a title for your proposal will help you make sure that your topic is narrow enough, as well as help keep your writing focused and on topic.

One example of a dissertation proposal structure is using the following headings, either broken up into sections or chapters depending on the required word count:

• Methodology
• Research constraints

In any dissertation proposal example, you’ll want to make it clear why you’re doing the research and what positives could come from your contribution. 

Dissertation proposal example table

This table outlines the various stages of your dissertation proposal.

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Proposal Overview and Format

Proposal committee, proposal hearing or meeting.

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Students are urged to begin thinking about a dissertation topic early in their degree program. Concentrated work on a dissertation proposal normally begins after successful completion of the Second-Year Review, which often includes a “mini” proposal, an extended literature review, or a theoretical essay, plus advancement to doctoral candidacy. In defining a dissertation topic, the student collaborates with their faculty advisor or dissertation advisor (if one is selected) in the choice of a topic for the dissertation.

The dissertation proposal is a comprehensive statement on the extent and nature of the student’s dissertation research interests. Students submit a draft of the proposal to their dissertation advisor between the end of the seventh and middle of the ninth quarters. The student must provide a written copy of the proposal to the faculty committee no later than two weeks prior to the date of the proposal hearing. Committee members could require an earlier deadline (e.g., four weeks before the hearing).

The major components of the proposal are as follows, with some variations across Areas and disciplines:

• A detailed statement of the problem that is to be studied and the context within which it is to be seen. This should include a justification of the importance of the problem on both theoretical and educational grounds.
• A thorough review of the literature pertinent to the research problem. This review should provide proof that the relevant literature in the field has been thoroughly researched. Good research is cumulative; it builds on the thoughts, findings, and mistakes of others.
• its general explanatory interest
• the overall theoretical framework within which this interest is to be pursued
• the model or hypotheses to be tested or the research questions to be answered
• a discussion of the conceptual and operational properties of the variables
• an overview of strategies for collecting appropriate evidence (sampling, instrumentation, data collection, data reduction, data analysis)
• a discussion of how the evidence is to be interpreted (This aspect of the proposal will be somewhat different in fields such as history and philosophy of education.)
• If applicable, students should complete a request for approval of research with human subjects, using the Human Subjects Review Form ( http://humansubjects.stanford.edu/ ). Except for pilot work, the University requires the approval of the Administrative Panel on Human Subjects in Behavioral Science Research before any data can be collected from human subjects.

Registration (i.e., enrollment) is required for any quarter during which a degree requirement is completed, including the dissertation proposal. Refer to the Registration or Enrollment for Milestone Completion section for more details.

As students progress through the program, their interests may change. There is no commitment on the part of the student’s advisor to automatically serve as the dissertation chair. Based on the student’s interests and the dissertation topic, many students approach other GSE professors to serve as the dissertation advisor, if appropriate.

A dissertation proposal committee is comprised of three academic council faculty members, one of whom will serve as the major dissertation advisor. Whether or not the student’s general program advisor serves on the dissertation proposal committee and later the reading committee will depend on the relevance of that faculty member’s expertise to the topic of the dissertation, and their availability. There is no requirement that a program advisor serve, although very often they do. Members of the dissertation proposal committee may be drawn from other area committees within the GSE, from other departments in the University, or from emeriti faculty. At least one person serving on the proposal committee must be from the student’s area committee (CTE, DAPS, SHIPS). All three members must be on the Academic Council; if the student desires the expertise of a non-Academic Council member, it may be possible to petition. After the hearing, a memorandum listing the changes to be made will be written and submitted with the signed proposal cover sheet and a copy of the proposal itself to the Doctoral Programs Officer.

Review and approval of the dissertation proposal occurs normally during the third year. The proposal hearing seeks to review the quality and feasibility of the proposal. The Second-Year Review and the Proposal Hearing are separate milestones and may not occur as part of the same hearing or meeting.

The student and the dissertation advisor are responsible for scheduling a formal meeting or hearing to review the proposal; the student and proposal committee convene for this evaluative period. Normally, all must be present at the meeting either in person or via conference phone call.

At the end of this meeting, the dissertation proposal committee members should sign the Cover Sheet for Dissertation Proposal and indicate their approval or rejection of the proposal. This signed form should be submitted to the Doctoral Programs Officer. If the student is required to make revisions, an addendum is required with the written approval of each member of the committee stating that the proposal has been revised to their satisfaction.

After submitting the Proposal Hearing material to the Doctoral Programs Officer, the student should make arrangements with three faculty members to serve on their Dissertation Reading Committee. The Doctoral Dissertation Reading Committee form should be completed and given to the Doctoral Programs Officer to enter in the University student records system. Note: The proposal hearing committee and the reading committee do not have to be the same three faculty members. Normally, the proposal hearing precedes the designation of a Dissertation Reading Committee, and faculty on either committee may differ (except for the primary dissertation advisor). However, some students may advance to Terminal Graduate Registration (TGR) status before completing their dissertation proposal hearing if they have established a dissertation reading committee. In these cases, it is acceptable for the student to form a reading committee prior to the dissertation proposal hearing. The reading committee then serves as the proposal committee.

The proposal and reading committee forms and related instructions are on the GSE website, under current students>forms.

Printing Credit for Use in GSE Labs

Upon completion of their doctoral dissertation proposal, GSE students are eligible for a $300 printing credit redeemable in any of the GSE computer labs where students are normally charged for print jobs. Only one $300 credit per student will be issued, but it is usable throughout the remainder of her or his doctoral program until the balance is exhausted. The print credit can be used only at the printers in Cubberley basement and CERAS, and cannot be used toward copying.

After submitting the signed dissertation proposal cover sheet to the Doctoral Programs Officer indicating approval (see above), students can submit a HELP SU ticket online at helpsu.stanford.edu to request the credit. When submitting the help ticket, the following should be selected from the drop-down menus for HELP SU:

Request Category :  Computer, Handhelds (PDAs), Printers, Servers Request Type :  Printer Operating System : (whatever system is used by the student, e.g., Windows XP.)

The help ticket will be routed to the GSE's IT Group for processing; they will in turn notify the student via email when the credit is available.

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How to Write a Dissertation Proposal with Structure & Steps

Published by Anastasia Lois at August 14th, 2021 , Revised On October 26, 2023

“A dissertation proposal is a stepping stone towards writing the final dissertation paper. It’s a unique document  that informs the reader of the aim & objectives of dissertation research and   its course of action.”

The main purpose of a proposal paper is to showcase to your supervisor or dissertation committee members that your dissertation research will add value to existing knowledge in your area of study.

Although the exact structure of a dissertation proposal may vary depending on your academic level, academic subject, and size of the paper, the contents remain pretty much the same.

However, it will still make sense to consult with your supervisor about the proposal formatting and structuring guidelines before working on your dissertation proposal paper.

You may lose out on scoring some important marks if your proposal paper does not follow your department’s specific rules. Here are some tips for you on how to structure a dissertation proposal paper.

Tips on Completing a Dissertation Proposal in Due Time

Consult your supervisor or department to find out how much time you have to  complete your dissertation proposal . Each graduate program is different, so you must adhere to the specific rules to avoid unwelcome surprises.

Depending on the degree program you are enrolled in, you may have to start working on your chosen topic  right away, or you might need to deal with some  assignments  and  exams  first.

You can learn about the rules and timelines concerning your dissertation project on the university’s online portal. If you are still unsure, it will be best to speak with your department’s admin clerk, the program head, or supervisor.

Look for Proposal Structural Requirements in the Guidelines

Most academic institutions will provide precise rules for structuring your dissertation proposal in terms of the document’s content and how to arrange it.  If you have not figured out these requirements, you must speak with your supervisor to find out what they recommend. Typical contents and structure of a dissertation proposal include the following;

• Statement of the Problem
• Background/Rationale
• Introduction (Justifying your Research)
• Research Questions or  Hypothesis  (Research aim and objectives)
• Literature Review
• Proposed Methodology
• Opportunities and Limitations

Project Schedule

Have an unhelpful dissertation project supervisor? Here is some advice to  help you deal with an uncompromising dissertation advisor.

How Long is a Dissertation Proposal?

The length of your dissertation proposal will depend on your degree program and your research topic. PhD-level dissertation proposals are much longer in terms of word count than Bachelors’s and Master’s level proposals.

• Bachelor’s level dissertation proposals are about 5-6 pages long.
• Masters and Ph.D. level proposals’ length varies from 15-25 pages depending on the academic subject and degree program’s specifications.
• If the word count or page length expectation is not mentioned in the dissertation handbook or the guidelines on the university’s website, you should check with your supervisor or program coordinator for a clear understanding of this particular requirement.

The proposals we write have:

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Dissertation Proposal Formatting

Formatting your dissertation proposal will also depend on your program’s specific guidelines and your research area. Find the exact guidelines for formatting cover sheets and title pages, referencing style, notes, bibliography, margin sizes, page numbers, and fonts. Again if you are unsure about anything, it is recommended to consult with your project advisor.

Find out About the Approval Criteria

The process of  writing your dissertation proposal paper  and getting acceptance from the committee of members of your supervisor is tricky.

Consult your department’s academic assistant, supervisor, or program chair to learn about all the process stages. Here are a couple of points you will need to be aware of:

• You might be required to have your chosen research topic approved by your academic supervisor or department chair.
• Submit your proposal and have it formally signed and approved so you can continue with your research.

You may find the dissertation proposal writing process perplexing and challenging if this is the first time you are preparing such a document. All the essential elements of a dissertation proposal paper need to be present before submitting it for approval.

Any feedback received from the tutor or the supervising committee should be taken very seriously and incorporated into your planning for dissertation research. Do not start working on your final dissertation paper until your supervisor has accepted the proposal.

To help you organise your dissertation proposal paper correctly, we have detailed guidelines for structuring a dissertation proposal. Irrespective of the degree program you are developing your dissertation proposal for, you will find these guidelines equally important.

Our expert academics can produce a flawless dissertation proposal on your chosen topic. They can also suggest free topics in your area of study if you haven’t selected a topic. Order free topics here or get a quote for our proposal writing service here.

Select a Topic

Selecting an  appropriate topic is the key to having your research work recognised in your field of study. Make sure your chosen topic is relevant, interesting, and manageable.

Ideally, you would want to research a topic that previous researchers have not explored so you can contribute to knowledge on the academic subject.

But even if your topic has been well-researched previously, you can make your study stand out by tweaking the  research design  and  research questions  to add a new dimension to your research.

How to Choose a Suitable Research Topic

Here are some guidelines on how to choose a suitable research topic.

List all the topics that you find interesting and relevant to your area of study. PhD and MaMasters’sevel students are already well aware of their academic interests.

Bachelor students can consider unanswered questions that emerged from their past academic assignments and drove them to conduct a detailed investigation to find answers.

Follow this process, and you’ll be able to choose the most appropriate topic for your research. Not only will this make your dissertation unique, but it also increases the chances of your proposal being accepted in the first attempt.

• Think about all your past academic achievements and associations, such as any research notes you might have written for your classes, any unsettled questions from your previous academic assignments that left you wondering, and the material you learned in classes taught by professors.
• For example , you learned about how natural gas is supplied to households in the UK in one of your coursework assignments and now eagerly wish to know exactly how natural gas is processed at an industrial scale.

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Conduct initial research on your chosen topic(s). This will include reading authentic text material on the topic(s) to familiarise yourself with each potential topic. Doing so will help you figure out whether there really is a need to investigate your selected topics further.

Visit your university’s library or online academic databases such as ProQuest, EBSCO, QuickBase to find articles, journals, books, peer-reviewed articles, and thesis/dissertation papers (by other students) written on your possible research topic .

Ignore all academic sources that you find methodologically flawed or obsolete.  Visit our online research topics library to choose a topic relevant to your interests .

Consult your academic supervisor and show them your list of potential topics. Their advice will be crucial for deciding whether the topic you are interested in is appropriate and meets your degree program requirements.

It is recommended to set up an appointment with your supervisor to see them in person to discuss your potential topics, even though you can do the same in email too.

• If the topics you are interested in are too broad or lack focus, your supervisor will be able to guide you towards academic sources that could help narrow down your research.
• Having several topics in your list of potential topics will mean that you will have something to fall back onto if they don’t approve your first choice.

Narrow the Focus of your Research  – Once a topic has been mutually agreed upon between you and your academic supervisor, it is time to narrow down the focus. Hence, your research explores an aspect of the topic that has not been investigated before.

Spend as much time as possible examining different aspects of the topic to establish a research aim that would truly add value to the existing knowledge.

• For example, you were initially interested in studying the different natural gas process techniques in the UK on an industrial scale. But you noticed that the existing literature doesn’t count for one advanced gas processing method that helps the industry save millions of pounds every year. Hence, you decide to make that the focus of your research.
• Your topic could be too broad as you start your research, but as you dig deep into your research, the topic will continue to narrow and evolve. TIP – It is better to work on a topic that is too broad rather than on something there is not enough text material to work with.

Structure of a Dissertation Proposal

The key elements of a great dissertation proposal are explained in detail under this section ‘structure of a dissertation proposal’. Once you’ve finalised your topic, you need to switch to writing your dissertation proposal paper quickly. As previously mentioned, your proposal paper’s exact structure may vary depending on your university/college requirements.

A good dissertation proposal  title  will give the reader an insight into the aim/idea of your study. Describe the purpose and/or contents of your dissertation proposal paper in the fewest possible words.

A concise and focused title will help you gain the attention of the readers. However, you might need to adjust your title several times as you write the paper because your comprehensive research might continue to add new dimensions to your study.

• Your title must be as categorical as possible. For example, instead of “Natural Gas Processing Techniques in the UK”, use a more specific title like “Investigating various industrial natural gas processing technologies employed in the UK” so the reader can understand exactly what your research is about.

Write a brief executive summary or an abstract of your proposal if you have been asked to do so in the structural guidelines. Generally, the  abstract  is included in the final dissertation paper with a length of around 300-400 words.

If you have to write an abstract for your proposal, here are the key points that it must cover;

• The background to your research.
• Research questions that you wish to address.
• Your proposed methods of research, which will either test the hypothesis or address the research problem.
• The significance of your research as to how it will add value to the scientific or academic community.

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Introduction

This is your first chance to make a strong impression on the reader. Not only your  introduction  section should be engaging, contextually, but it is also supposed to provide a background to the topic and explain the  thesis problem .

Here is what the first paragraph of the introduction section should include:

• Explain your research idea and present a clear understanding as to why you’ve chosen this topic.
• Present a summary of the scope of your research study, taking into account the existing literature.
• Briefly describe the issues and specific problems your research aims to address!

In the next paragraphs, summarise  the statement of the problem . Explain what gap in the existing knowledge your research will fill and how your work will prove significant in your area of study.

For example, the focus of your research could be the stage of carbon monoxide removal from natural gas. Still, other similar studies do not sufficiently explore this aspect of natural gas processing technology.

Here is a comprehensive article on “ How to Write Introduction for Dissertation Paper .”

Aim & Objectives

This is the  most critical section of the proposal paper . List the  research questions  or the research objectives your study will address. When writing this particular section, it will make sense to think of the following questions:

• Are there any specific findings that you are expecting?
• What aspects of the topic have you decided not to investigate and why?
• How will your research contribute to the existing knowledge in your field?

Literature Review

The  literature review section  is your chance to state the key established research trends,  hypotheses , and theories on the subject. Demonstrate to the reader that your research is a unique contribution to your field because it explores the topic from a new angle.

In a dissertation proposal, you won’t be expected to provide an extensive list of all previous research studies on the topic. Still, all the key theories reported by other scholars should be briefly referred to.

Take into consideration the following when writing the literature review section:

• The gaps identified in the previous research studies on the topic which your own research aims to fill. State the limitations of previous studies, whether lacking sufficient evidence, invalid, or too broad.
• The key established research trends, theories, and hypotheses as reported by other researchers.
• Any specific arguments and/or methodologies that previous scholars used when investigating your topic.

Our expert dissertation proposal editors can improve the quality of your proposal paper to the First Class standard. Complete this short and simple order form here so we can get feedback from our writers.

Methodology

A focused and well-defined methodology in a proposal paper can help you explain to your readers  how you plan to conduct your research  and why  your chosen research design  can provide reliable answers to your research questions.

The choice of research design and analytical approach will depend on several factors, including but not limited to your area of study and research constraints.

Depending on your topic and the existing literature, you will need to decide whether your dissertation will be purely descriptive or use primary (quantitative/qualitative data) as part of the research design.

Any research limitations and ethical issues that you expect to deal with should be clearly stated. For example, you might not be able to use a large sample size of respondents due to financial constraints. Small sample size can undermine your research significance.

How to Write a First Class Dissertation Proposal or Research Proposal.

“If you’re unable to pull off a first-class proposal, we’re here to help. We at ResearchProspect make sure that our writers prepare a flawless dissertation proposal for you. Our highly qualified team of writers will also help you choose a relevant topic for your subject area. Get in touch with us today, and let us take care of all your dissertation worries! Learn more about our dissertation proposal writing service.

Some Masters and PhD level degree programs require students to include a project timeline or timetable to give readers an idea of how and when they plan to complete different stages of the project.

Project timeline can be a great planning tool, mainly if your research includes experiments, statistical analysis , designing, and primary data collection. However, it may have to be modified slightly as you progress into your research.

By no means is it a fixed program for carrying out your work. When developing the project timeline in your proposal, always consider the time needed for practical aspects of the research, such as travelling, experiments, and fieldwork.

Referencing and In-Text Citations

Underrated, but referencing is one of the most crucial aspects of preparing a proposal. You can think of your proposal as the first impression of your dissertation.

You would want everything to be perfect and in place, wouldn’t you? Thus, always make sure that your dissertation consists of all the necessary elements.

You will have to cite information and data that you include in your dissertation. So make sure that the references that you include are credible and authentic.

You can use well-known academic journals, official websites, past researches, and concepts presented by renowned authors and writers in the respective field.

The same rule applies to in-text citations. Make sure that you cite references accurately  according to the required referencing style  as mentioned in the guidelines.

References should back statistics, facts, and figures at all times. It is highly recommended to back every 100-200 words written with at least one academic reference. The quantity of references does not matter; however, the quality does.

These are the basic elements of a dissertation proposal. Taking care of all these sections will help you when you are confused about structuring a dissertation proposal. In addition to these steps, look for different  dissertation proposal examples  on your research topic. A  sample dissertation proposal  paper can provide a clear understanding of how to go about the “pro”osal stage” of”the dissertation project.

“If you’re unable to pull off a first-class proposal, we’re here to help. We at ResearchProspect make sure that our writers prepare a flawless dissertation proposal for you. Our highly qualified team of writers will also help you choose a relevant topic for your subject area. Get in touch with us today, and let us take care of all your dissertation worries! Learn more about our dissertation proposal writing service .”

Frequently Asked Questions

What is dissertation proposal in research.

A dissertation proposal in research outlines the planned study. It includes research objectives, methods, scope, and significance. It’s a blueprint that demonstrates the feasibility and value of the research, helping gain approval before proceeding with the full dissertation.

How do you write a dissertation proposal?

A dissertation proposal outlines your research topic, objectives, methodology, and potential significance. Start with a clear title, state your research question, detail the methods you will use to answer it, and highlight the contribution it will make to the field. Ensure it is well-researched, concise, and compelling to gain approval.

How long is a dissertation proposal?

A dissertation proposal’s length varies by field and institution. Typically, it ranges from 10 to 20 pages, but can be longer for complex topics. It includes an introduction, research question, literature review, methodology, and potential significance. Always consult department guidelines or advisors to ensure appropriate length and content.

What are the types of dissertation proposals?

Dissertation proposal types largely depend on the research’s nature and methodology. Common types include empirical (collecting data from the real world), non-empirical (theory or literature-based), and narrative (case studies). Each type dictates a different approach to data collection, analysis, and presentation, tailored to the subject and field of study.

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How to write a hypothesis for dissertation,? A hypothesis is a statement that can be tested with the help of experimental or theoretical research.

This article is a step-by-step guide to how to write statement of a problem in research. The research problem will be half-solved by defining it correctly.

Struggling to find relevant and up-to-date topics for your dissertation? Here is all you need to know if unsure about how to choose dissertation topic.

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How To Write A Dissertation Proposal: Learn With Guides And Tips

Don’t know how to write a dissertation proposal? Don’t worry about it! In this blog post, you will learn everything there is to know about the dissertation proposal. We will show you what it is and why it is important to write one correctly. We will discuss the dissertation proposal format in great detail and show you a dissertation proposal outline that works great for most topics. In addition, you will get an example of dissertation proposal for free.

To help you write a great proposal, we have also included a step by step guide on how to write a proposal for dissertation. Finally, we have compiled a list of tips, tricks and advice that should help you do an even better job. Are you ready to start writing a dissertation proposal? Read on!

Table of Contents

What is a dissertation proposal, why is the dissertation proposal important, a simple dissertation proposal outline, how to write dissertation proposal: a step by step guide, tips, tricks and advice, a free dissertation proposal sample.

So, what is a dissertation proposal? Why is it important? Why would you want to write one? A dissertation proposal is a document that outlines the proposed research project that a student intends to undertake as part of their doctoral program. The purpose of the proposal is to convince the student’s academic committee that the proposed research is worthwhile, feasible and original. The proposal typically includes:

An introduction Literature review Research methodology Research aims and objectives Expected outcomes A timeline for completion

The proposal should also address any potential ethical considerations or limitations of the study, and should provide a justification for the significance of the research. Once the proposal is accepted, the student can begin working on their dissertation, which will be a more extensive and detailed version of the proposal.

Before we show you how to write a proposal for a dissertation, we want to make sure you understand just how important this paper is. A proposal is important because it:

Provides a framework for the research project. The proposal outlines the structure of the research project, including the research questions, methodology, and expected outcomes. Demonstrates the student’s readiness for the research. The proposal requires the student to undertake a rigorous review of the literature and develop a research plan. Helps to identify potential issues. The proposal provides an opportunity to identify any potential issues or limitations with the research project before it even begins. Facilitates feedback and discussion. The proposal is typically reviewed and critiqued by the student’s academic committee.

If you’re looking for an example proposal dissertation, you’re in luck. The thesis proposal format is not overly difficult, but you should definitely take a look at our outline to get a feel of how you should structure your paper:

I. Introduction Introduce the topic of the dissertation and provide background information. Write a clear research question or statement of the problem that the study aims to address. Explain the significance of your research and discuss the contribution it will make to the field of study. II. Literature Review Review and critically evaluate relevant literature in the field of study. Identify gaps or inconsistencies in the literature; gaps that the research project will address. Demonstrate how the proposed research fits into and advances the existing body of knowledge. III. Methodology Describe the research design and methodology that will be used to collect and analyze data. Justify the choice of methodology and explain how it aims to answer the research question. Address potential limitations and ethical considerations related to the methodology. IV. Research Aims and Objectives Clearly state the research aims and objectives that the study will address. Explain how these aims and objectives are linked to the research question and contribute to advancing the body of knowledge on the matter. V. Expected Outcomes Talk about the expected outcomes of your research. Explain how these outcomes will contribute to the existing body of knowledge and address the research question. VI. Timeline for Completion Provide a detailed timeline for completing the research project. Clearly present key milestones and deadlines, including the expected completion date for the dissertation. VII. Conclusion Summarize the main ideas in your proposal. Reinforce the significance of the research project. Indicate the potential implications of your findings.

If you want to learn how to write dissertation proposal quickly, the best way to do it is to follow a reliable step by step guide. The good news is that our experts have written one such guide for you. Here is exactly what you need to do to write dissertation proposal papers the right way:

Choose a topic. Start by choosing a topic that interests you and that is relevant to your field of study. The topic should be specific enough to allow you to conduct focused research and broad enough to allow for adequate exploration. Research existing literature. Conduct a review of all of the existing literature on the topic you’ve chosen. This will help you identify any gaps in knowledge that you can address in your research. Define your research questions. Based on the literature review, develop specific research questions that you will address in your dissertation. Your research questions should be clear and concise. Remember that you will need to answer these questions. Develop the research methodology. Choose a research methodology that is appropriate for your research questions. You can use qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods. Be sure to justify your choice of methodology so that the committee doesn’t ask for clarifications. Write the introduction. Start your proposal with an introduction that provides an overview of your research topic, research questions and methodology. You should include the thesis in the introduction. Write the literature review. Next, write a literature review that summarizes existing research on your topic. Identify any gaps in knowledge that you will address in your research. Present your methodology. Describe your research methodology in detail, including your data collection methods and data analysis techniques. Another researcher should be able to replicate your experiments and get the same results after reading your methodology. Define your expected results. Based on your research questions and methodology, define the expected results of your research. Be very specific about what you aim to demonstrate with your paper. Develop a timeline for writing a proposal for dissertation. Create a timeline that outlines the different stages of your research, from data collection to analysis and writing. Also, don’t forget to include the date on which you expect the paper to be completed. Write the conclusion. End your proposal with a conclusion that summarizes your research topic, research questions, methodology, and expected results. Show your readers why your research is important. Edit and proofread your work. Before submitting your proposal, be sure to edit and proofread it carefully to ensure that it is free of errors and presents your research clearly. You want your proposal to be perfect in every way.

It is usually a good idea to have your friends and family take a look at the proposal and give you some feedback. You’d be surprised by how many things can be improved this way. Even better, you could get in touch with our expert editors and proofreaders and have them revise your work. This is a sure way to ensure that your proposal is top notch.

Before we get to the dissertation proposal example, we want to share some effective tips, tricks and advice that will help you do a better job writing your paper:

Start early. Give yourself plenty of time to write your dissertation proposal. It’s a complex document that requires careful planning, research, and writing, so don’t leave it until the last minute. Get feedback. Before submitting your proposal, share it with your supervisor or another academic who can provide feedback. Be clear and concise. Use clear and concise language to communicate your research topic, questions and methodology. Provide context. Provide context for your research by explaining why it’s important and how it fits into existing research in your field. Justify your methodology. Be sure to explain why you have chosen a particular methodology and how it will help you answer your research questions. Be realistic. Make sure your proposed research is feasible given your time, resources and skills. Avoid proposing research that is too broad or ambitious, as this can make it difficult to complete your dissertation on time. Follow guidelines. Follow the guidelines provided by your university or department for formatting, length, and content. This will help you avoid unnecessary revisions and ensure that your proposal meets the requirements. Keep it organized. Use clear headings, subheadings and sections to organize your proposal. This will make it easier for your readers to follow your argument and find the information they need. Use citations. Use citations to acknowledge the work of other researchers and to support your own arguments. This will demonstrate that you have done your research and are aware of existing literature on your topic.

Are you looking for an excellent dissertation proposal template that you can follow? Our experts are here to help you with your school projects. We have written a great dissertation proposal sample that you can use for free. You can use this example to learn how PhD dissertation proposals are written, but you should avoid copying content from the sample because a plagiarism detector can flag your paper. If you need more than the following example of a dissertation proposal, get in touch with our experts:

Background of the Problem Employee performance is a significant concern of any organization because it determines business performance. According to Fachrunnisa, Adhiatma & Mutamimah (2014), employees achieve the desired level of performance when they are effectively engaged or involved in the management of the organization. However, the impact of organizational culture on both the engagement and performance of employees has not been measured distinctively using empirical evidence, as illustrated by Breevaart, Bakker, Demerouti & Derks (2016). Statement of the Problem Organizations provide their employees with requirements related to expected level of participation in work activities and performance. However, business leaders and managers often forget that they must create a supportive organizational culture that will inspire employee engagement and motivate performance. Purpose of the Study The purpose of the proposed investigation is to determine how organizational culture influences employee engagement and their performance at work. The study aims at providing business leaders and managers with evidence-based insights for establishing organizational cultures that inspire employee engagement and motivate performance. Research Objectives To assess the impact of organizational mission, vision and values on employee engagement in the service sector. To determine how organizational culture influences job performance in the service sector. To establish the relationship between the consistency of organizational culture and employee engagement and job performance in the service sector Research Questions To what extent do the mission, vision and values of organizations in the service sector influence employee engagement? How does organizational culture influence job performance in the service sector? How does the consistency of organizational culture shape employee engagement and job performance in the service sector? Significance of the Study The proposed study is significant to business management practice. It will specifically provide business leaders and managers with practical reasons for establishing supportive organizational cultures that are meant to improve the level of employee engagement and improve their performance at work. Methodology Research Design A descriptive research design will be applied in carrying out the proposed investigation. This design will allow for description of the characteristics of work environments under study in terms of working culture, employee engagement and motivation for performance. Descriptive studies are also useful in establishing relationships existing between research variables (Sekaran & Bougie, 2016). Study Population The population of the proposed study is composed of members of organizations within the service sector. This includes the business leaders, managers and employees of these organizations. Sampling Stratified sampling will be applied in selecting a representative sample from the study population to participate in the research process. The selected sampling technique is useful in categorizing members of a study population into homogenous subgroups, from which participants are randomly selected (Bryman & Bell, 2015). A sample of 120 participants, including business leaders, managers and employees of 10 organizations in the service sector will be selected and engaged in the research process. Data Collection Methods Self-administered questionnaires will be used to gather data for the study. Questionnaires are preferred because they are standardized, efficient and cost-effective data collection tools (Sekaran & Bougie, 2016). The questionnaires will have open and closed ended questions pertaining to the background information of participants, the culture of their organizations, employee engagement strategies and employee performance. Data Analysis Descriptive statistics will be applied in the analysis of research data. Through descriptive statistics, research data will be organized and interpreted in line with the relationship between organizational culture, employee engagement and performance.

Get Quick Help Writing A Dissertation Proposal

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All our writers have at least one PhD degree and they are all ENL native English speakers. We can write a proposal for any undergraduate or graduate student in any college or university. In addition, we can help high school, college and uni students with 100% original essays and research papers for any class.

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Find more interesting content related to thesis writing below:

• How To Write A Thesis Introduction Without Effort
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• Theoretical Framework: Research Writing Guide
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Below, you can find answers to the most frequently asked questions regarding the dissertation proposal:

Can I make changes to my dissertation proposal after it is approved?

It is possible to make changes to the dissertation proposal after it is approved, but any significant changes may require additional review.

How long should a dissertation proposal be?

The length of a dissertation proposal can vary depending on the requirements of the program. Most proposals are typically between 10 and 20 pages.

Who reviews the dissertation proposal?

The dissertation proposal is typically reviewed by the student’s academic committee.

How long does it take to write a dissertation proposal?

On average, it can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to write a good dissertation proposal. You need professional help if you are about to miss the deadline.

What if my dissertation proposal is not approved?

If the dissertation proposal is not approved, the student will need to revise and resubmit it for review. You can get editing help from an online dissertation writing service , so you have no reason to stress!

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Dissertation Prospectus and Proposal Writing

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General Information

The prospectus, or proposal, is the first step of your dissertation. It serves as a plan for your project, an identification of your research goals and method(s), and an articulation of the importance of your work. Alongside its preparation, you will also select members of your committee, who will provide you with important feedback. 

Beginning the document often marks a significant change of pace and approach for graduate students. The immensity of the task that is writing a dissertation can feel overwhelming, and can make the prospectus feel equally insurmountable. The prospectus, however, is meant to check precisely these moments. As a plan made in consultation with your committee, it is something to hold onto as you work through, and often get lost in, the details of your project. 

Different departments often have different expectations for the prospectus. These include the nature and importance of a literature review, of explaining your method, of discussing the limits of the pr o blem you identify, etc. While some of the advice we offer here is suitable for any graduate student, we also recognize these differences, and so, to aid as broad a range of students as possible, we have compiled a set of sample documents from a range of disciplines below.

• General Guidelines for Dissertation Prospectuses and Proposals

Sample Documents

• Anthropology (Cultural Track) Prospectus
• Art History Prospectus
• English Sample Prospectus
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• Last Updated: Jul 18, 2022 10:00 AM
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Writing a dissertation or thesis proposal, what is a proposal, what is the purpose of a proposal.

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The proposal, sometimes called the prospectus, is composed mainly of the Introduction, Research Questions, Literature Review, Research Significance and Methodology. It may also include a dissertation/thesis outline and a timeline for your proposed research. You will be able to reuse the proposal when you actually write the entire dissertation or thesis.

In the graduate student timeline, the proposal comes after successfully passing qualifying or comprehensive exams and before starting the research for a dissertation or thesis.

Each UNT department has slightly different proposal requirements, so be sure to check with your advisor or the department's graduate advisor before you start!

• Examples of Proposals from UTexas More than 20 completed dissertation proposals are available to read at the UT Intellectual Entrepreneurship website.
• Dissertation Proposal Guidelines This document from the Department of Communication at the University of Washington is a good example of what you might be expected to include in a proposal.

The purpose of a proposal is to convince your dissertation or thesis committee that you are ready to start your research project and to create a plan for your dissertation or thesis work. You will submit your proposal to your committee for review and then you will do your proposal defense, during which you present your plan and the committee asks questions about it. The committee wants to know if your research questions have academic merit and whether you have chosen the right methods to answer the questions.

• How to Prepare a Successful Dissertation Proposal Defense Some general tips for a proposal defense from synonym.com

Need help? Then use the library's  Ask Us service. Get help from real people face-to-face, by phone, or by email.

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Department of Anthropology

Guide to writing a dissertation proposal.

By Elizabeth Ferry, Department of Anthropology, Brandeis University (updated Nov. 17, 2021)

Once you have passed your comprehensive exams, the time has come for you to complete the dissertation proposal. In this memo, I give you some of my thoughts on ways to approach the proposal. Also, I asked students who already completed the requirement to tell me what they wished they had been told beforehand and have included some of their comments in this document. Of course, since everyone's project, mind and life circumstances differ, not all of these suggestions will work for all of you. I have tried to write something that is sufficiently general to apply to many of you, but that still has practical, specific suggestions.

What is a dissertation proposal and what is it good for?

The dissertation proposal is intended to take you from the comprehensive exam stage, in which you demonstrated your control over particular areas of theoretical and anthropological literature, to a coherent and detailed statement of your own proposed project and its relevance to the field. It is thus, for many of you, your first extensive experience of bringing together your own ethnographic or archaeological example (with some of your own data, if you have already done preliminary research) and anthropological theory. Bringing these two levels together is the best, but also the hardest, part of anthropology. Your task in this proposal is to make a first attempt at that.

The proposal can be roughly divided into three sections: Project Statement and Research Questions; Literature Review (both theoretical and area); and Methodology. In particular, a successful dissertation proposal will discuss the following:

• What are the basic research questions that I wish to examine?
• What is the ethnographic/archaeological situation or case that I have chosen to examine these questions?
• Why is this an appropriate situation or case for these questions?
• What have other anthropologists (and others) written about this case and the surrounding research area?
• What have other anthropologists (and others) written about these research questions?
• How will my research add to, differ from, or change these previous studies?
• What data will I need to examine these questions?
• How will I gather these data?
• What tools, skills, permissions, etc., do I need to gather these data and how have I or will I obtain these (language training, IRB approval, local affiliations, access issues, etc.)?

In most cases, answers to questions 1-3 would be included in the Project Statement and Research Questions section, 4-6 in the Literature Review section, and 7-9 in the Methodology section.

You are writing a proposal for what you plan to do in the future, not a discussion of what you have already done. Nobody expects you to know everything yet, and every dissertation project undergoes substantial changes in the field. (In fact, if it didn't, we wouldn't need to do fieldwork!) Just write as clearly as possible about what you want to find out and how you hope to do so.

How do I start?

Armed with a general idea of what kind of document you are trying to write and what a successful example might look like, you are now ready to prepare the ground. If you break down what you need to do into smaller steps, you will be less intimidated and more likely to make steady progress.

Here's what one student had to say about beginning the process:

"Even though we might feel that we are writing the proposal for the first time, in reality I believe that by the time we get to this stage, we have most likely written different versions or sections of it in class assignments, presentations, the comprehensive exams, fieldnotes, small grant proposals, and so forth. Using these different papers was enormously helpful for me."

Another student writes:

“If I could do it over, I would keep going after the comps, [consulting] the literature in the comps to [help] write the literature review section of the proposal. With that part done, I think it would have been easier to move on to other sections of the proposal.”

You might begin by looking back over what you have already done, in seminar papers, grant proposals and, perhaps most importantly, for your exams. This will not only remind you of places you can mine for portions of the document, but also of the fact that you already know much, if not most, of what you need to know to write the dissertation proposal. Remember, however, that you will no doubt need to revise these earlier writings substantially to mold them to your current purposes. They are a jumping-off point rather than a finished product.

Your first section should be the Project Statement and Research Questions since these are the heart of your project and intended to guide the Literature Review and Methodology sections. However, if you feel you will be more able to begin the first section if you have already written the Literature Review, you could start there too (as long as you already have a clear idea in your mind of your basic research questions). I don't recommend starting with the Methodology section (though you could do it second if you wanted to).

Several students mentioned, and I agree, that it is helpful to set yourself a deadline to complete a draft of this first section (whichever one you choose to begin with). It should not be too long, though, of course, it depends on what else is going on in your life. Something between two weeks and one month is probably good. You can let your advisor know that you plan (hope) to send them the draft at this time. If you are part of an established group with whom you can share the draft, perhaps you can set up a meeting a week or two after the deadline to discuss the draft. This will force you to write and provide you with some immediate practical feedback. If you are not part of an established group, you should form one , either with others at the same stage or other students in the department.

Of course, you may always ask other faculty members on your committee (or not on your committee) to read the draft, but you should bear in mind that they may not have time to get back to you before you need to move on, and that feedback from your peers can often be as or more helpful than from faculty.

[Note: If you are commenting on someone's dissertation proposal, you should remember that specific, constructive criticism is always more helpful (and kinder) than general, negative criticism. Comments should be aimed at the level of development of the draft, so that a first draft should receive a different kind of comment than a final draft. Reading others' work will allow you to get a feel for different modes of commenting and will also help you improve your own writing.]

At the same time, you should always feel welcome approaching any member of the department, whether or not they are on your committee. For instance, as you are working, you may encounter a series of questions or themes related to the work of a particular scholar or body of literature and wish to consult a faculty who you know has some expertise. In those cases, it helps faculty know how to contribute if you come with specific questions or topics. "What do you think about the difference between Gramsci and Foucault with respect to the concept of agency?" works better than "My advisor told me to come talk to you and here I am" or even "I need to think more about agency, can you help me?"

Once you have received feedback, you will need to decide whether you want to revise the section you have already drafted or move on and come back to it later. The answer to this depends on your personality, work habits, your schedule and other commitments, and the kinds of comments you received. Ideally, you will be able to move on and draft all three sections and then revise all three later. However, if there are serious issues of conceptualization or if you are a perfectionist, you may need to do another round of revisions before moving on. However, you should not try to make each section absolutely perfect before you move to the next section, as this can lead to delays and discouragement.

Writing each section of the proposal should basically follow this process: you write one or more drafts and elicit feedback from both your advisor and a writing group of some sort. If possible, there should be at least some overlap in your readers throughout the process (that is, at least some of the same people should read all the different sections of the proposal). Also, watch out for burnout on both sides. If your readers read the same section too many times, they will lose perspective, and their comments will not be as effective (the law of diminishing returns). On the other hand, if you give the drafts to too many different readers, you may become overwhelmed and unable to process the comments you get, especially if they are quite varied. With practice, you will get a feel for a proper balance of number of readers and number of drafts per reader.

Once you have drafted each section, you will need to revise the entire thing at least once and probably a number of times. At this point, it may help you to look back at questions 1-9 I listed earlier. Not only should you have answered all nine questions, but the answers should flow into each other. For instance, the answer to question 3 ("why is this case a good one for my chosen research questions?") should lead to the answer to question 6 ("how will my research add to other work on these questions?") and questions 7-8 ("what data do I need and how will I gather these data?"). I don’t mean that one section has to come right after another, but that the ideas should go together conceptually. You should be checking this as you go along. If they don’t fit together, you may need to revise either your case, your research questions or your lit review section. This is something that should become clear to you in the process of writing, revising and discussing your drafts.

A note from one of your peers on how to manage transitions:

"Starting a new section was a somewhat tedious process and to reduce my boredom and general inertia I would do less demanding things like laying out the table of contents, revising titles and subtitles for the various sections, organizing margins, font size, and such stuff. I know this sounds silly, but I kept telling myself that I am still putting in time towards my proposal. Another strategy that worked for me is that when I felt weary I would work on the section that I was most confident in so that that was one other thing taken care of, even if it wasn’t the most important section. For instance, when beginning the methodology section, I first started writing the stuff on language training, which is what I knew most about. Once that was done, I told myself that I had already finished one-third of the methodology so now what remained was significantly less work."

How do I manage my time? Or am I going to be defending this thing from a nursing home? And, you do realize I have to eat and pay rent during this time, too, right?

I would say that three to five months from exams to dissertation proposal defense is ideal, depending on what else you need to do during that time. You will likely need to do something else, such as working as a course assistant or research assistant. In addition, you may also wish to continue acquiring whatever field language(s) you need. Indeed, I think a moderate schedule of other activities may help give structure to your time and keep you from feeling isolated, overwhelmed, or depressed.

Here are some suggestions from your peers on how to manage your time:

"I would organize my time so that I had to finish, say, two pages before my favorite TV show or else I would feel really guilty and would not be able to enjoy it! Another such incentive I created for myself was a 10-day holiday with my husband 1-1/2 months into my proposal writing (the February break). This might sound crazy given that I was in the middle of a semester and surely had no time to spare. But knowing that I really wanted to enjoy this holiday and would not be able to unless I finished another section or two before leaving was a really strong incentive for me. Moreover, my husband would keep reminding me that we had X number of days left before leaving and I had to finish such and such section by then. Although this got me really annoyed and irritated with him, in the end it worked. I had written out another section and a half before we left. Basically, what I am suggesting is that a reward system and a few breaks now and then are a good idea. For instance, after we returned from our holiday, I found myself with no excuse but to get back to work. I had had my fun and now that I was relaxed, I could resume my work with fresh energy."

"What worked best for me was looking at the calendar and figuring out how much time I had to work on the dissertation proposal. I then allocated the hours. I made a point of writing at least five days a week and, lo and behold, I actually got work done."

Final Thoughts

I hope these thoughts help some of you manage this rather stressful, but ultimately rewarding, exercise. I have two final points to emphasize. The first is simply to underscore what I said earlier: break down the task into manageable steps, and you will be far more likely to succeed. The second is also simple and, I hope, inspiring: the dissertation proposal is an extension of the comprehensive exams. Where the comprehensive exams established you as an expert in various fields of anthropological literature, the dissertation proposal establishes you as an expert in your project and its significance. You should feel free to enjoy and explore that sense of expertise.

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How to Write a Dissertation Proposal: The Step-by-Step Guide

by  Antony W

June 26, 2024

This is the complete guide on how to write a dissertation proposa l. Whether you have a topic that you’d like to propose for your research or you have no clue where to start, this guide will give you the information you need to stay on the right track.

The overall goal of a dissertation proposal is to present a comprehensive description of the research you want to do. It describes what the research is, the steps you intend to take to conduct it, and why it’s worthwhile.

Notably, the intention of writing a research proposal for a dissertation is to persuade your institution that your research project is a great idea.

Dissertation proposals will vary greatly, especially in terms of length and the overall structure . So, see to it that you’ve read your institution’s guidelines.

You have to think of a dissertation proposal like business idea you’d share with a potential partner. If anything, the idea has to be good enough to grab their attention and make them say “yes” to a partnership.

If you can write a dissertation proposal in a way that wins your professor, you’ll get a go ahead to continue with the project immediately after they read your idea.

Your proposal may not be the most attractive of all that your professor will review, but if you come up with something that’s well planned and persuasive, you’ll be one-step ahead on working on your dissertation project.

What is Dissertation Proposal?

A dissertation proposal is a written document that communicates an idea of a subject that you’d like to investigate in your dissertation project.

Your professor gets a ton of dissertation proposals when the dissertation project commences. So, you have to make your piece as convincing as possible. In other words, can your proposal convince your professor that your research is worth doing and achievable within its respective scope?

To be clear, many students get their proposals rejected because of lack of clear articulation. It means they don’t have a clear research question that would warrant investing in further investigation.

To stand the chance to have your proposal accepted, you must ensure you have a clear research question, your research is worth doing, and that you can do your research within the scope of the set restrictions.

How to Write a Dissertation Proposal, Step-by-Step

Your ultimate goal with your dissertation research proposal is to present a convincing research idea that:

• Has a clearly articulated research question
• Is worth doing for the period scheduled for the assignment
• Can fit within the scope of the research (budget, time limit, education skills)

If your proposal can meet the three criteria, you’re already halfway done with the project. All you have to do now is to take your idea and put them in a proposal structure based on your area of study – or your institution’s proposal template.

Here’s the approach you should take to write a comprehensive dissertation proposal:

1. Start with a Title

The title of your dissertation proposal is the first thing your professor will want to see. Fortunately, you don’t have to overthink this section. Your title should be your re s earch question presented in the simplest form possible.

Your title needs to be the best it can be. Make sure it gives your reader a clear and concise indication of what your research is likely to be about even before they get to the introduction part of the proposal.

Write the title and read it aloud, more than once if you have to. If the title sounds like it doesn’t paint a clear picture for what a first-time reader expects to find, start over again. By spending time to refine your title, you’ll come up with a clear and concise topic that will make the reader want to continue reading more.

2. Work on Your Introduction

Many students get the introduction section wrong because they have no idea what to write, but the lack of an idea doesn’t mean the section is difficult to handle.

The goal of your introduction is to provide concrete insight on what you’ve mentioned in the title of your work. In other words, you write a few paragraphs that give your professor more details about your research topic.

It’s important to ask yourself a few questions before you start writing the introduction for your proposal.

• What is your research about?
• Why is your research topic worth investigating? 
• What are the key concepts and language that your research will focus on? 
• Which specific area will you focus on and why is it important for you to do so? 

It’s in the introduction section that you write your aims and objectives as well as your research question.

Use a simple language when writing your introduction. Professors don’t appreciate extensive acronyms, complex sentences, and unnecessary jargons.

3. Work on the Scope

The scope of your research refers to the limits within which you’d like to set your dissertation project. In other words, scope in a proposal makes it clear what your dissertation project will cover and what it won’t.

Remember, you have a time and budget limit to work with as you write your dissertation. So the scope of your proposal will demonstrate the limit of your research and equally give you a more precise focus for your research topic.

Don’t goa broad with your scope, niche down instead. By doing so, you’ll easily go deep with your research and present findings and interpretations that earn you the best grades.

4. Write Your Literature Review

A good research proposal should include a discussion of existing literature albeit in brief.

What you include is more of a highlight of what other researchers have done on the topic, and it does go a long way to build a foundation for the actual literature review for your dissertation.

5. What’s Your Research Design?

In this section, you’ll explain exactly how intend to conduct your research. In other words, you’ll be talking more about your research design.

• What research methodology do you intend to adopt?
• How will you collect your data?
• What should your expected sample size be?
• Why have you chosen your particular research design?

In this section, you should explain the WHAT and the WHY of your research.

About the author 

Antony W is a professional writer and coach at Help for Assessment. He spends countless hours every day researching and writing great content filled with expert advice on how to write engaging essays, research papers, and assignments.

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• Dissertation

What Is a Dissertation? | Guide, Examples, & Template

A dissertation is a long-form piece of academic writing based on original research conducted by you. It is usually submitted as the final step in order to finish a PhD program.

Your dissertation is probably the longest piece of writing you’ve ever completed. It requires solid research, writing, and analysis skills, and it can be intimidating to know where to begin.

Your department likely has guidelines related to how your dissertation should be structured. When in doubt, consult with your supervisor.

You can also download our full dissertation template in the format of your choice below. The template includes a ready-made table of contents with notes on what to include in each chapter, easily adaptable to your department’s requirements.

Download Word template Download Google Docs template

• In the US, a dissertation generally refers to the collection of research you conducted to obtain a PhD.
• In other countries (such as the UK), a dissertation often refers to the research you conduct to obtain your bachelor’s or master’s degree.

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Table of contents

Dissertation committee and prospectus process, how to write and structure a dissertation, acknowledgements or preface, list of figures and tables, list of abbreviations, introduction, literature review, methodology, reference list, proofreading and editing, defending your dissertation, free checklist and lecture slides.

When you’ve finished your coursework, as well as any comprehensive exams or other requirements, you advance to “ABD” (All But Dissertation) status. This means you’ve completed everything except your dissertation.

Prior to starting to write, you must form your committee and write your prospectus or proposal . Your committee comprises your adviser and a few other faculty members. They can be from your own department, or, if your work is more interdisciplinary, from other departments. Your committee will guide you through the dissertation process, and ultimately decide whether you pass your dissertation defense and receive your PhD.

Your prospectus is a formal document presented to your committee, usually orally in a defense, outlining your research aims and objectives and showing why your topic is relevant . After passing your prospectus defense, you’re ready to start your research and writing.

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The structure of your dissertation depends on a variety of factors, such as your discipline, topic, and approach. Dissertations in the humanities are often structured more like a long essay , building an overall argument to support a central thesis , with chapters organized around different themes or case studies.

However, hard science and social science dissertations typically include a review of existing works, a methodology section, an analysis of your original research, and a presentation of your results , presented in different chapters.

Dissertation examples

We’ve compiled a list of dissertation examples to help you get started.

• Example dissertation #1: Heat, Wildfire and Energy Demand: An Examination of Residential Buildings and Community Equity (a dissertation by C. A. Antonopoulos about the impact of extreme heat and wildfire on residential buildings and occupant exposure risks).
• Example dissertation #2: Exploring Income Volatility and Financial Health Among Middle-Income Households (a dissertation by M. Addo about income volatility and declining economic security among middle-income households).
• Example dissertation #3: The Use of Mindfulness Meditation to Increase the Efficacy of Mirror Visual Feedback for Reducing Phantom Limb Pain in Amputees (a dissertation by N. S. Mills about the effect of mindfulness-based interventions on the relationship between mirror visual feedback and the pain level in amputees with phantom limb pain).

The very first page of your document contains your dissertation title, your name, department, institution, degree program, and submission date. Sometimes it also includes your student number, your supervisor’s name, and the university’s logo.

Read more about title pages

The acknowledgements section is usually optional and gives space for you to thank everyone who helped you in writing your dissertation. This might include your supervisors, participants in your research, and friends or family who supported you. In some cases, your acknowledgements are part of a preface.

Read more about acknowledgements Read more about prefaces

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The abstract is a short summary of your dissertation, usually about 150 to 300 words long. Though this may seem very short, it’s one of the most important parts of your dissertation, because it introduces your work to your audience.

Your abstract should:

• State your main topic and the aims of your research
• Describe your methods
• Summarize your main results
• State your conclusions

Read more about abstracts

The table of contents lists all of your chapters, along with corresponding subheadings and page numbers. This gives your reader an overview of your structure and helps them easily navigate your document.

Remember to include all main parts of your dissertation in your table of contents, even the appendices. It’s easy to generate a table automatically in Word if you used heading styles. Generally speaking, you only include level 2 and level 3 headings, not every subheading you included in your finished work.

Read more about tables of contents

While not usually mandatory, it’s nice to include a list of figures and tables to help guide your reader if you have used a lot of these in your dissertation. It’s easy to generate one of these in Word using the Insert Caption feature.

Read more about lists of figures and tables

Similarly, if you have used a lot of abbreviations (especially industry-specific ones) in your dissertation, you can include them in an alphabetized list of abbreviations so that the reader can easily look up their meanings.

Read more about lists of abbreviations

In addition to the list of abbreviations, if you find yourself using a lot of highly specialized terms that you worry will not be familiar to your reader, consider including a glossary. Here, alphabetize the terms and include a brief description or definition.

Read more about glossaries

The introduction serves to set up your dissertation’s topic, purpose, and relevance. It tells the reader what to expect in the rest of your dissertation. The introduction should:

• Establish your research topic , giving the background information needed to contextualize your work
• Narrow down the focus and define the scope of your research
• Discuss the state of existing research on the topic, showing your work’s relevance to a broader problem or debate
• Clearly state your research questions and objectives
• Outline the flow of the rest of your work

Everything in the introduction should be clear, engaging, and relevant. By the end, the reader should understand the what, why, and how of your research.

Read more about introductions

A formative part of your research is your literature review . This helps you gain a thorough understanding of the academic work that already exists on your topic.

Literature reviews encompass:

• Finding relevant sources (e.g., books and journal articles)
• Assessing the credibility of your sources
• Critically analyzing and evaluating each source
• Drawing connections between them (e.g., themes, patterns, conflicts, or gaps) to strengthen your overall point

A literature review is not merely a summary of existing sources. Your literature review should have a coherent structure and argument that leads to a clear justification for your own research. It may aim to:

• Address a gap in the literature or build on existing knowledge
• Take a new theoretical or methodological approach to your topic
• Propose a solution to an unresolved problem or advance one side of a theoretical debate

Read more about literature reviews

Theoretical framework

Your literature review can often form the basis for your theoretical framework. Here, you define and analyze the key theories, concepts, and models that frame your research.

Read more about theoretical frameworks

Your methodology chapter describes how you conducted your research, allowing your reader to critically assess its credibility. Your methodology section should accurately report what you did, as well as convince your reader that this was the best way to answer your research question.

A methodology section should generally include:

• The overall research approach ( quantitative vs. qualitative ) and research methods (e.g., a longitudinal study )
• Your data collection methods (e.g., interviews or a controlled experiment )
• Details of where, when, and with whom the research took place
• Any tools and materials you used (e.g., computer programs, lab equipment)
• Your data analysis methods (e.g., statistical analysis , discourse analysis )
• An evaluation or justification of your methods

Read more about methodology sections

Your results section should highlight what your methodology discovered. You can structure this section around sub-questions, hypotheses , or themes, but avoid including any subjective or speculative interpretation here.

Your results section should:

• Concisely state each relevant result together with relevant descriptive statistics (e.g., mean , standard deviation ) and inferential statistics (e.g., test statistics , p values )
• Briefly state how the result relates to the question or whether the hypothesis was supported
• Report all results that are relevant to your research questions , including any that did not meet your expectations.

Additional data (including raw numbers, full questionnaires, or interview transcripts) can be included as an appendix. You can include tables and figures, but only if they help the reader better understand your results. Read more about results sections

Your discussion section is your opportunity to explore the meaning and implications of your results in relation to your research question. Here, interpret your results in detail, discussing whether they met your expectations and how well they fit with the framework that you built in earlier chapters. Refer back to relevant source material to show how your results fit within existing research in your field.

Some guiding questions include:

• What do your results mean?
• Why do your results matter?
• What limitations do the results have?

If any of the results were unexpected, offer explanations for why this might be. It’s a good idea to consider alternative interpretations of your data.

Read more about discussion sections

Your dissertation’s conclusion should concisely answer your main research question, leaving your reader with a clear understanding of your central argument and emphasizing what your research has contributed to the field.

In some disciplines, the conclusion is just a short section preceding the discussion section, but in other contexts, it is the final chapter of your work. Here, you wrap up your dissertation with a final reflection on what you found, with recommendations for future research and concluding remarks.

It’s important to leave the reader with a clear impression of why your research matters. What have you added to what was already known? Why is your research necessary for the future of your field?

Read more about conclusions

It is crucial to include a reference list or list of works cited with the full details of all the sources that you used, in order to avoid plagiarism. Be sure to choose one citation style and follow it consistently throughout your dissertation. Each style has strict and specific formatting requirements.

Common styles include MLA , Chicago , and APA , but which style you use is often set by your department or your field.

Create APA citations Create MLA citations

Your dissertation should contain only essential information that directly contributes to answering your research question. Documents such as interview transcripts or survey questions can be added as appendices, rather than adding them to the main body.

Read more about appendices

Making sure that all of your sections are in the right place is only the first step to a well-written dissertation. Don’t forget to leave plenty of time for editing and proofreading, as grammar mistakes and sloppy spelling errors can really negatively impact your work.

Dissertations can take up to five years to write, so you will definitely want to make sure that everything is perfect before submitting. You may want to consider using a professional dissertation editing service , AI proofreader or grammar checker to make sure your final project is perfect prior to submitting.

After your written dissertation is approved, your committee will schedule a defense. Similarly to defending your prospectus, dissertation defenses are oral presentations of your work. You’ll present your dissertation, and your committee will ask you questions. Many departments allow family members, friends, and other people who are interested to join as well.

After your defense, your committee will meet, and then inform you whether you have passed. Keep in mind that defenses are usually just a formality; most committees will have resolved any serious issues with your work with you far prior to your defense, giving you ample time to fix any problems.

As you write your dissertation, you can use this simple checklist to make sure you’ve included all the essentials.

Checklist: Dissertation

My title page includes all information required by my university.

I have included acknowledgements thanking those who helped me.

My abstract provides a concise summary of the dissertation, giving the reader a clear idea of my key results or arguments.

I have created a table of contents to help the reader navigate my dissertation. It includes all chapter titles, but excludes the title page, acknowledgements, and abstract.

My introduction leads into my topic in an engaging way and shows the relevance of my research.

My introduction clearly defines the focus of my research, stating my research questions and research objectives .

My introduction includes an overview of the dissertation’s structure (reading guide).

I have conducted a literature review in which I (1) critically engage with sources, evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of existing research, (2) discuss patterns, themes, and debates in the literature, and (3) address a gap or show how my research contributes to existing research.

I have clearly outlined the theoretical framework of my research, explaining the theories and models that support my approach.

I have thoroughly described my methodology , explaining how I collected data and analyzed data.

I have concisely and objectively reported all relevant results .

I have (1) evaluated and interpreted the meaning of the results and (2) acknowledged any important limitations of the results in my discussion .

I have clearly stated the answer to my main research question in the conclusion .

I have clearly explained the implications of my conclusion, emphasizing what new insight my research has contributed.

I have provided relevant recommendations for further research or practice.

If relevant, I have included appendices with supplemental information.

I have included an in-text citation every time I use words, ideas, or information from a source.

I have listed every source in a reference list at the end of my dissertation.

I have consistently followed the rules of my chosen citation style .

I have followed all formatting guidelines provided by my university.

Congratulations!

The end is in sight—your dissertation is nearly ready to submit! Make sure it's perfectly polished with the help of a Scribbr editor.

If you’re an educator, feel free to download and adapt these slides to teach your students about structuring a dissertation.

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Articles & Advice > Graduate School > Articles

Writing a Strong Dissertation Proposal for Grad School

We won't sugarcoat it. Your dissertation is a big deal, but you can conquer it. Here's some advice on writing a dissertation for your master's or doctorate.

by GradSchools.com

Last Updated: Mar 16, 2023

Originally Posted: Jun 20, 2011

Brace yourself: the next sentence is going to sound major. Writing a dissertation is the culminating event of your graduate school career. It's also a source of great anxiety for many students. However, even though writing a graduate dissertation involves several steps, if you take them one at a time, the process may not seem so dreadful. The first step of your dissertation proposal process is—brace yourself again—writing a dissertation proposal. According to the American Heritage® Dictionary, a dissertation proposal is a "lengthy, formal treatise, especially one written by a candidate for the doctoral degree at a university; a thesis." More simply, it is your chance to convince your faculty thesis committee that your research question is one worth pursuing in your dissertation.

Dissertation proposal preparation

As you start to think about your dissertation proposal, begin by thinking about the bigger picture, and pare down from there. Write down all of your ideas even if they don't seem to all fit together. You can go back later and choose what interests you. Keep in mind that your dissertation is meant to fulfill an academic requirement—so it is a learning experience and quite a serious endeavor.

Do your research

Now is the time to do preliminary research to pare down your thoughts and determine whether there is enough information available to explore and test your ideas. However, you don't have to engage in extensive reading and research on every relevant piece of literature you come across. This is simply a time to get enough background and information to ensure that your dissertation will be successful and original.

Talk to your advisor and professors

Discuss your ideas for the proposal with your thesis/dissertation advisor and with the professors you would like to have on your thesis committee. Heed their advice and criticism (and remember that they will eventually be your audience). You will also want to include a timeline in your proposal, as your committee will want to know how long you believe it will take you to meet your specific dissertation goals. As you prepare to write your dissertation proposal, ask yourself if you have the necessary understanding, ability and motivation to complete your dissertation on the subject you have chosen. You also want to be sure that you're familiar with other research in that area. It's important to read other proposals to get a better idea of what is expected, as well as to ensure that your research is focused. Borrow successful proposals from your graduate school friends , or ask a professor to share proposals submitted in the past by other graduate students.

Related:  The Importance of Finding Balance as a Graduate Student

Begin writing a dissertation proposal

One way of going about writing your dissertation proposal is to organize it around a set of questions with an appropriate methodology to answer those questions. Your problem statement should define and present an issued framed with specific questions. Your dissertation proposal should explain the importance of the problem, as well as the need for research within the context you have established. Your dissertation proposal should answer the following questions:

• What problem are you going to pursue?
• Why is it a problem?
• Why is it important to address?
• Where are you going to look for answers?
• Why are you going there?

Your dissertation proposal should revolve around a significant problem or issue that is of interest to you, your committee and the research community at large. It should include information about who will benefit from the research and what practical applicability your findings could have. You need to express the intention of your research , and be sure that your questions are concise and in question form. The dissertation proposal should demonstrate that you:

• have defined and delimited an interesting research question;
• can explain the importance of the question to someone not intimately familiar with it;
• can formulate testable hypotheses; and
• have a detailed plan for testing the most promising hypotheses.

Dissertation proposal structure

Dissertation proposals should be written in the present tense and should contain an introduction, conceptual framework, methodology, literature review, a bibliography, and appendices. The introduction should summarize the broad concepts and issues, and present your main research question. Get to the point in your introduction—there is no room for editorializing.

Your conceptual framework

In your conceptual framework, be sure to define the terms you will be using and how they will be used. You must also detail your methodology, explaining what you plan to do and why. It's imperative to indicate how your methodology helps to answer your research questions. You will want to list the materials, evidence, and data that you'll use in order to prove your thesis, as well as what contribution you hope your research will make in the field.

Your literature review

With your literature review, identify the conceptual and methodological strengths and weaknesses of the existing research on your subject. The literature review is your opportunity to locate the gaps in existing research that your work could fill. The bibliography is rather self-explanatory. Your appendices should support and define your research.

Going through several drafts

You would be well-advised to write several drafts of your dissertation proposal before arriving at the final proposal. Most graduate students shy away from making bold claims for their work or potential work, but you need to step forward in your proposal and attempt to answer the big question: "So What?" Do your best to project the potential research outcomes and the importance of those outcomes. In short, how will your thesis contribute to the body of knowledge in your field of study?

Final formatting

Your final dissertation proposal should be titled, and include a title page and table of contents. Include a detailed timeline in your proposal. Most dissertation proposals are no less than 10 pages. However, the average length falls between 15 and 20 pages. Don't panic—if you have a strong hypothesis, identify the importance of your research and the prior research, and employ the proper methodology, you will be on your way to writing a successful dissertation proposal.

Related:  Time Management: Your Best Friend in Grad School

Writing your dissertation is a major milestone that you’ll remember for most of your life, but don’t let that psyche you out. You’ve done the work and put in the time because you wanted to qualify yourself to pursue your passions. Your dissertation is a culmination of all that hard work—admittedly with quite a bit more work left to do. But you can do it. And you will do great!

Are you prepared to enter the workforce after grad school? Check out our  Quick List of Job Search Tips for Graduate Students  if you're still looking for opportunities!

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Step-by-step guide for writing a dissertation proposal in 2024

Table of contents, introduction.

Dissertation s can be difficult to work with as they are major tasks, regardless of whether it may be your first or tenth academic endeavor. Setting out to complete a dissertation first requires the drafting of a dissertation proposal. The proposal represents the first major milestone to be achieved in this context. What are the main steps for writing a dissertation proposal? This article explains the relevance of a proposal as well as the major elements involved in its drafting.

This Article Covers:

What is a dissertation proposal, how long should a dissertation proposal be.

• Steps for Writing a Dissertation Proposal

A dissertation proposal sets a researcher’s objectives for an innovative research study. The proposal serves as a blueprint for the entire project, drawing out its framework, relevance, and strategy proposed for its completion. Proposals can also be drafted as a request for funding; hence, it is essential to be as specific as possible regarding your research goals.

During the research process, you may find yourself deviating from what you wrote in the proposal. That’s fine, too, because the proposal serves as the first draft of your research proposal. Deviation occurs as a result of trial and error, which is perfectly acceptable in research. It’s fine if you haven’t worked out all the details yet!

The originality of your study concept, its larger significance within your chosen field, and the research questions themselves are the various elements that must be decided upon during the drafting of the proposal itself.

There are no strict guidelines when it comes to the length of a dissertation proposal. Regardless, it is important to check whether the university has any restrictions in relation to the page length or total word count.

It is imperative to chart out a plan for your dissertation proposal. While the length is not as important, the conciseness and clarity of the proposal are extremely important to maintain. While dissertation proposals are all generally over 10 pages long, they tend not to exceed 20 pages.

Steps for Writing a Dissertation Proposal–

Step 1. Coming up with an Idea

Before the drafting of your dissertat ion, it is always essential to come up with a good dissertation idea for the proposal.

To this end, find a topic in your field that fascinates you and conduct some basic research on it. What are the key aspects that other researchers are concerned about? What do they recommend for future research? What do you think is a particularly interesting gap in the field?

After landing on an idea, consider how you may narrow down on the specifics and develop a structure associated with it. Don’t be overly ambitious or vague with your dissertation topic – it must be detailed enough to be feasible.

Move from a broad range of interests to a specific niche. For instance, like so:

Step 2. Present your Idea in the Introduction

Much like most academic papers, a dissertation proposal begins with an introduction. The introduction includes an explanation of the research topic, provides relevant background information, and presents the goals, objectives, and research question(s) of the proposed dissertation.

Write regarding the core of your chosen topic: What is at stake in your research? What makes it interesting? Ensure that you are not carried away with generalizations or grand statements. It is important to be specific and appeal to the stakeholders in the field of your study with its relevance.

Apart from dissertations that are completely exploratory in their design, all information corresponding with the focus of the research must be supported by contextual information. This background information is necessary to ensure that the readers understand the proposed questions within the dissertation. The context also informs the reader regarding the contemporary state of the study subject as well as the latest debates concerning the issue as well. Furthermore, it indicates how your dissertation shall contribute to the field.

Rather than divulging all the details of the context through the use of a literature review, ensure that only a general overview of the relevant debates and viewpoints are included in the draft of your dissertation proposal.

The context then leads to the most important section of the introduction: your aim, objectives, and research question(s), which must easily be recognized and stand out from the rest of the content in the proposal. Some researchers make use of bullet points or bolder fonts to do so.

Ensure the specificity and feasibility of your research questions so that they may be answered within the scope of your dissertation and the resources available to you. A very broad research question or multiple questions are generally avoided as they result in a host of limitations.

While formulating your research questions, bear in mind that the goal of a dissertation proposal is to convince the reader that your proposed work is valuable and feasible.

Step 3. Focus on Related Research

Now that you’ve decided on a topic, it’s time to go through existing research that has focused on ideas similar to yours. This is important as it will reveal the limitations and gaps in other works of research in relation to the subject. Furthermore, a literature review ensures that you are not asking a question that has already been answered.

You’ve undoubtedly done some preliminary reading already, but now that your topic is more clearly defined, you’ll need to analyze and evaluate the most relevant sources in your literature review.

Here, you should summarize the findings reached by previous researchers and comment on any gaps or limitations identified in their studies. There may be an abundance of research to discuss; hence, ensure that you paraphrase and summarize to keep your writing concise.

The literature review aims to identify the findings and theories that will inform your own research, in addition to commenting on the gaps and limitations in previous research that your dissertation may address.

Step 4. Describe your Methodology

After establishing context, it is important to explain the proposed methodology, which entails the specific procedures involved in the research, the structure of your study, and the methods of data collection and analysis applied in the study.

This approach requires a significant amount of specificity – you need to convince your supervisor that you’ve thought through your approach to the research and are capable of carrying it out. Based on the topic of your study, this section will appear different in terms of structure and length.

For instance, you may be working on empirical research, where you need to collect data and uncover new information; or you may be undertaking theoretical research, where you try to build a new conceptual model or add further nuances to an existing one.

While both approaches have been employed in dissertation research, the content of your methodology section differs based on the relevance of each approach to your dissertation.

Empirical Research

Within empirical research, gathering new data and carrying out data analysis is imperative to address your research questions. Your empirical research may be quantitative (statistics-based), qualitative (words and meanings-based), or a combination of the two (mixed-methods).

When conducting empirical research, it is critical to chart out exactly how the data will be obtained. Here are some pointers to bear in mind in this context:

• How are the data obtained – using surveys, lab experiments, interviews, or other methods?
• What factors are you going to measure?
• What method will you use to choose a representative sample?
• What measures will you take to ensure that individuals who participate in your research are treated ethically?
• What tools (both conceptual and physical) do you intend to use? How is their use justified in this study?

Empirical studies can cite other works of research or mention a text that describes the advantages and proper use of a particular research method or tool that shall support your choice of the same.

Rather than reiterating the entirety of the theoretical literature, only explain portions that are relevant to your selection of methods or methodologies.

Furthermore, after data collection, the analysis comprises the very next step. Although the data to be collected may not be familiar to the researcher, it is important to know at least the type of information that is being sought as well as the means that shall be used to obtain it (e.g. statistical tests, thematic analysis, etc.).

Theoretical Research

Theoretical research can be carried out without the need for collecting new data. In such a case, the section devoted to methodology will be more focused on the theory to be used within your dissertation – herein, a brief explanation of the relevant conceptual models and the approach to be followed should be provided.

For example, a dissertation that considers a literary analysis as core to its research methodology typically does not require the collection of fresh data. However, it remains important to describe the theoretical approach to the text(s) under consideration, as well as specify the parts of the text(s) that you intend to focus on.

The very theories that were discussed in the literature review can be used in the proposal. In this context, the focus is on how you intend to incorporate the contributions of previous theorists in your own study.

Step 5. Outlining the Potential Implications of your Research

In most cases, your dissertation proposal ends with a section that lists the goals you wish to accomplish with your study.

It is impossible to be completely sure of what your findings and conclusions would be. Rather than assuming them, you may discuss the predicted implications of your dissertation and its contribution to knowledge.

What are the implications of your research? Do you intend to:

• Develop or test a theory?
• Provide governments or companies with new data?
• Challenge a commonly held belief?
• Make recommendations for the improvement of a specific process?

The potential implications include the theoretical or practical impacts of your dissertation as well. Finally, it is good practice to briefly explain the contribution you intend to make to the overarching base of knowledge relevant to the study subject, the specific question(s) you intend to answer, and the research gap that this initiative intend to fill.

Step 6. Reference List or Bibliography

As with any piece of academic writing, it is crucial that your dissertation proposal clearly mentions all the sourced used within it. At the very end of your proposal, a properly formatted reference list or bibliography must be added.

Various institutions recommend differing referencing styles, the most popular of which are Harvard, Vancouver, APA, and MHRA. If your department does not provide you any specific guidelines, choose a style and adhere to it consistently.

A reference list must only contain the sources references within your proposal. On the other hand, a bibliography may include any source you have used to prepare the proposal, regardless of whether or not you have included information from the source in the text of your dissertation proposal. A bibliography may also be an indicative bibliography, which includes significant materials that you have not yet read but intend to use during the research process.

Consult your supervisor regarding the type of bibliography or reference list to be used in your proposal draft.

To Conclude

We hope that you found this detailed step-by-step guide on how to write a dissertation proposal useful enough to have set you on your way to writing the most interesting dissertation you can manage.

We have also put together a checklist for you to evaluate whether your dissertation proposal meets the conventions and guidelines provided by your university.

While you’re at it, keep an eye out for our blog piece on some detailed guidelines and ideas that will assist you throughout your dissertation writing process. Visit our website to know more! -Click Here!

-Isabell S.

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Research Proposal Example/Sample

Detailed Walkthrough + Free Proposal Template

If you’re getting started crafting your research proposal and are looking for a few examples of research proposals , you’ve come to the right place.

In this video, we walk you through two successful (approved) research proposals , one for a Master’s-level project, and one for a PhD-level dissertation. We also start off by unpacking our free research proposal template and discussing the four core sections of a research proposal, so that you have a clear understanding of the basics before diving into the actual proposals.

• Research proposal example/sample – Master’s-level (PDF/Word)
• Research proposal example/sample – PhD-level (PDF/Word)
• Proposal template (Fully editable) 

If you’re working on a research proposal for a dissertation or thesis, you may also find the following useful:

• Research Proposal Bootcamp : Learn how to write a research proposal as efficiently and effectively as possible
• 1:1 Proposal Coaching : Get hands-on help with your research proposal

PS – If you’re working on a dissertation, be sure to also check out our collection of dissertation and thesis examples here .

FAQ: Research Proposal Example

Research proposal example: frequently asked questions, are the sample proposals real.

Yes. The proposals are real and were approved by the respective universities.

Can I copy one of these proposals for my own research?

As we discuss in the video, every research proposal will be slightly different, depending on the university’s unique requirements, as well as the nature of the research itself. Therefore, you’ll need to tailor your research proposal to suit your specific context.

You can learn more about the basics of writing a research proposal here .

How do I get the research proposal template?

You can access our free proposal template here .

Is the proposal template really free?

Yes. There is no cost for the proposal template and you are free to use it as a foundation for your research proposal.

Where can I learn more about proposal writing?

For self-directed learners, our Research Proposal Bootcamp is a great starting point.

For students that want hands-on guidance, our private coaching service is recommended.

Psst… there’s more!

This post is an extract from our bestselling short course, Research Proposal Bootcamp . If you want to work smart, you don't want to miss this .

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How to Write a Dissertation Proposal

Last Updated: January 5, 2024 Approved

This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD and by wikiHow staff writer, Megaera Lorenz, PhD . Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 89% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 94,453 times.

A dissertation proposal is a brief overview of the aims and significance of your dissertation research. The aim of the proposal is to demonstrate to your dissertation committee that your dissertation will represent an original and beneficial contribution to your field. The requirements for writing a dissertation proposal vary from one PhD or doctoral program to another, so you will need to start by checking with your department to find out about their specific rules. Work with your advisor to pick a suitable topic, and then write a well-organized proposal based on your preliminary research.

Writing Help

Following Departmental Guidelines

• Most graduate programs list their rules and timelines on the department website. If you’re not sure where to find this information, check with your advisor, the department chair, or your department’s administrative assistant.

• Some proposals may be 20 or more pages in length. Ask your advisor or check your departmental guidelines to find out what is appropriate for your proposal.
• Your program may present length guidelines in terms of word count instead of page length. [1] X Research source
• If there is no clear length requirement, talk with your advisor to find out what they recommend.

• Introduction
• Methodology
• Aims and objectives
• Literature review
• Scope and constraints

• Fonts, page numbers, and margin sizes.
• Citation style and formatting for notes and bibliography.
• Formatting of title pages and cover sheets.

• Most departments have requirements about who is eligible to serve on a dissertation committee. For example, your committee members may need to be selected from faculty who teach graduate level classes.
• Try to select committee members who have some familiarity with, and interest in, the topic you want to write about. If there are 2 faculty members who you think would be good fits, you may even consider asking them to be co-advisors.

• Get a form signed by your committee chair or academic advisor approving your selected topic.
• Have your finished proposal approved and signed by each member of your committee.
• Coordinate with your department to set a date for a proposal hearing, if that is part of your program’s process.

Selecting Your Topic

• Some things you might consider as you think about topics include classes taught by professors with whom you have a good working relationship, questions/holes in your research that you’d like to investigate further, and seminar or research papers you have written for your classes.
• For example, say you are studying animal behavior with a focus on mollusks. Perhaps you have noticed that there is not a lot of published information about the reproductive habits of the lesser Fauxlandian howling snail. This could be a good starting point for your research.

• Check academic journals in your field for recent articles on your topic, and try to find out if there are any major monographs, peer reviewed articles, and/or book chapters dealing with the subject. Consider whether these sources are up-to-date, thorough, and methodologically sound.
• Use databases like ProQuest to find out if any other graduate students have recently done dissertations or theses on your potential topic(s).

• If your advisor is familiar with the topic in question, they may be able to suggest a more specific angle or point you towards sources you weren’t familiar with.
• Be prepared to discuss more than 1 possible topic with your advisor. That way, if they don’t feel that your first choice will work, you will have something to fall back on.

• For example, maybe your research shows that there’s new evidence regarding the role of shell color in howling snail mating rituals, but most current literature still reflects the outdated idea that howling snails select their mates based on eye-stalk length. This can help you narrow your topic from a general examination of howling snail reproductive habits to a study of mate selection based on shell color.
• Your focus may continue to narrow and evolve as you begin to research and write your dissertation in earnest, but that’s okay. It’s better to start with a topic that’s too big than to begin writing and find that you don’t have enough material to work with.

Organizing and Writing Your Proposal

• Try to make your title as specific as possible. For example, instead of “A Study of Reproductive Selection in Lesser Fauxlandian Howling Snails,” try something like “An Empirical Examination of the Role of Shell Color in Mate Selection among Lesser Fauxlandian Howling Snails.”

• The general background of your topic.
• The main problem(s) or question(s) that you plan to address in your research.
• The major methods and procedures that you plan to use in order to answer your questions and/or support your thesis.
• The impact or importance of your study, also known as the “so what?” element of your project.

• Summarize the general context and scope of your topic.
• Briefly refer to previous literature on the topic and address the types of evidence available.
• Summarize, very briefly, the specific questions and issues you will address in your proposal.

• For example, you might explain that recent research has shown that shell color plays a part in howling snail mate selection, but there are no current studies that adequately explain the specific color criteria for which the snails select.

• The major goals of your research. I.e., what questions are you hoping to answer? Do you have any particular expectations about what you will find?
• How you believe your research will fill a gap or provide an original contribution to your field.
• The specific focus of your study, including which areas you are choosing NOT to address and why.

• How previous writers have approached your topic (e.g., specific methodologies and arguments they have used).
• The major established theories, hypotheses, and research trends related to your topic.
• Any problems you have identified with previous works on the subject (e.g., they are too broad or limited in scope, outdated, or poorly supported).
• The main gaps in current or previous research, and which research needs still remain to be filled.

• For example, if you are doing a science dissertation, you might break your methodology section down into discussion about selecting your subjects, designing your experiment, carrying out your experiment, and analyzing the results.
• Discuss any problems and limitations you anticipate. For example, you might point out that you expect to have trouble finding large sample sizes, which could make your results less statistically significant or harder to replicate than they would be if you had a bigger sample size.

• For example, perhaps you could argue that your work on mate selection in lesser Fauxlandian howling snails will have potential implications for scholarly understanding of reproductive behaviors in other types of mollusks.

• Talk to your advisor about developing a realistic and attainable timeline for your dissertation.
• Be aware that your timeline may change as your work evolves and progresses—this is not meant to be a hard-and-fast schedule for completing your work.
• As you write your timeline, keep in mind practical considerations such as time needed for making travel arrangements or securing equipment for experiments or fieldwork.

• Depending on your topic or your program’s requirements, you may also need to include appendices or other supplemental material, such as diagrams, sample data collection forms, or permission forms (e.g. if you will be conducting experiments with human subjects).

Community Q&A

• While some graduate programs offer their students a great deal of freedom in the selection of dissertation topics, others may require you to do your research on a specific, pre-selected topic. The latter is particularly common in European universities, where PhD students are often required to write about a subject related to their advisor’s research. [6] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Be prepared to revise your proposal more than once. Your committee chair and other committee members may have a variety of revisions and refinements to suggest. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Some programs may require you to give a brief presentation of your proposal before a group of faculty members and other members of the university community. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

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To write a dissertation proposal, keep in mind that the exact length and guidelines for your proposal may vary depending on your program's rules, so it's a good idea to check with your advisor if you're not sure. However, in general, your dissertation proposal should be 10-15 pages long. You'll also likely be required to include a title and introduction, as well as sections on your methodology, aims and objectives, literature review, scope and constraints, timetable, and references. For more advice from our Academic co-author, like how to choose a dissertation topic, scroll down! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Whether you're thinking about pursuing an advanced degree in education or are already in such a program, one thing you will need to be prepared for...

Writing a winning thesis or dissertation: guidance for an education graduate student.

Posted on July 31, 2024 on Graduate School , Seahawk Nation

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Whether you’re thinking about pursuing an advanced degree in education or are already in such a program, one thing you will need to be prepared for is writing a thesis or dissertation. In most graduate-level education programs, a thesis or dissertation is the culmination of years of challenging work, serving as your own independent research that marks the final step before earning your graduate degree.

If writing a dissertation or thesis sounds like a daunting task, it does not have to be. With a little preparation and some best practices in mind, you can approach writing a thesis or dissertation with confidence.

Understanding the Thesis and Dissertation Process

Before writing a thesis or dissertation, it’s important to understand their general scope and purpose, along with some key differences between a thesis and a dissertation. After all, while there are some similarities between the two, a dissertation and a thesis are not the same thing.

Defining the Scope and Purpose

The primary purpose of a thesis or dissertation in an education graduate program is for students to demonstrate what they have learned in their respective programs while applying their own research, theory, analysis and synthesis. Ultimately, the author of a thesis or dissertation should successfully contribute something new to the existing topic. In dissertations specifically, students may also be required to articulate, discuss and defend their research orally in front of professors or other faculty members. This oral defense is not required for a master’s thesis.

Differences Between Thesis and Dissertation

When it comes to writing a thesis or a dissertation, the terms “dissertation” and “thesis” are sometimes used interchangeably. That said, it is crucial to understand that these are two different things. Generally, a dissertation is primarily focused on filling a gap in existing literature or extending upon current research regarding a specific topic. The goal is to analyze literature to the point of saturation and determine where there is a need for further research. In a dissertation, a doctoral student will then explain where the problem exists given current research and develop a research study to explore or evaluate the problem, thus filling the gap and contributing meaningfully to the field.

On the other hand, a thesis is more of a presentation of information that’s already out there with no obligation to conduct additional research.

Choosing the Right Topic

One of the most important aspects of drafting a great thesis or dissertation begins with choosing the right topic. Here, it is paramount to select a topic that not only interests you but is relevant to your future professional goals and aspirations. After all, there’s a good chance you may use your thesis or dissertation as a basis for future work or further research.

Considering Current Research Trends

In selecting a topic, you will also want to consider current research trends in your field. What is trending in the realm of education and what could you contribute to existing research? There are research gaps or questions that remain unanswered about certain educational topics that could be addressed through your research.

Research and Proposal Development

In most graduate programs, you will need to write and present a research proposal before you can really get started on your thesis or dissertation. Most research proposals are reviewed and approved by a professor or other faculty.

Conducting a Literature Review

A literature review is to discover the research available on your research topic. This review should detail each source you plan to use in your own research with plenty of detail. More specifically, a literature review is a comprehensive summary of the current literature on a given topic that demonstrates the need for additional research to be conducted. Literature reviews comprise a major portion of a proposal, including a summary of each source as it relates to the need for additional research.

Finding Reliable Sources

Quality is vital when it comes to selecting literature for your research or literature review. Ideally, your literature review should include plenty of recent and reputable sources that come from academic journals, books, articles and even other dissertations.

Developing a Research Proposal

Once you have a better understanding for what is already out there, you can craft a research proposal that discusses your specific research topic, the current problem, the purpose behind your research, the methodology you plan to use and the relevant literature that further defends a need for your topic to be investigated.

Methodology Selection

An important part of your research proposal will be your methodology selection, which will explain exactly how you plan to go about your research. For example, will your research be qualitative, quantitative or a mix of both and why? How will the methodology you choose answer your research questions?

Writing and Structuring Your Thesis or Dissertation

After your research proposal is approved, you will have the green light to begin working on your thesis or dissertation. You will receive feedback or thesis guidance from the faculty member who reviewed your proposal. It is important to reflect on the feedback and make revisions as needed.

Creating an Outline

One of the most helpful things you can do as you get started with your dissertation or thesis is to create an outline. This allows you to develop the most critical aspects of your final project that include your thesis, your main points and other key details to ensure that they flow logically.

For reference, an outline for a dissertation will typically include the following:

• Introduction of existing research
• Review of literature
• Conceptual framework
• Methodology
• Results or findings
• Interpretations, conclusions or recommendations for future research

Structuring Arguments

In creating an outline, include designated sections for each of your main points with specific research, statistics, or other data to support it. This will ensure that your arguments are made clearly and that your thought process is clear.

Writing Tips and Strategies

Even if writing is not necessarily your strong suit, you will need to be able to put together a cohesive document for your thesis or dissertation. There are some basic strategies worth keeping in mind to help you get started.

First, it can be helpful to write your introduction and conclusion paragraphs last once you have completed all your research. While it might seem counterintuitive to do it this way, it can help set the tone for the rest of your writing. Likewise, this strategy ensures that you include your main points while preparing your readers for the information to come.

Additionally, meet with your advisor or faculty sponsor regularly to gain valuable feedback and keep your project on track.

Data Collection and Analysis

Whether you are writing a thesis or dissertation, you will need to do a fair amount of your own qualitative or quantitative research. It’s important to understand the various data collection methods available to you, plus the best practices for analyzing and interpreting data.

Choosing Data Collection Methods

There are two main types of data collection:

• Quantitative data  - Refers to hard data that is numerical in nature, such as statistics and percentages.
• Qualitative data  - Refers to information that is non-numerical, such as interviews and focus groups.
• Mixed methods – Refer to a combination of both quantitative and qualitative data.

Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Once you have all the data you need to write your thesis or dissertation, the challenging part is often analyzing and interpreting the data to apply to your own research. The most important thing to keep in mind when looking at hard data is how it relates back to your research and specific research questions.

When working with quantitative data, it can also be helpful to look for specific trends and correlations that you can share in your research.

Reviewing and Editing Your Work

Once you have completed the first draft of your thesis or dissertation, the process of reviewing, revising and editing your work before submission is important to ensure that the document is free of errors and that it effectively communicates your main points to the reader.

Peer Review and Feedback

One of the best ways to improve upon the first draft of your dissertation or thesis is through peer review and feedback. By having others read your draft and provide feedback, you can gain some valuable insights into how your arguments are being interpreted. Even if the person you ask to read your draft is not familiar with the subject matter, they can still provide useful feedback on the organization of the information, structure and grammar/spelling.

Proofreading and Final Edits

It may take several rounds of revisions before your dissertation or thesis is approved. Even when you feel like the entire thing is ready to submit, it is important to complete another round of proofreading and editing to be sure that the entire document is polished and in the best shape possible. This includes not just running a basic spell check but taking the time to read your paper word for word.

Formatting Guidelines

In most education programs, you will be instructed to use the  American Psychological Association (APA) style when writing and formatting your thesis or dissertation. It is important to follow all formatting guidelines here, especially as they relate to citations or references.

Preparing for the Defense

In many doctorate programs and some graduate programs, students will also be expected to defend their dissertations in front of other scholars, usually professors or other faculty from the department. This process can be daunting, even for those who know their research well and have crafted thoughtful dissertations.

Crafting Your Presentation

In preparing for a dissertation defense, it is imperative to craft a presentation that covers the basics of your dissertation topic, how you researched it and what your findings were. Following your presentation, you can expect to be asked questions by those in attendance about your topic and other aspects of your research.

Practicing Your Defense

The best way to prepare for a dissertation defense is to practice as much as possible. This way, you will be prepared for the kinds of questions that may be asked, and you will feel a little more confident when completing your defense.

Mock Sessions

Mock defense sessions can be especially helpful for practicing your presentation and answering questions from a real crowd. Do not hesitate to ask your fellow students or even some trusted professors to practice with you to provide feedback or ask questions.

Handling Questions

One of the most difficult aspects of defending a dissertation is often answering questions from the audience. One important tip to keep in mind here is to prepare some answers in advance to some of the questions you think might be asked during your dissertation defense. This way, you will be completely prepared to knock these out of the park.

Ready to Pursue an Advanced Degree?

As you can see, there is a lot that goes into writing a dissertation or thesis as part of your graduate education program. With this dissertation guidance in mind, you will be prepared to craft and even defend your thesis or dissertation with success.

Still looking for the right graduate education program to suit your interests and professional goals? Keiser University is proud to offer a number of advanced degrees in education, including our  Master of Science in Education, Teaching and Learning  program. If you’re interested in earning your doctorate degree, we also offer a  Doctor of Education  and a  Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Leadership .

Learn more about any of the graduate programs offered at Keiser University by  contacting a graduate admissions counselor today, or get started with your online application  for enrollment.

Jessica Kircher