An Exceptional Tutorial on How to Write a Dissertation Proposal

Some institutions do not require the preparation of dissertation proposals. Meanwhile, in many other courses, you have to prepare a proposal as part of your final thesis submission. However, it makes sense to write it either way, because it impresses your supervisor and helps you understand what your research is about. It is important to follow the formatting and submission rules, so find out the deadline and check whether any special requirements apply.

Dissertation Proposal Basics

Before you start writing your dissertation proposal, you should understand why it is so important. The proposal describes the contents of your paper. You should state several research questions and emphasize the ways you can find the answers. It is necessary to make some reference to the main theoretical approaches that are commonly used and may be helpful. You have to briefly describe the potential results of the study, and indicate why these outcomes are useful in your field of study.

A great dissertation proposal is an investment, which saves your time and establishes the basis of your future paper. You have to demonstrate your willingness to improve your research plan as you go. However, you should not be too flexible; make sure to demonstrate that you have considered the best ways to receive the outcomes. After your proposal submission, you will get valuable feedback from your supervisor, and will be able to improve your dissertation outline.

Dissertation Proposal Structure

Each dissertation proposal includes standard parts, such as:

• A title: Your title should be short and describe your main idea.
• Goals and objectives: It is common to determine one main goal of research and several objectives that help you reach the main goal. If you have more than three objectives, it usually means that your research topic is too broad and should be narrowed down.
• Background study and literature review: It is recommended to mention the key scientific schools that you consider important for your research. Indicate the informational databases you want to use and compose the bibliography.
• Essential details: Write about your ideas and explain why your approach is better than those used by other researchers. Outline your research area and expand your main idea.
• Methodology: If you are allowed to use key or bullet points, you should create a list of intended activities. Briefly describe empirical and non-empirical methods you are going to use.
• Potential results: Do not state the results, but rather summarize the type of outcomes you hope to get and why they are interesting to your target audience.