The Ins and Outs of a Dissertation Proposal

Including a dissertation proposal in your academics is inevitable if you aspire to attain a degree. This document comes right after the abstract and plays a significant role in convincing your reader that your research is real. Therefore, you must make it as comprehensive as possible and include all your study aims and questions.

While the literature review section can come right after your proposal, it is often best to compose it first. The rationale behind this strategy is the fact that you can concoct your study question and objectives even before writing a dissertation proposal. Furthermore, it will help you create a outlinethat will help you with the whole writing process. The advantages of doing this is that;

1. You will have composed your abstract before writing your dissertation proposal. The summary acts as your guide as you develop your study questions.
2. You will have derived all the methods you will apply in the study with regards to research design, sampling strategy and data collection procedures.
3. You will have seen all the keywords and concepts that will guide your dissertation proposal writing.

Your proposal might be longer than your completed project. This is to ensure that you have enough time to conduct adequate research. Your proposal should provide vital information to convince the panel that your research is valid and worthwhile. Therefore, it is advisable to compose it with this in mind.

How to Structure a Dissertation Proposal

You will know you have written a top-notch proposal if it has the following structure;

Cover Page

The cover page presents the identity of the student, the course he or she takes, and the University of the student’s affiliation. Additionally, it contains the title of the dissertation, which is capitalized. The page should be numbered in roman numerals in case of an international student.

Introduction

This section starts off with a capsule statement that introduces the topic and the nature of the proposed research. It goes on to give background information about the topic and state how the current state of the research fits into the specific study field. Furthermore, you must demonstrate your passion for conducting the research by stating how it has influenced you as a student and the significance it will bring to your particular field.

Literature Review

You must provide a review of any material that has been published on the topic of your dissertation. Furthermore, you must demonstrate how your selected research method will contribute to what has been previously researched. This section should be comprehensive, covering over fifty works. You will not require any new research ideas in this section.