What Is Dissertation Proposal?

Before any student starts working on their dissertation, they are supposed to submit their dissertation proposal first. This thing applies to all dissertations regardless if they are for college, university of doctoral programs. The dissertation proposal is the initial step for the dissertation writing and its main purpose is to make university or college aware of your solid research plans, make a clear sketch of your final paper and basically or mainly get the university approval on your dissertation topic and ideas.

How To Write Dissertation Proposal?

A dissertation proposal actually makes the starting writing procedure of your dissertation a little less challenging. So here is to the guide of how to start working on your dissertation proposal.

• Make a Start and Select Your Topic: Go through different notes, slides, lectures, assignments and everything you have done throughout to select the topic you are interested in. be very careful with this part, as this is one of the main reasons why you are writing this dissertation proposal. Keep two things in consideration while selecting the topic; if this topic will keep you interested enough to complete the entire dissertation part creatively with interest and secondly will you get enough to matter on this topic to present your argues and reasoning more effectively. Look for relevant journals and publications to get the idea more clearly. Be very careful while selecting and getting through different external material, you will need this to include in your bibliography. Make sure to note down book/journal title, its author’s name, editor’s name, specific chapter title, accurate page numbers, if it’s online then URL and publisher name.
• Narrow Down What to Include: After doing a lot of reading, the writer must be able to narrow down which questions he should include in his dissertation proposal. Make sure not to go to any vast area or you will face difficulties while generalizing the main points. Be very careful about the word count. Even if you are not satisfied with the points you have evaluated and the hypothesis you have made at this point, then do not worry much any supervisorial guide check will show you the right direction.
• Start Writing: For any dissertation proposal, what you will need the most is your dissertation proposal structure. What you mainly include in this is an introduction, a mid-discussion section or a conclusion.
• Introduction: In this part include the background of your research; how you are going to address this topic further, what is your main thesis, what main things you are going to add, why you are choosing this topic and why this topic is important.
• Mid-body: Methodology: This will include the process you will use to collect your data. Include all the main points what you are going to do for your research. Make sure to mention the clear scope of your research. Not every dissertation includes and requires this section.
• Objectives: Here you will highlight the main questions that you will be answering in your dissertation. What are your predictions for the topic and what you are looking forward to achieving?
• Literature Review: This section carries the list of all the sources you have used and that have helped you during your research. It can be the very important section to provide already written material present in order to support your argument.
• Ethical Consideration: In this part, the student put all the ethical concerns related to his topic. Has he seek permission while interviewing a person about anything he is involved in, has he asked with the interviewer before including his questionnaires or interview or any provided information to add in his dissertation.
• Time Required: This part usually contains a time frame and in that specific time frame, the works need to be submitted to the supervisor. It can be prepared based on chapters to chapters, sections wise or the whole. Be very realistic and leave a good time on your plan timetable for your initial research too.
• Conclusion: Your dissertation proposal does not have-to-have a conclusion but it is a nice idea to give an overview at the end as a reminder of what you are going to include, what will be your major concerns, your main questions, predictions, and why this topic is important, in a very limited manner.