How to write a dissertation proposal | A step by step guide (2023)

Athesis proposalDescribes the research you want to do: what it is about, how you will do it, and why it is worth doing. You will probably have to write a proposal before you start yourdissertationas an undergraduate or graduate student.

A thesis proposal should generally include:

• Oneintroductionyour topic and goals
• Aliterature reviewof the current state of knowledge
• An outline of your proposal.methodology
• A discussion about the possibletranscendenceOf the investigation
• Abibliographyfrom relevant sources

Thesis proposals vary greatly in terms of length and structure, so be sure to follow any guidelines your institution gives you, and check with your supervisor when you're unsure.

Step 1: Have an idea

Before writing your proposal, it is important to have a solid idea for your dissertation.

Find an area of ​​your field that interests you and do some preliminary reading in that area. What are the main concerns of other researchers? What do you suggest as areas for future research and what do you personally find an interesting gap in the field?

Once you have an idea, consider how to narrow it down and how best to frame it. Don't be too ambitious or too lazy: athesis topicit must be specific enough to be feasible. Going from a broad field of interest to a specific niche:

• Russian literatureRussian literature of the XIX century.Tolstoy and Dostoevsky's novels
• social mediaEffects of social media on mental healthInfluence of social networks on young adults with anxiety

Step 2: Introducing your idea in the introduction

Like most academic texts, a dissertation proposal begins with aintroduction. This is where you introduce your research topic, provide background information, and most importantly, present yourlook,GoalsmiResearch questions).

Hook

Try to dive right into your chosen topic: What is at stake in your research? Because it's interesting? Don't spend too much time ongeneralizationsor big statements:

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

Context

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

If you are including a review of the literature, you do not need to go into too much detail at this point, but give the reader a general idea of ​​the debates in which you are participating.

Mira

This brings you to the most important part of the introduction: your goal, objectives, andResearch questions). They must be clearly identifiable and stand out from the text; for example, you can present them with bullets or bold type.

Make sure your research questions are specific and actionable, 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 thesis 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 use of social networks in young people between the ages of 18 and 25 who suffer from general anxiety disorder?

Now that your topic is clear, it's time to explore existing research that covers similar ideas. This is important because it shows you what is missing from other research in the field and ensures that you are not asking a question that 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 analyze and evaluate the most relevant sources in yourliterature review.

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

• Smith and Prakash state that "our results indicate a 25% decrease in the incidence of mechanical failures after the application of the new formula."
• The Smith and Prakash formula reduced mechanical failures by 25%.

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

• However, subsequent research failed to replicate this result, suggesting a flaw in Smith and Prakash's methods. The error is likely due to...

Step 4: Describing your methodology

Next, you will describe your proposal.methodology: the specific things you hope to do, the structure of your research, and themethodsthat you will use to collect and analyze data.

You need to be very specific in this section – you need to convince your supervisor that you have thought about your approach to the survey and can realistically carry it out. This section will look quite different and will vary in size depending on your field of study.

You may be involved in more empirical research, focusing on data collection and discovering new information, or moretheoreticalresearch, trying to develop a new conceptual model or add nuances to an existing one.

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

empirical search

Empirical research involves collecting new data and analyzing it to answer your research questions. Could beamount(focused on numbers), qualitative (focused on words and meanings), or a combination of both.

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

• you will useinvestiga? a laboratoryto try? ¿Interviews?
• ThatVariablesare you going to measure
• How will you select a representative?sample?
• If other people are involved in your research, what steps will you take to ensure they are treated ethically?
• What tools (conceptual and physical) will you use and why?

It is appropriate to cite other research here. When you need to justify the choice of a certain research method or tool, for example, you can cite a text that describes the advantages and proper use of that method.

Do not overdo it; You don't need to reiterate all the theoretical literature, just what's relevant to the choices you've made.

In addition, your research will necessarily involve analyzing the data after it has been collected. While you don't yet know what the data will look like, it's important to know what you're looking for and indicate which methods (for example,statistical tests,thematic analysis) will use.

theoretical research

you can also dotheoreticalresearch that does not involve the collection of original data. In that case, his methodology section will focus more on the theory he plans to work with in his dissertation: relevant conceptual models and the approach he intends to take.

for example, oneLiterary analysisThe dissertation rarely involves the collection of new data, but it is still necessary to explain the theoretical approach that will be taken to the texts under discussion, as well as which parts of the text to focus on:

• This dissertation will use Foucault's theory of panopticism to explore the issue of surveillance in 1984 and Orwell's The Trial...

Here, you can refer to the same theorists you already discussed in the literature review. In this case, the emphasis is on how he plans to use his contributions in his own research.

Step 5: Describe the potential implications of your research

Typically, you will conclude your dissertation proposal with a section discussing what you hope your research will achieve.

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

First, consider the possible implications of your research. You could:

• Develop or test a theory?
• Provide new information to governments or companies?
• Challenge a common belief?
• Suggest an improvement for a specific process?

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

This research is expected to contribute to the growing body of knowledge about the link between general anxiety disorder and social media use. Their findings will have the potential to inform not only future research, but also clinical practice and dissemination.

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

The aim of this dissertation is to reliably quantify the impact of daily social media use on the mental well-being of young adults with general anxiety disorder. The effects of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram will be measured separately, something that was not done in the existing research. This will facilitate a more precise understanding of the relationship between social networks and anxiety.

Step 6: Creating a reference list or bibliography

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

Different institutions recommend different referencing styles - commonly used styles includeharvard,vancouver,THAT, oMHRA. If your department does not have specific requirements, choose a style and apply it consistently.

A reference list includes only the sources you have cited in your proposal. A bibliography is a bit different: you can include all the sources he consulted when writing the proposal, even if he didn't mention them in the text. In the case of a dissertation proposal, the bibliography may also list relevant sources that you have not yet read, but intend to use during your research.

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