A dissertation research proposal should include an important research question, background information, a literature review, research design and methodology, empirical evidence, and a conclusion. The proposal should make a significant contribution to the field and address gaps in existing research. The methodology can be inductive or deductive, qualitative or quantitative. The conclusion should restate the research question and hypotheses, discuss implications for future research, and argue the importance of the dissertation.
Academic disciplines and individual graduate programs have their own set of requirements for the dissertation research proposal, but any proposal will contain several elements. A good proposal will start with an important new research question, any necessary background information on the topic, a literature review that places the dissertation project in context within the discipline, a discussion of research design and methodology, a description of the empirical evidence to be collected and a strong conclusion. To write a dissertation research proposal after you have decided on a topic, make sure you have the necessary information and include each of these essential elements.
Your dissertation research proposal should start with an important new research question, which can be drawn from academic literature on your topic or from real-world events. Dissertation research is expected to make a new and significant contribution to the field; therefore, the starting point is a paradox or disagreement in the theoretical literature, a prediction in the literature that is not confirmed in the real world, or a situation in which competing theories predict different outcomes. Your dissertation research proposal should begin with a discussion of the research question that makes clear why your topic is important and how your results will make a meaningful contribution. You must also state in advance what the answer to your question will be; This is your thesis statement.
Before going into the details of your research proposal, you will likely need to provide some background information about your dissertation topic. Virtually any topic will have a long and complicated history in its field, so present only the background information that is directly relevant and necessary to understand your project. You might assume that faculty members reading your dissertation research proposal are already familiar with the topic, so don’t get bogged down in background discussion.
The next element is the literature review, which in many cases will be the longest part of the dissertation research proposal. The literature review places your project in context with existing research done on your topic. It also demonstrates the need for the research you set out to do.
When reviewing relevant literature, be sure to discuss holes or gaps in what is known about your topic. Look for alternative explanations and hypotheses that you will need to explain or control, and look for consensus and conflict among the scholars you review. Bad literature reviews can look like a list of journal articles: Author A says this; author B says so. Good literature reviews are organized around themes and make it clear that the proposed research is necessary and valuable.
After providing background information and existing research on your topic, you will describe your own research design and methodology. Expectations for this stage of your dissertation research proposal may vary by academic discipline and faculty preferences. Many dissertation proposals will employ an inductive or deductive approach and a qualitative or quantitative methodology.
Inductive approaches are useful for generating hypotheses and building theory because they start with large-scale observations and proceed to specific conclusions based on those observations. Deductive research formulates specific testable and falsifiable hypotheses and proceeds to examine empirical evidence in rigorous analysis. Inductive research is usually based on case studies, data mining and other qualitative methodologies, and deductive research usually involves statistical and quantitative methods. When appropriate, discuss the theory you plan to rely on, identify dependent and independent variables, and discuss alternative hypotheses that would refute your argument and how you will control for it.
Whether you choose an inductive or deductive approach and plan to employ a qualitative or quantitative methodology, you will need to gather and analyze empirical evidence. Discuss the data you will use, where it will come from, and any ethical issues or logistical problems your research may face.
The final section of your dissertation research proposal is your conclusion. Here you will restate your research question and your own hypotheses. You should mention what the possible implications are for theory and future research if you are correct and what the implications are if you are wrong. You should also mention what the next steps should be in researching this topic. Finally, in the conclusion, you should argue why your dissertation is important.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
