5 Easy Tips For Writing A Dissertation Proposal

Composing your PhD dissertation may well be the greatest challenge you face in your academic life. Writing a convincing and original proposal is one of the most critical steps you take as you start down the path to earning your PhD. Your course supervisor and your peers can be of help in aiding you to put down in words the ideas that are swimming around in your head. Here are five easy tips to make sure your dissertation proposal gets a passing grade.

1. Your Title Page

   Besides your own name as author of the proposal, and the title, there are several other important bits and pieces of information that must be included on your title page. Be sure that you list the name of your institution and department, your course supervisor and the delivery date for the work.

2. A Comprehensive Abstract

   You should keep your abstract brief. It should summarize the key ideas that will be included in your dissertation, and how you intend to go about proving them. The abstract usually does not need to be more than 300 words in length.

3. A Complete And Well-Organized Table Of Contents

   Your table of contents should be organized into headings and subheadings (always indented) Of course, take care that the page numbers properly correspond to the appropriate headings and subheadings.

4. A Catchy Introduction And Awesome Thesis

   Your introduction should serve as a “hook” to grab the reader's attention. You want to engage your audience as soon as possible, convincing them to continue reading on. Your thesis should encompass the main ideas or issues that your dissertation will resolve. Keep your thesis short, and get straight to the point.

5. Approach, Methods And Work Plan

   You should include a “methods section in your PhD dissertation proposal. This will let the reader know the means and methods that you plan to use in order to prove your thesis statement.

   A work plan or schedule section will contain relevant information regarding the time table you have set for the research and writing that needs to be accomplished. Set milestones and target dates in this section for the work that lies ahead. Be realistic, and be aware that you may need to make revisions to your plan depending on what results your research yields.

Remember when writing your dissertation proposal that you are laying down a road map for the research and writing that lays ahead. Don't overdue it when it comes to details in a PhD dissertation proposal. There will be plenty of room for those later!