Introduction
Are you struggling to write a dissertation or thesis proposal? It can be overwhelming because a small mistake could lead to rejection of a dissertation proposal at the initial stage. About 75% of research proposals are rejected by supervisors for numerous reasons in the first meeting. Hence, you should know exactly how to write dissertation and thesis proposal in order to meet the expectations of the supervisor? To satisfy your supervisor, let’s dive in to find out how to avoid rejection of proposal and get approval to proceed with dissertation writing or PhD Thesis in first attempt and in first meeting.
What is dissertation and thesis proposal and why is it important?
A dissertation proposal is a formal written piece of research work that outlines key aspects of the research including title, problem statement, research gap, research questions, research objectives, research hypothesis, brief literature review and proposed methodology that would be used to undertake the research once proposal is approved by the supervisor.
The importance and significance of the dissertation proposal lies in its core purpose which is “providing a predefined direction of the research along with all associated key aspects including problem statement and methodology”. A most common mistake that students make while writing dissertation and thesis proposals is lack of direction, lack of clarity and unclear research questions and selection of wrong methodology for the research.
Similarly, the direction of the research has to be clear within the dissertation proposal that clearly outlines problem statements and provides correctly designed research methodology along with appropriately selected research approaches and tools. If the proposal does not have clear direction and consistency throughout the research proposal then it will be rejected straightforwardly by the supervisor. Therefore, a research proposal should have clear direction that could help readers to read smoothly and understand its purpose and intention.
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What is Difference between Dissertation and Thesis Proposal and How PhD Proposal differs from both?
The difference between dissertation and thesis proposal is level of education or degree program, where dissertation is associated with the doctoral degree program with total pages within range of 100 to 300 pages and thesis is mainly associated with master’s degree program with total pages within range of 40 to 80 pages. Therefore, considering that research proposal is 10% of overall word count, the suggested word count of dissertation proposal should range within 10 to 30 pages and thesis proposal should range from 4 to pages. However, the word count could also increase or decrease based on suggestions and requirements of the university as well.
Basic format and length of dissertation and thesis proposal
The basic format and length of the dissertation and thesis proposal can be found in the university’s guidelines for dissertation and thesis. However, I can provide you general guidelines which are followed throughout the academic discipline and these general guidelines are presented in table 2
| Component | General Guidelines of research format |
| Fonts | Times New Roman/Arial font size 12 throughout the document. |
| Heading 1 | Times New Roman/Arial font size 12 and Bold |
| Heading 2 | Times New Roman/Arial font size 12; Bold and Italic. |
| Heading 3 | Times New Roman/Arial font size 12; Italic only |
| Heading 4 | Times New Roman/Arial font size 12; Right Indented |
| References | Use appropriate referencing system, i.e. Harvard or APA |
Moreover, the length of dissertation or thesis proposal could also vary by the university’s guidelines, supervisor’s requirements and also level of education. Therefore, it is pertinent to look into the specific guidelines provided by the university and supervisor. However, to give you an idea about how long should a dissertation proposal be, following table presents an standard comparison of proposal length for undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate (PhD)
| Sections | Undergraduate | Graduate | Post-Graduate (PhD) |
| Chapter 1: Introduction | 300-600 words | 700-1000 words | 1000-1500 words |
| Chapter 2: Literature Review | 500-700 words | 1200-1500 words | 1500-2000 words |
| Chapter 3: Methodology | 500-700 words | 700-1000 words | 1000-1500 words |
| Total | 1300-2000 words | 2600-3500 words | 3500-5000 words |
Masters and PhD Dissertation Proposal Example and structure
The structure of the dissertation and thesis proposal is mainly based on the university’s guidelines and suggested structure. However, to give you a standard structure, this section presents complete outline of a master’s dissertation proposal as an example and it can also be used as a sample for PhD dissertation proposal
Chapter 1: Introduction
Introduction
Provide a few lines of background of the research title
Problem Statement and Research Gap
Write a problem statement and research gap that you have identified while doing research. The problem statement and research gap should emerge from the latest literature review ideally from published journal articles within the last five years. This is a foundation of writing a dissertation and thesis proposal irrespective of level either bachelors, masters or PhD
Research Questions and Research Objectives
Formulate only 3-4 research objectives that should align with the title, purpose and intention of the research. Then convert research objectives into the interrogative form to make your research questions.
Significance of the Research
Provide reasons why your research is important, what value it holds and will provide and how it will contribute to existing research and how it could be used practically in the real world.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Literature Review
Write the literature review around your topic and make subheadings if necessary. Your subheadings of the literature review should be focused upon your research objectives so that your objectives are actually covered within the literature and this gives a good impression to the supervisor.
Tip: Select 5-7 journal articles published recently related to your topic. Make an outline of literature as per your research objectives, and then you can start writing literature review
Conceptual Framework
Conceptual framework is mainly designed for quantitative studies. If your study is qualitative in nature then you can ignore it. Meanwhile, a conceptual framework is defined as a depiction of your overall research intention that is focused on research questions and research objectives. So, if your study is quantitative in nature then make sure to use a conceptual framework that aligns and depicts your proposed research title, objectives and questions. It could be a depiction of key variables of your research such as
- Independent Variables
- Dependent Variables
- Control Variables
Example: If you are investigating how digital marketing influences revenues of SMEs then “Digital Marketing” is your independent variable and “Revenues” is your dependent variable of the study. You are actually trying to determine how an independent variable affects a dependent variable. So you can create two boxes, put digital marketing in the left box and put revenues in the right box, and then create an arrow from left to right depicting that you are trying to see how digital marketing affects revenues.
Theoretical Framework
Propose a theory that could explain your research problem. You can propose any theory that is related to your study and it is only used to explain your research.
Example: Considering the provided example in the conceptual framework, social media theory could be used here that explains that social media is a unique marketing channel that allows two-way interaction between the consumers and sellers. This brings an unprecedented level of engagement, direct conversation and opportunity to engage and generate leads on a daily basis. Hence, ultimately this leads to better revenues for the company. This theory can be used to explain how “digital marketing could be linked with revenues of SMEs in the UK”
Chapter 3: Methodology
Research Philosophy
Write what your research philosophy is and why? There are mainly two research philosophies; interpretivism research philosophy and positivism research philosophy. In simple terms, interpretivism is only applicable when your research is qualitative and positivism is applicable when your research is quantitative. So, make sure that you know exactly from the beginning of the research which type of your research is.
Tip: If your title tries to investigate relation, impact, influence of one thing on another thing or you are conducting an experiment, survey, collecting numerical data or intent to use statistical analysis then your preferred philosophy should be
Research Approach
There are two approaches; inductive and deductive. Inductive research approach is used when your research aims to develop a theory because a theory does not exists to define or explain a problem. However, deductive research approach is only used when there is already existing theory or hypothesis that needs to be tested using statistical analysis. Therefore, deductive research approach is only applicable if your research is quantitative in nature but if your research follows subjective nature means qualitative than inductive research approach is applicable to your research.
Tip: Selection of research approach is based on nature of your study, if your study aims to deal with statistical analysis, then deductive approach is recommended but if your study deals with only subjective or qualitative data then inductive research is preferred.
Research Design
A research design is the overall framework of the research that how data will be collected, interpreted and analysed? There are three research designs which are widely used by scholars and are explained as follows
Qualitative Research Design: It is used when your research only uses subjective analysis of opinions, reviews, and viewpoints of people that are collected either by primary data collection or secondary data collection.
Quantitative Research Design: It is used when your research focuses on statistical analysis or hypothesis testing using observations that are collected either through survey or from secondary data platforms such as World Bank or data-stream Eikon formerly Thomson Reuters and other platforms such as Bloomberg.
Mixed Methods research Design: It is used when research requires combining two different research designs into scope of the study. This type of design is only applicable when research questions or the aim of the study requires gathering both types of data qualitative and quantitative to conduct analysis.
So, your choice of research design depends on the purpose and aim of your study. If your study focuses on statistical analysis then quantitative design is more applicable otherwise qualitative or mixed method design.
Data Collection Approach
There are two types of data collection approaches:
Primary Data Collection: It refers to the data which is collected by research first-handed by author through a survey, interviews or focused group discussion.
Secondary Data Collection: It refers to the data which is collected from authentic secondary sources where data has already been collected, formatted and standardised for the research work. This type of data collection could be from World Bank, Eikon, Bloomberg or any other published and authentic sources such as governmental sources and inter-governmental sources.
Your choice of data collection approach must comply with title, objectives and research questions. If your data is primary and primary data collection should be adopted and if your research is based on secondary data then your approach should be a secondary data collection approach.
Sampling Technique
A sampling technique refers to the process by which samples of the study are selected on which investigation would be carried out. There are two categories of sampling techniques;
Probability Sampling Technique: A sampling technique in which each participant has equal chances of being selected within the sample of the study. This can be random sampling, stratified sampling, Cluster sampling and systematic sampling. Each technique has unique characteristics that target and recruit samples in different ways.
Non-Probability Sampling Technique: A sampling technique in which each participant does not have equal chances of being selected within the sample of the study. This can be convenience sampling, purposive sampling, quota sampling, snowball sampling and others.
What sampling is appropriate for you depends on your research and some other factors including time and budget of the research. If you have plenty of time and a good budget then you can opt for probability sampling such as random sampling where you will approach participants randomly from different locations to generalise data collection. However, if you do not have sufficient time and budget for data collection, then you can opt for convenience sampling that allows you to collect data at your convenience.
Data Analysis Technique
In this section, you will explain what data analysis technique you will use to conduct analysis. Generally, there are three techniques that you can use conduct analysis
Content Analysis: Using secondary literature, analyses are conducted that answers research questions.
Thematic Analysis: Using data from interviews transcripts, themes are constructed based on key terms, patterns and keywords in the transcripts. These themes are used as guides to undertake analysis.
Statistical Analysis: Using quantitative data or observations, analyses are conducted through statistical software such as SPSS, EViews, Stata or other software. Meanwhile, the statistical analysis would include basic descriptive statistics also known as five number summary, or Pearson’s correlation or ordinary least Square (OLS) regression.
So, the selection of data analysis techniques also depends on your research purpose and your prior intention. If your study is based on primary data through interviews and thematic analysis is appropriate, if your data is collected through survey then statistical analysis is much better. However, if your study is based on secondary research then content analysis could be used considering the fact that only secondary literature is to be used for the analysis to address the research questions of the study. If you are unsure of methodology, then our experts will provide you full consultation on selecting an appropriate methodology.
Ethical Considerations
In this section, you will explain any ethical concerns or issues that arose during the research and how you will address each of the ethical concerns. There could be various ethical considerations which are listed below
- All work should be self-written and research based work and should not be plagiarised. Overall plagiarism should be less between 10%-15% depending upon university guidelines.
- All work should be uniquely produced and citations must be used to give credit to the originator of the content. This will avoid plagiarism issues.
- Ethical approval must be sought from an ethical committee within the university.
- All data should only be collected with informed consent and participants should be provided all sufficient information regarding research aim, objectives and questions. Meanwhile, participation should be voluntary as well.
- Privacy of participants of the research. All private information of the participants should be password protected to save their identity from theft.
- All findings and analysis should be presented honestly without fabrication or adding personal opinions that could misinterpret the results or findings. Therefore, reflexivity must be avoided at all.
Project Timeline
In this section, you will present key activities that you will undertake during dissertation and must present all milestones along with the schedule of each milestone. This could be a list of milestones in one column and duration in which it will be completed in the second column. A General list of milestones along with schedule could be as follows
| Milestone | Schedule |
| Proposal Approval | 2 Weeks/Months |
| Chapter 1: Introduction | 1 Weeks/Months |
| Chapter 2: Literature Review | 2 Weeks/Months |
| First meeting | 1 Weeks/Months |
| Chapter 3: Methodology | 1 Weeks/Months |
| Second Meeting | 1 Weeks/Months |
| Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Discussion | 3-4 Weeks/Months |
| Third Meeting | 1 Weeks/Months |
| Chapter 5: Conclusion | 2 Weeks/Months |
| Presentation | 1 Weeks/Months |
| Final Meeting | 1 Weeks/Months |
| Final Review and Revisions | 1 Weeks/Months |
| Submission and Defence | 1 Weeks/Months |
Most Common mistakes in writing dissertation proposal
There are number of most commons mistakes that students make while writing a dissertation or thesis proposal; these mistakes are listed below for you to avoid them
- Selecting vague topic that is too broad
- Research questions and objectives does not align with research topic
- Difference between the research questions and research objectives
- General problem statement or research gap
- Using very old literature to make problem statement or research gap
- Wrong conceptual framework
- Unjustified theoretical framework
- Confused methodology
- Selection of wrong research approach or design
- Unrealistic timeline
These are the most common mistakes that students make while writing dissertation or thesis proposal. You need to be very clear on your research topic before you proceed and you should undertake a literature review first in order to craft your topic and research gap so that all other mistakes that takes place consequently are avoided in first place. However, if you have already completed research proposal and need help with proofreading and editing, then you can consult our experts.
Conclusion
As we learned through systematic way how to write dissertation and thesis proposal and a comprehensive structure has been suggested above that sheds light on three sections; introduction, literature review and methodology. However, the difference between the dissertation and thesis must be understood in terms of format and length and avoid most common mistakes that actually lead to failure of research proposal. The core component of a dissertation or thesis proposal is a research gap, correctly identified conceptual framework, theoretical framework and a well justified research methodology. Hence, if you require any help in formulating a dissertation or thesis research gap, you can contact our subject expert, who can guide you through the all process and help you from the beginning to end. Our expert will ensure that you achieve distinction in your research project. Chat with expert online free cost, who will guide you through dissertation proposal
Tip: Please make sure that you follow the university’s specific guidelines regarding structure and format of the dissertation or thesis proposal. The guidelines with respect to the structure, length and format could vary university by university and also by academic discipline.
Key Takeaways
- About 75% of research projects fails in first meeting
- A research gap is foundation of dissertation proposal or thesis proposal
- A well justified research methodology is critical to success of research proposal
- Distinction must be made between the qualitative and quantitative research
- A standard or pre-approved structure should be followed
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
A dissertation is a piece of research project undertaken by students in order to meet with the degree requirements of the university. It is normally a final year research project that is a lengthy and must be original piece of work solely produced by students under guidance of supervisor. It is based on a problem or research gap in the literature where you try to address a question that has not been addressed previously by scholars. Hence, it is a longest form of academic work where you try to fill a research gap that exists and allows you to show your research skills, ability to undertake research independently, collect and analyse various types of data to answer the research questions.
A thesis or a dissertation is a longest form of academic work where you must follow the specific guidelines of the university or department where you have enrolled. A standard guide on how to write thesis or dissertation should only allow you to understand the process that a thesis or dissertation is based on a research gap on which no research has been conducted by scholars and you have opportunity to work on that gap to contribute to literature and suggest recommendations for the practical application based on the research findings. So, in order to write thesis or dissertation, you must have a clearly identified research gap followed by well drafted research methodology and data analysis to tools to conduct analysis and in last writing conclusion based on your findings.
You should follow these steps
1. Conduct a thorough research in area of field where you are interested to conduct research
2. Identify a research gap from the research in first step. You must understand that a research gap is a vacuum in literature or a problem, question and issue that has not been addressed in the research.
3. Study the research methods most appropriate to address the research questions and assists in filling the research gap. You must have a thorough plan from where you will collect data, and analyse data.
4. Start writing your dissertation, from Introduction chapter to Methodology chapter.
5. Collect data and undertake analysis using appropriate techniques
6. Write analysis and discussion chapter using appropriate techniques selected in point 3.
7. Finalise the dissertation or thesis with last chapter which is conclusion and recommendations.
There is no major difference between research proposal and dissertation proposal? A research proposal may be relating to any type of degree in general but dissertation proposal is mainly related to doctoral program that may have length of 100 to 300 pages and dissertation proposal can be 10% of overall length so it may be between 10 to 30 pages. In contrast, a research project could have general requirements specified by supervisors within their instructions.
A standard format of dissertation is as follows
1. Times New Roman 12
2. Heading 1 as Times New Roman 12, Bold
3. Heading 2 as Times New Roman 12, Bold and Italic
4. Heading 3 as Times New Roman 12, Italic
5. Heading 4 as Times New Roman 12, Right Indented
6. Automatically generated table of contents
7. Use of appropriate referencing system, i.e. Harvard or APA
8. All these instructions could vary based on specific guidelines issued by university or respective department where you are enrolled.
A dissertation is a piece of written individual research based project that comprise of different chapters;
1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
3. Methodology
4. Data Analysis and Discussion
5. Conclusion and Recommendations
A standard dissertation or thesis follows above structure but it could also deviate based on the specific guidelines issues by university or respective department of the university.
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