Entering into the academic research phase of your life may seem super exciting. Research is undoubtedly an interesting task, but only for those who are habitual to calmly face all challenges. Remember, no matter how lucky you are; you have to face some academic challenges, so be ready to test your patience. Get it now that at different stages of research, the nature of problems varies greatly. The first problem all students face right after selecting a research supervisor is starting a dissertation proposal, even without getting assistance from any internal or external entity.
Hopefully, you got my point. The topic of today’s discussion is to tell you some ways to kickstart your dissertation proposal that will amaze your supervisor. But instead of directly jumping on to the discussion on starting proposal writing, first, we will briefly discuss what is meant by the proposal and what some of its writing requirements are.
What Is A Dissertation Proposal?
A dissertation proposal, in quite simple words, refers to the detailed research plan you want to follow for academic research. So describing what your plan is all about, how it will be implemented, and why it’s worth doing to throw light on a certain area of interest. Do you think that the dissertation proposal is all about discussing these three aspects? If yes, then remember this is not the case. Reviewing relevant literature, focusing on detailed protocol, deciding on the target audience, calculating the sample size, and making an educated guess about the expected outcomes of research are a few simple tasks to be completed while writing a dissertation proposal. Moreover, keeping the tone formal, making it error-free, and conducting thorough research to improve its quality are some other tasks to be done in writing a dissertation or research proposal.
How To Write A Dissertation Proposal?
Getting all the necessary information about the requirements to write a winning proposal must be the first step; however, the next step must be to review a step-by-step guide. Following a step-by-step guide, one can follow experts’ footsteps so all possible mistakes can be avoided deliberately. The proposal contains only three chapters, namely, the introduction, the literature review, and the research methodology. Writing practices for drafting these three chapters for a research proposal are more and less similar to those for writing a dissertation. The former asks you to remain as short and precise as possible. The following is a brief list that will tell you about some essentials of a dissertation proposal:
- A short introduction
- To-the-point review of literature
- A research methodology
- A short section discussing the possible implications of the research
- Expected outcome prediction
- Bibliography
It will be good to follow the sequence mentioned above to make your proposal fluent. The most probable reason for following this sequence includes all stages of making a research proposal are somewhat interconnected, or each step sets the stage for the upcoming one. Thus, starting your proposal by writing the introduction and ending it with revising your bibliography is the most appropriate way to deal with the research or dissertation proposal writing process. However, some pro tips can be followed to speed up the writing.
What Is The Right Method To Start A Dissertation Proposal?
The planning will help you kickstart your dissertation proposal in an impressive way. You can start writing a research proposal if you learn to make a plan that is easy to implement or helpful enough to get guaranteed outcomes. Additionally, the following tips will work very well if you follow them properly:
Let Your Brain Think In The Right Direction:
Reading, thinking, and writing are simple steps to make a good research plan. So you can start with reading as it is important to know about the latest trends that you can pursue easily. Moreover, reading will also give your thinking a nudge in the right direction. After reading, based on what you understand, let your brain process all the information and try to do something new.
Come Up With An Idea:
Once your brain starts thinking in the right direction, then it will surely come out with something that is not seen by anybody else. Moreover, by identifying the literature gap or discussing your ideas with field experts, you can surely decide on a unique problem to be solved via extensive academic research.
Find Its Practicality:
Does your research idea have any real-world existence? This is the first doubt you must clear up after deciding on a topic of interest. Moreover, if we call it a checkpoint that you must cross before making a research plan, it will not be wrong. So, go to the next phase only if you find a big ‘Yes’ as an answer.
Research To Make A Fail-Proof Plan:
Of course, if an area of interest crosses the checkpoint of practicality, then there must be a path to do so. So at this point, all you need to do is to search for this path. Additionally, for making a fail-proof plan, you must make an informed decision about the research design, approach, philosophy, goals, sampling, and results and give reasons supporting your choices.
Start Writing:
An expert’s tip to come out with a masterpiece is they never start writing unless they have made all research-related decisions by conducting extensive research. Thus, to take the right start, you must also have a very clear picture of your research plan. If you have done with it, then the only thing left is to make a homogenous blend of your personal vocabulary and subject-related terms to write like a pro.
Final Thoughts:
After all is said and done, we can conclude today’s discussion by restating that a dissertation proposal requires you to spend more time on planning than writing. Planning is the central dilemma in the proposal writing process, and if you nail it, nobody can stop you from shining like a star.