It’s time to write
your thesis/dissertation proposal … er, uh, prospectus … um, wait, what is it
that we graduate students write before we actually write a thesis or
dissertation? And how do we write this thing?
If you’re confused,
you’re not alone. I know that I had many questions when writing my proposal,
and I recall many of my colleagues feeling the same. Let’s start by clarifying,
somewhat, the difference in the terms “proposal” and “prospectus.”
These terms are used interchangeably
by many universities, and whatever you call it, this piece of writing is basically
an outline of your proposed study as you see it now. Some universities do
distinguish between the terms “proposal” and “prospectus”; see Walden
University (click here) where a prospectus is actually the
plan for a proposal! But a proposal, in general, is a written piece that seeks
to convince its audience to do something, buy something, or accept a solution.
If you think about it, a thesis or dissertation proposal does just that for
your committee: you are writing to show your committee members the plan for
your ultimate project, and you hope they accept your design. No one expects
that you will know exactly what your thesis or dissertation will ultimately
look like at this stage, however.
So let’s move on to
the actual the document. As Alice N. T. Reid, on her website, says, a (general) proposal “offers a
plan to fill a need.” The thesis/dissertation proposal fits that description
exactly, as it should suggest that your project will fill in a gap, however
small, in the existing scholarship on the same topic. But, again, what are the
requirements for this proposal?
Here is where variety comes in; there are as many kinds of
proposals as there are theses and dissertations. For this reason, you should
check with your advisor to see what she or he suggests. All proposals contain
one or more research question/s and how those will be addressed, and all have a
bibliography. All give the context of what is currently being discussed
regarding the topic, but, other than that, proposals vary, depending on the
study and the discipline the work is situated in.
I found that typically, proposals are about 20 pages, but
I’ve heard of many being much shorter or longer. Carolyn Law, NIU’s thesis advisor, suggests not to worry
about page length; instead, she says to “outline your proposal based on
necessary sections.” She advises you to think of the proposal as a
contract or action plan to keep you focused throughout your research project.
After you talk to your department, you could search other university websites for department-specific advice as well; for instance, Brown University’s History Department gives exacting details as to how to write a proposal in history at Brown. Don’t forget, too: books! Several resources focus on helping writers of theses and dissertations. One example, with a 72-page chapter on writing proposals, is: Destination Dissertation: A Traveler’s Guide to a Done Dissertation by Sonja K. Foss and William Waters.
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