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Writing your dissertation proposal is a bit like running on a treadmill that won't switch off. You work hard to create your proposal, you turn it in, and the committee and your adviser send you off to run a bit more by requesting changes. You make the requested changes and turn your proposal in for review once again, and it still isn't good enough. If you want to get off of the treadmill, or avoid it in the first place, take a few minutes to read these best practices on how to write a dissertation proposal. This advice comes directly from Ph.D. Writers with extensive experience with dissertation proposals.

Elements to be Included When Writing a Dissertation Proposal

Take care to insure that all of the required elements and sections are present. If your proposal is missing any of the following, it will be rejected:

• Your Research Question: You begin the dissertation process by selecting a topic area. Then, within your topic area you define a research question that is much more specific. You discuss that question with your department adviser. Once this is done, you have to word your question in a very specific manner for your proposal.
• Your Objectives Statement: Your statement of objectives answers the question, “What value or benefit do you believe will come as the result of your research? This statement needs to be very detailed.
• Justification: This is somewhat similar to, but not identical to your statement of objectives. When you are writing dissertation proposal justifications, you have to demonstrate that your research is worthwhile. In order to demonstrate this, you have to do some research and be able to identify a need for your research. This could be done by highlighting past research that needs to be expanded upon, or by showing that there is an area in which adequate research has never been done.
• Research Design: As you get further into dissertation proposal writing you will develop a highly detailed design of your research that will include the instruments you will use, methodologies, etc.. You do not need to have all of these at the time you submit your proposal. However, you should have a basic design that is ready to present to the dissertation committee. You should know, for example, how you will collect data and whether or not you will use quantitative or qualitative analysis.
• Your Timeline: This is a basic outline that you will present with completion dates for each chapter, when your research will be implemented, and the date you plan to submit your completed dissertation. You can make adjustments to this as you go through the process, but you will not receive approval on your proposal unless you show that you have created a timeline that makes sense for your dissertation.

First Time Approval is Possible

It is very rare for a proposal to be approved the first time it is submitted. In almost every case, the committee will want more details or some minor changes. However, first time approval is not an impossibility. It has been done before, and you can do it as well. You just have to know the tricks on how to write dissertation proposal that includes all of the required items and how to present those items effectively in your proposal.