Dissertation Proposals: Journey Map for Dissertations

Those who are already highly experienced at writing dissertations are all of the opinion that the contents of a dissertation proposal are subject to a lot of modifications once the actual research has begun. Therefore, one would wonder, “What's the point of writing a dissertation proposal if it's going to undergo a lot of changes anyway?” Well, the answer is that it will be the guide which will point the writer of dissertations to the right direction. Taking the metaphor of travel, a dissertation proposal serves as the map that will help the student determine the starting point of the journey, the landmarks along the way and the end point. The actual experiences of the travel, which will not be known until the trip itself, represent the dissertation project.

Importance of Choosing Dissertation Topics and Writing Dissertation Titles

The selection of effective and interesting dissertation topics would usually the first step that the undergraduate degree students and master's degree students would do in their dissertation writing tasks. The topic selection is very crucial because the manner or way which the student could research, write and discuss his topic would primarily be dependent on how he made a wise and effective choice for his dissertation topic. Therefore, the undergraduate degree or master's degree student should know the important tips or guidelines that would help him in selecting a good topic for his dissertation project.

Following the important tips or guidelines for selecting dissertation topics would be a very crucial task for the students due to several factors. A wise decision in selecting a topic could greatly contribute to a thoroughly performed research process, on how effective is the student in writing and discussing his dissertation project, during the presentation of the dissertation document, and during the actual oral examination or defense of the dissertation by the student.

Structuring The Proposal Documents of Dissertations

In the higher education system of the United Kingdom, the dissertations are documents that are submitted to support the candidatures for academic degrees of undergraduate degree students, or postgraduate degree students. Before the actual writing of the dissertation document, an important step to be performed by the undergraduate degree or master's degree student would be writing and submission of the dissertation proposal document, which is the document that presents and states a summary of the student's research goals or objectives, the proposed methods of investigation, and other important aspects of the dissertation project.

The students would submit their proposal documents to the dissertation or supervising committee overseeing the projects of the students. If the committee approves the proposal documents, the students could proceed in the researching and writing tasks for their dissertations. The approved proposal document is very important because it is equivalent to a contract between the committee and the student in which he is committed to pursue and complete the actual dissertation project. Therefore, the student should write and complete a high quality and professionally written proposal document.

General Steps for Formatting a Dissertation

A dissertation project, or treatise or also known as thesis could be written by undergraduate degree students or by master's degree students. But the basic or general steps or guidelines in formatting the treatise would still be the same regardless if the student is taking up a bachelor's degree or a master's degree. The formatting of dissertations would be based on the style guide or style manual that is specified by the lecturer or the supervisor of the project. The style guide is the written set of standards to follow for the design and writing of academic documents, including dissertations.

For example, a particular style manual could have the specific dissertation formatting guidelines for the paper of the document. The guidelines would include the type of paper such as an A4 paper, using double-sided printing for the soft-bound or hard-bound documents of the dissertations, font size of 11 to 12 for the text and 10 for the footnotes, and font type of Arial or New Times Roman. The other technical aspects for the formatting of the document would include the typing font and font size, in-text citations, quotations, referencing, listing of sources and the details of sources, the margins of the paper, and the style of presentation of figures, tables, graphs, images and other visuals.

The Importance of Making Good Dissertation Titles

Dissertation titles are very important for dissertation writing since it will be the first thing that readers will see about your dissertation. Dissertation titles function just like the title of a book or article in the sense that it catches the reader's attention and gives an idea of what readers can expect of the discussion provided in the dissertation. In addition, the best dissertation titles will show the comprehensive research done for the dissertation. The dissertation writing process will have allowed the student to gain an area of specialisation in a particular subject area, which should also reflect in dissertation titles.

Proper Formatting for Dissertations

One of the important aspects of a successful dissertation is the use of the proper dissertation format. Dissertation writing has to be accomplished in an orderly manner in conforming with university standards. Below is an outline of sections that a dissertations contains and the common guidelines of dissertation formatting. It is arranged according to how the section appears in the dissertation.

Important Considerations in Submitting a Dissertation Proposal

A dissertation proposal is the first step in the dissertation writing process. It introduces and summarizes the author's research goals, proposed methods of investigation, and contains a detailed plan for testing the hypothesis. The dissertation proposal is then submitted to the university's dissertation committee for review. If the committee feels that the dissertation will contribute to your field of study based on your justifications and the relevance of the research, they will grant the student permission to proceed. The committee will also be able to alert you to potential problems at this stage. Otherwise, if the dissertation proposal is poorly written or lacking in details, the Dissertation Committee will likely ask for revisions or reject it altogether.