How to Write a Thesis Proposal

How to Write a Good Thesis Proposal

Don’t know what to do with your thesis proposal? Don’t even know what it is? It’s a document, must meet strict requirements, including a certain number of sections, each of which fully reveals the topic of your dissertation to be.

It’s supposed to defend your choice of a thesis and show the value you’ll bring by creating on your dissertation. Doing this assignment can significantly influence your grade, so you can’t disregard this task.

Although you should always discuss precise thesis proposal guidelines with your academic curator, we’ve created a simple guide to follow. After reading our article, you’ll know exactly what to include in your paper to get a top mark.

What Is a Thesis Proposal: Definition, Purpose, Aspects

This assignment is an extended plan of work for scientific research. The preparation includes all elements of the typical dissertation introduction and a brief listing of chapters. The conclusion when drawing up the plan is not detailed. The conclusion is written as a response to the hypothesis stated in the introduction and includes short summaries for each chapter.

Key issues regarding the dissertation to be considered and presented in the proposal:

• Statement of the goal, formulation of tasks, definition of the problem.
• The choice of the method by which the research will be carried out.
• Development of software (if necessary) for solving problems.
• Experimentation and practical examination.
• A publication describing the research experience.

The “extract” of the candidate’s research is compiled in the first semester of study: a separate spread is allocated in the student’s notebook. In general, the student briefly talks about the essence of the research and can back up their decision for research direction with strong arguments.

How to Start a Thesis Proposal: Best Opening Lines

Here some great and widely-utilized clichés that you can make use of in your writing:

• The research work offered to the attention of the reader is devoted to …
• Have you ever wondered why …?
• I drew attention to … / thought about this question when …
• I’ve always wondered why …
• The desire to know … appeared in my childhood. I was interested in …
• The theme of our work: “…”. I chose this particular topic for research because …
• I became interested … after one day …
• When I … I was amazed / I became interested …

How to Structure a Thesis Proposal in 3 Quick Steps

Leave the Perfectionism Behind

To create a thesis proposal, it is important to overcome your perfectionism. Understand that the task of the researcher is to present the concept, not the final product. So, don’t worry if the scientific piece you’re working on will change with time.

The working hypothesis changes: experiments may not confirm the hypothesis put forward, but they will help look at the research in a new way. Then the text of the hypothesis in the candidate’s dissertation needs to be revised again and again.

Organize All Your Findings and Research

Examples from practice or experiments demonstrate the transparency of the study and the reproducibility of the results. In technical specialties, drawings, calculations, and the results of laboratory work on the project are included in the paper.

Also, you’ll have to reference which scientific material you’ve found while researching the thesis. So, to successfully and swiftly compose the proposal, you should organize all your findings.

Copy Our Structure and Just Fill in the Content

Below, we included a list of thematic points to go over in your thesis proposal. Don’t think about the structure too hard and simply copy ours. Then, you’ll only have the task of filling it in with corresponding information.

Let the points guide you, as you’re just copying and rephrasing content from your research. When done correctly, this assignment shouldn’t even take that long.

How to End a Thesis Proposal Briefly and to the Point

Here are some great phrases to sum up your thesis text:

• Based on the above, we can state …
• All of the above allows us to draw the following conclusions: …
• We see prospects for further research of the problem in a more detailed study …
• Research in this direction can be continued. It could be a study not only … but also …
• In the process of writing work, I discovered/found out …
• The work will help me to understand/realize/solve the problem/take a new look …
• The most plausible version seems to us … because …
• The examples found and analyzed by us allow us to reveal the following pattern: …

Nonetheless, you have to remember that you’re not creating a conclusion to the thesis itself. Instead, you’re only suggesting that the specific thesis needs examination based on the problem domain and existing issues.

Thesis Proposal Outline + Example

Here’s the structure that should easily answer the question “how to write a thesis proposal for Ph.D.”:

• The relevance of the work.
• Goals and objectives of the study.
• Research novelty.
• Subject and object of research.
• The working hypothesis of the thesis.
• Methodology and methods used in writing a dissertation.
• The degree of elaboration of the topic.
• Approbation of the results.
• The parts of the dissertation research and their brief description.

Down below, we’ll dissect a thesis proposal in 3 parts – introduction, main part, and conclusion. We’ll take a paper in child development as a basis to examine. Remember that some points can be combined or rearranged. However, all must be mentioned.

Thesis Proposal Introduction + Example

The purpose of the research can be formulated as a question, which is not contained in the knowledge accumulated by science and practice. The question, preferably, should be posed “How?”, “How?”, “What are the patterns and relationships?”, And not “What?”. Otherwise, it can be formulated as a direct description without any questions.

In the same part, it is necessary to describe the background/origin of the problem that is being resolved. It is also necessary to explain the relevance of the solution to the research problem and the planned doctoral research.

The novelty of the doctoral research is explained by the originality of the approaches chosen by the doctoral student, which have not previously been applied to this problem in global science.

Example of the Introduction Part

The social, economic, and cultural changes that have taken place in our country in connection with the entry into a new era – the 21st century have indicated the latest urgent problems for educators, researchers, and psychologists. The most important task of upbringing and teaching children with various developmental anomalies is to prepare them for their future life in modern realities as full members of society. 

Associated with this is a whole range of tasks related to the development and improvement of the education system at all its stages. Children who differ from the majority due to their developmental anomalies should undergo a different, corrective approach, including their participation in various play activities. The successful development of role-based relationships allows children not to experience stress, manifesting as they socialize and communicate with peers. 

A common developmental disorder of a child in older preschool age is mental retardation. According to statistics, it is widespread, affecting a wide variety of children with very diverse problems. This disorder is characterized by a slower pace of development of basic mental functions compared to the generally recognized norm, which in itself is not yet a serious developmental defect, but in the absence of special help, support for such children, it can have numerous consequences.

Thesis Proposal Body + Example

The literature review should contain a meaningful overview analysis of current and recognized monographs, scientific articles, reviews, international and national acts, judicial and administrative decisions in the direction of doctoral research. Conversely, it should be explained what the differences in the approaches proposed by the doctoral student and the literature.

The methodology should explain what qualitative and quantitative research methods will be applied by the doctoral student to solve the scientific problem. A simple enumeration of methods is considered to be in bad style – instead, they should be mentioned as a part of practical research.

Example of the Main Part

Research topic: “Correctional and pedagogical work on the development of role relationships in older preschool children with mental retardation in the role-playing game.”

The object of research: role relationships among older children with mental retardation.

The subject of research: correctional and pedagogical work on the development of role relationships in older children with mental retardation in a role-playing game.

Purpose of the study: to theoretically substantiate the need to form role relationships in preschool children and develop recommendations for the development of role relationships in older children with mental retardation in a role-playing game.

Research hypothesis: the development of role relationships in older preschool children with mental retardation in a role-playing game will be successful if:

Research objectives:

• • To study and theoretically substantiate the need to develop role relationships in preschool children with mental retardation.
  • To identify the level of development of role relationships in older preschool children with mental retardation.
  • To develop recommendations for developing role relationships in older preschool children with mental retardation in a role-playing game.

The theoretical and methodological basis of the study was:

The works considering the problems of mental retardation in the context of children’s play activity; studies of plot-role play by psychologists and teachers. These studies are of particular importance because mastering the skills of role-playing games is one of the most important requirements for the successful formation of the basic mental processes and the socialization of children. 

Research methods. The study used theoretical and empirical methods. The first includes the study and analysis of psychological and pedagogical literature on the research problem, the second – observation of children, conversation, ascertaining experiment, statistical methods of processing materials.

Thesis Proposal Conclusion + Example

In this part, it is necessary to explain what expected results the doctoral student plans to achieve by solving the problem posed. Also, the structure of the dissertation has to be described. Exactly at this point, you can start losing yourself to perfectionism and end up not writing anything. You have to keep in mind that the dissertation will be an exact copy of your description in any case.

Sources of information (monographs, scientific articles, reviews, international and national acts, judicial and administrative decisions) used by the doctoral student in preparing a research proposal concept should be listed after the conclusion. You have to format it according to the requirements of your university.

Example of the Concluding Part

Practical significance:

• • recommendations will be developed for the development of role relationships in older preschool children with mental retardation in a role-playing game;
  • the research results can be used in the organization of the pedagogical process in a preschool educational organization.

The structure of the research work.

The introduction substantiates the relevance of the research, the research topic, goal, objectives, subject, object, the hypothesis of the research is put forward. Research methods are characterized, the methodological basis and sources of information are presented.

The first chapter, “Theoretical study of the problem of the development of role-playing relationships in older preschool children with mental retardation in a plot-role-playing game,” presents a theoretical base containing the concepts and characteristics of the development of role-playing relationships and the role of plot-role play in their development.

In the second chapter, “Experimental study of the peculiarities of the development of role relationships in older preschool children with mental retardation,” the program of the ascertaining stage of the experiment is presented, the quantitative results of the study and the qualitative analysis of the obtained data are demonstrated, which make it possible to compare theoretical data with the state of development of role relationships in older preschool children with slow mental development. 

In the third chapter, “Correctional and developmental work on the development of role relationships in older preschool children with mental retardation in the role-playing game,” recommendations for developing role-playing relationships of children in the role-playing game are developed.

Final Words

Feeling intimidated by this amount of work not knowing how to write a thesis proposal in social science (or any other field)? We can understand you – it’s a lot of work.

If you don’t have the time to do this massive amount of work, delegate it to our experts! We’re a professional writing agency that employs specialists with advanced degrees. We deliver numerous academic papers daily, including thesis proposals on various subjects. Fill out the form and use our essay writer services!