Proposal Phase

What is a Proposal?

Proposal is defined as the framework for the dissertation and gives a summary for the study through which the research committee judges the merits of the proposed research. While some scholars write their proposal without any in depth study of the resources to be used or deciding the exact methodology, others prefer to gain an understanding of the various aspects of research before drafting the proposal. The rules and requirements of the concerned university will decide the manner in which scholars proceed at this stage.

Why write a Proposal?

There are many reasons for which PhD candidates may draft proposals, the leading one being to be able to get approval and support from the research committee for conducting the study and attaining their PhD degree. Proposals may also be required when one is applying for grants from an organization for research, or when seeking clearances from government or private authorities for research procedures.

PhD research scholars must understand that their proposals could greatly influence their grades, fund grants, as well as their careers. Hence, having a loosely framed or incomplete proposal can harm them greatly. Since the proposal is the first research document for many scholars, they are unaware of the linguistic and formatting requirements and unsure about the content. If they are not confident enough to write the proposal from the scratch, then they should take advice from an expert or consultant.

How to write a Proposal

Proposals should be expressive, appealing and descriptive. Moreover, they must also succeed in justifying the reasons for conducting the research on the specific topic. Here are some suggestions, which scholars must remember while drafting their proposals:

• Write in the future tense, as the proposal will be followed by the actual research
• Keep the proposal flexible yet specific. There might be many issues, which do not permit you to get the required resources or some variables may turn out to be invalid. In such cases, you may need to deviate from the original proposal.
• While you cannot be sure of the research results at the proposal stage, it will be beneficial to give an idea of the possible results that you hope to attain.
• Focus on highlighting the significance and contributions of a particular proposed study.
• Get clarity in the objectives of research and the issues that are proposed to be solved through your research. The reasons must be convincing enough for the committee to approve the study or grant funds.
• Consider all specific guidelines and instructions issued by the academic institutions.
• Ensure that proposals are sufficiently referenced and backed by relevant research. This will make your literature review section strong.
• The section on research methodology must mention all details like nature of research, identified source of data, method of collecting data, statistical tests to be performed, etc.
• Do include a timeline that you will follow, mentioning deadlines for completion of various stages of research.

Follow these tips shared by our experienced team of mentors and you can be sure to sail through the proposal phase without any hassles.