Guidelines for Writing a

Dissertation/Research
Proposal
 Title/Topic of the Research
Project
A good title should be short, descriptive, informative,
accurate, concise and catchy.
 Titles should clearly indicate the independent and
dependent variables.
It should provide the key words for the classification
 Introduction
BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE
The introduction should provide the necessary background for your proposed research.
Research objectives and questions
Significance to knowledge
A brief summary of the literature
A brief description of the gap in the literature
Problem statement
Explain the main concept and present a clear understanding for reasons of choosing this topic
 Aims & objectives
• Highlight the main issues you are attempting to
explore.
• Mention the connection you want to achieve
• Mention the main questions you're looking the
answers for
 RESEARCH QUESTION(S)
• You should formulate research question/s clearly,
giving an explanation as to what problems and
issues are to be explored and why they are worth
exploring
 Significance
• Discuss the theoretical contribution you anticipate
making to existing knowledge in your study.
• Highlight why your study is important, and state the
usefulness of this study or research.
• What your study will add to the existing literature
 Literature Review
• Include sources that you can show & will add value to your work.
• Define the importance of your research/thesis/ dissertation or paper
• Flesh out the Introduction’s brief description of the background of your study.
• Critically assess important research trends or areas of interest relevant to your
study.
• Identify potential gaps in knowledge.
Establish a need for current and/or future research projects.
 You should provide an outline of:
Methodology
• the theoretical resources to be drawn on
• the research approach (theoretical framework)
• the research methods appropriate for the proposed research
 Explain scope and design of the research clearly
• Technique
• Sampling
• Population
• Sample size
• Explain how you will analyze the data of the study
• State which data collection methods will be applied
• Explain why you select and choose these methodologies
• a discussion of advantages as well as limits of particular approaches and methods

Highlight the measurement scales/tools

 Timeline frame
Setting a schedule can help you manage your time more
effectively by setting specific goals for yourself.
Timeline frame explains the estimated time, stages and the
development phases that helps in covering the period
outlined of your work.
It clarifies due time for each task, from the beginning to
the end.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
• You should include:
 A list of all references cited to key articles and texts
discussed within your research proposal
 A selection of sources appropriate to the proposed
research