For every undergrad or postgrad student in the university, you will be required to write a thesis proposal for your research paper. Writing a thesis proposal is one of the traditional college practices you expect while in school.
It is the first step when writing your degree research paper. First, your professor will ask you to submit a thesis proposal. The proposal will chronicle all the relevant things about your research paper.
Of course, most students can get stuck in the thesis proposal rabbit hole due to constantly failing to follow the required procedure. On that note, this article outlines relevant things to note when writing a thesis proposal.
What is a thesis proposal?
Your thesis proposal is a written paper that outlines your research topic, highlights relevant areas the research cuts across, points out a statement of problem and importance of the study, and provides a solution to the highlighted problem.
Your thesis proposal answers every question your professor could ask while going through your proposal. Therefore, when preparing your proposal, it is important to carry out adequate research to help form a stronger and more well-informed argument and provide answers.
How to write a thesis proposal
Your thesis proposal is an important aspect of fulfilling your academic requirement for a degree. Yet, most students find it hard to draft a proper thesis proposal. Below are ten important tips to keep in mind to enable you when writing your thesis proposal.
- Follow your professor’s instructions for writing a thesis proposal. Professors usually provide students with an instructional outline that contains the criteria for writing a proposal. Always follow these criteria because that’s the first thing they will check.
- Choose a clear and strong topic. Make sure that the topic you are choosing is clear and has some depth. The depth of your topic provides you with more interesting information about the topic, which will be included in your proposal.
- Draft an outline on how you’ll write your proposal. It will help you to build up your idea gradually.
- Research your chosen topic thoroughly. It isn’t easy to write a well-informed proposal when you don’t conduct proper research.
- State the research problem. A thesis proposal includes a statement of the problem. It is usually loopholes that have been found in your area of research interest.
- Have a clear research objective and include it when writing your proposal. After identifying a problem, your objective should detail how to solve the research problem.
- Consult several scholarly materials. It is completely impossible to turn out a properly written and researched proposal without reading previous research works related to your study area. Reading works by previous scholars helps build your knowledge and provides you with more information about the topic you are writing about.
- Use graphs, texts, or images to provide further information in your thesis proposal. Your thesis proposal is like a presentation on an intended topic to your professor. And, to score points and progress quickly to writing the research, always use every information at your disposal to buttress points.
- Your thesis proposal should be detailed, concise, and thoroughly written. Remember that your proposal isn’t the entire research work. Make it fun, educational, and easily readable. Your points should be thorough but should be concise as well.
- Review your proposal. Before submitting your proposal, make sure that you have reviewed your work. In most cases, you can give your work to colleagues to help you review it.
How to write a thesis proposal outline
Your thesis proposal outline contains the various points that should be included inside your proposal. Most times, students mistakenly skip one point, which might affect their research outcome. A thesis proposal outline includes:
- Title page
- Abstract
- Table of content
- Introduction
- Thesis statement
- Statement of Problem
- Research methodology
- Preliminary results and discussion
- Research plan/Objective
- References
How long should a thesis proposal be?
Your thesis proposal should be detailed, cutting across all the relevant areas. But that does not mean it should turn into a book.
A thesis proposal can contain 2-5pages depending on the content of your research.
What is a senior thesis proposal example?
A thesis proposal example guide every student should follow is:
- Choose a topic
- Identify an issue
- Evaluate previous literature
- Collect data (primary or secondary data)
- Analyze collected data using appropriate techniques.
- Report the result of the analysis using the thesis outline as a guide.
Students should note that a well-researched thesis proposal reduces the workload when writing a research paper. Therefore, attention should be paid to the research from the proposal stage.
