How to Write a Doctoral Thesis Proposal

A doctoral thesis is a written research paper on a specific topic agreed upon by the doctoral research committee and the doctoral candidate. The doctoral thesis proposal is presented to the doctoral research committee for acceptance. The proposal requires prior research on the topic to be written to determine whether there is substantial information on the proposed topic and whether the information presented is manageable for the doctoral candidate. The main parts of the thesis proposal are: Thesis Statement, Research Methods, Justifications and Limitations, and Conclusion.

Things You'll Need

  • Sample Doctoral Thesis Proposals
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Instructions

    • 1
      Initial brainstorm of various ideas can be helpful in selecting a good topic.

      Write down ideas you may want as the topic of your thesis paper proposal. Conduct some basic research to see whether there is adequate information available to support research on your particular topics of interest. After browsing various research information, decide on one of the topics that show adequate support from existing research studies. Start gathering background information and references to support the written proposal.

    • 2
      The thesis statement decides the direction of the thesis paper.

      Begin the thesis statement. The thesis statement consists of information about the topic you will write about. You will need to decide on the type of paper you will write: analytical, expository, or argumentative. An analytical paper analyzes a specific topic, an expository paper explains a topic to readers, and an argumentative paper states a claim on a particular topic, and then justifies it with specific evidence.

    • 3
      Based on the research proposal, some methods will be more beneficial than others.

      Show information to support the research methods. Research methods can be broken down into categories like survey, interview, observation, and analysis. A survey is used to gather information from a large number of participants. An interview is used to gather specific details from an individual or small group of people. Observations are a collection of organized information about specific occurrences. An analysis involves the collection and organization of data based on specific criteria.

    • 4
      Including limitations allow others to conduct further research on the topic.

      Justify the thesis statement with research information on the topic. This section should provide information that supports your thesis statement and your findings. Supporting information can come from books, articles, newspapers, interviews, and other methods. Any limitations found while writing the thesis proposal should be acknowledged. No matter how well researched a paper or project is, there are always limitations that can be noted. Including information on limitations allows other researchers to know which areas may need further clarification and research.

    • 5

      Summarize all your previous information in a conclusion. The conclusion is basically a summary of the information presented from the thesis statement to the research methodology and justifications and limitations. This part of the thesis proposal is usually less detailed than the other parts. The conclusion is generally followed by any research information that is organized in a reference list.

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