Articulate the problem or question on which your master's dissertation will focus. Contextualize the problem within current research in your field, or explain how current research leads directly to the problem which you will address. This section of your proposal should be between two hundred and four hundred words.
Explain the significance of the problem for your field and area of research. Typically a topic's significance falls into one of three categories: it signifies an as-of-yet unanswered question that has troubled the field for quite some time, it signifies an as-of-yet unasked question that the field must now attempt to answer or it represents the culmination of other research and as such signifies the next logical question that must be tackled given other contemporary research. The problem's significance should be explained in approximately one hundred to two hundred words.
Demonstrate your knowledge and expertise related to the problem in the form of a literature or research review. The significance of this section is to demonstrate the truly unique quality of the question on which your dissertation will focus. By reviewing prior research, you indicate that you have fully considered the topic. Your literature review can be between five hundred and one thousand words, depending upon your dissertation director and panel and topic.
Outline the strategies you will employ in the research and experimentation for your dissertation. Describe primary and secondary sources you will explore, as well as any field or laboratory experiments you plan to conduct, if such experiments are relevant to your field and area of research. Your methodology section should be between three hundred and seven hundred words.
Identify the key assumptions you will employ in the completion of your research and composition of your dissertation. These include theoretical or critical lenses you will use to interpret data, as well as research or experimentation strategies used in your field. Your key assumptions section should be between one hundred and two hundred words.
Describe the objectives of your proposal. The primary purpose of your dissertation is to respond to the research question or problem. Secondary objectives might include publication of your results in a journal, or presentation of your results at a conference. Your objectives should be a bulleted list of between 5 and ten short objectives.
List the proposed chapters or sections of your dissertation. Each chapter or section will represent a subtopic of the main topic of your dissertation. Your proposed chapters section should be a bulleted list of between 5 and 7 possible sections.
Compose a summary of each of the subsequent components of your proposal. Though written last, the summary will be the first section of the proposal. It should make a one to two sentence reference to each of the proceeding sections. The summary should be between two hundred and four hundred words long.