Making the Most of Your MA Dissertation Proposal
The first step of thesis writing, especially as it applies to your MA dissertation proposal, is picking a topic. You need to be very careful when picking a subject. Not only will the success of your dissertation proposal depend on your subject matter, but you have to make sure that you will have the time and tools to do all the research necessary.
You need to choose a topic of research about which you yourself can develop a clear and concise understanding; only if you can understand it and convey it in your MA dissertation proposal will you be able to do so in the paper itself. It is always recommended that you check out an example – a good one, at that – so that you can get an idea about what you need to do. Believe it or not, sometimes it is better to look for ideas on a subject about which you do not know as much – that way, the entire proposal will be a learning process for you. More importantly, you will not risk coloring your research with your own knowledge and biases.
It is not uncommon to take a few months to write up an MA dissertation proposal. Many students go through upwards of twenty drafts, even though the structure of the proposal itself is rather easy to follow. Like any other academic paper, it begins with an introduction, wherein you will summarize the largest and most important issues you will be discussing. You need to pinpoint where your research stands in regards to the broader topic (i.e., if you are talking about chromosomes, tie that into genetics as a whole). Your primary research question also needs to be included in the introduction.
Most, if not all, dissertation proposals contain a literature review as well. The proposal for your MA is generally no exception. This is one of the easiest parts of the dissertation writing process but, again, you may want to check out a good example so that you can see how to set up this section. At the very least, examples are an excellent source of proposal help.
You may need some help with the next section as well, which is the methodology chapter. Conversely, this is generally the most difficult part of a dissertation proposal. This is where you describe what you intend to do in your actual dissertation and explain why, as well as how you intend to tie all these questions and methods into the conceptual framework. Many students generally find that this is the easiest part of their proposal, but as always, there will be lots of proposal help available to you, in terms of setting up your paper, subject manner, resources, et cetera.
Your MA dissertation proposal will be very intensive and you may get frustrated. However the reward for crafting an excellent proposal is very rich and valuable. You will have plenty of help at your disposal during this commitment, so make sure you take advantage of it.
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Tags: dissertation proposal, Dissertation Writing Guide, literature review, MA dissertation proposal, methodology chapter, proposal help