This document provides guidance on writing a dissertation proposal. It explains that the purpose of the proposal is to convince the committee that the research question is worth pursuing and that the student is capable of conducting the research. The proposal should define the research question, explain its importance, formulate testable hypotheses, and provide a detailed plan for testing the hypotheses. It cautions students not to get ahead of themselves by writing the dissertation before the proposal or treating hypotheses as conclusions. The proposal should describe what is proposed, discuss why, and explain how it will be done.

1. A Primer OnA Primer On
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DissertationDissertation
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Fayetteville State UniversityFayetteville State University
School of EducationSchool of Education
Department of Educational LeadershipDepartment of Educational Leadership
Joseph F. Johnson, ProfessorJoseph F. Johnson, Professor

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• The purpose of the proposal is to convince
your committee that there is a tractable
research question which is worth pursuing.
• An equally important purpose is to
convince the committee that you are in a
position to do a good job pursuing the
research question.

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• The proposal should demonstrate that you:
– have defined and delimited an interesting
research question;
– can explain the importance of the question to
someone not intimately familiar with it;
– can formulate testable hypotheses; and
– have a detail plan for testing the most
promising hypotheses.

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• You do not have to read everything that was ever
written about anything that might conceivably be
relevant to a full understanding of the subject you
are interested in addressing before you write the
proposal.
• However, you are expected to “chase the paper”“chase the paper”
and be familiar with the material that is germane
to your subject.

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• The proposal should contain a review of the
literature in the context of what is known
and can be documented about the research
question.
• There should be a discussion of the lasting
contributions and shortcomings of previous
research.

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• Do not attempt to define the research
question; explain it’s importance; formulate
hypotheses; nor write a detailed plan beforebefore
you write the proposal. It will be obvious
that you are trying to get ahead of yourself
and can result in extending the completion
of a quality study.

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• Do not write the dissertation beforebefore you write the
proposal or prospectus. If you do , you will be
treating your hypotheses like conclusions, and
your proposal will read like a defense of those
propositions. This is the role of a dissertation
defense scheduled after testing, writing, reviewing,
revising, retesting and rewriting. This will be
obvious and will impede the successful completion
of the research study.

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• Again, do not get ahead of yourself.
• Any attempt to write the dissertation and
dissertation proposal as if they are the same
can result in prolonging the process and/or
failure at this point.

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• A dissertation proposal is supposed to
describe what you propose to do.
• A dissertation proposal is supposed to
discuss why you propose to do it.
• A dissertation proposal is supposed to
explain how you propose to do it.

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• Your dissertation proposal should answer
the following questions:
– What problem are you going to pursue?
– Why is it a problem?
– Why is it important to address?
– Where are you going to look for answers?
– Why are you going there?

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• Postscript 1Postscript 1: It is not enough to say what you
believe to be true. You need to be clear and
explicit about what you elevate to writing; how
you make presumptions and cite appropriate
authorities.
• Postscript 2Postscript 2: Always focus on proposing and
completing a quality, defensible dissertation, not
graduation. The latter is merely a well-deserved
by-product of the former.

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• Postscript 3Postscript 3: It is always helpful to think of the
proposal in relations to the first three chapters of
the completed study. The proposal must be
written in the future tense, outlining what you are
proposing to do the future.
• Postscript 4Postscript 4: The final dissertation is always
written in the past tense in which Chapter I will
have only minor changes.

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• Postscript 5Postscript 5: Chapter II will change to include
additional citations to reflect unexpected results
from the data analysis.
• Postscript 6Postscript 6: If well-designed, Chapter III in the
final form should be similar to the proposal.
Except for tense and minor changes, it should
reflect exactly what happened (not what was
predicted to happen).

14. A Primer OnA Primer On
YourYour
DissertationDissertation
ProposalProposal
Fayetteville State UniversityFayetteville State University
School of EducationSchool of Education
Department of Educational LeadershipDepartment of Educational Leadership
Joseph F. Johnson, ProfessorJoseph F. Johnson, Professor