Last updated by Hazel Hall, 20 June 2007

Everyone's dissertation/project is different and all the advice given in these pages does not necessarily apply to everyone. Check with your supervisor (or module leader up until the point that supervisors are allocated) if you are unsure about any aspect of the process.

This file is concerned with writing dissertation/project proposals. It gives general advice. You should pay close attention to the specification that you have been advised to use when writing your own proposal. The specifics differ depending on your level of study and where you are based as a student. Normally your proposal is developed from an initial idea that has been approved by the member of staff who co-ordinates dissertation/project work for your group.

If you are a student in the School of Computing at Napier University you should be using the following as the main resource for your project/dissertation:

Undergraduates: SoC Honours projects page
Postgraduates: SoC Masters dissertations page

1. Why is it important to get your proposal right?

• You may be marked on it.
• There is usually a close correlation of dissertation/project proposal marks and final dissertation/project marks.
• Hard thinking at this stage will make the rest of the process easier.

2. You are ready to write your proposal when you have:

• Chosen a topic which is related to your degree programme
• Brainstormed to narrow down your topic into something manageable for a dissertation/project at your level of study
• Checked the feasibility of your topic through conducting a preliminary literature search
• Arrived at something to research which is novel/original (but not so new that you give yourself a hard time hunting for literature to provide a context for your research and/or have little idea how to carry out the work) and is interesting to you
• Gathered some literature to cite in the proposal which can put the proposed project in context with other work in the field
• Learnt about research methodology and methods (through attending classes and reading) so that you can develop a proposed methodology and set of methods for your own work

What if you're having problems narrowing down your topic?

• Don't panic
• Don't be lazy and go for something which may appear to be convenient (e.g. "My girlfriend works for Standard Life. I can just write something about their intranet for the time-being.")
• Keep reading
• Brainstorm again (with friends, supervisor)

3. Proposal components - some hints

(a) Title

The title you present now is likely to be adjusted later in the process. Make sure that the title you present now actually means something. The working title will appear on your CV for the next few months, and your final title will be there for along time to come, so it's useful to think of the title as a "qualification". You may like to devise a title which will impress employers.

Consider which is the better title:

• "Intranets and the insurance industry"
• "Intranets and knowledge management in the insurance industry"
• "The extent to which the provision of staff manuals over an intranet supports knowledge management in the insurance industry."

Perhaps you can come up with an even better suggestion?

(b) Introduction to the proposed area of study

You are aiming to present a tightly focused, well-defined topic area to study. You should make reference to the literature in this section of the proposal. If you are unable to define a specific topic your work will become unwieldy, you'll create extra work for yourself at a later stage because you'll end up with too much literature to read and reject and you'll get very depressed :-(

There must be a theoretical/academic basis for your proposed study. If you cannot provided a theoretical context for your work you'll have few clues as to carry out your own project and no material against which to base your findings.

(c) Aims and objectives

"Aim" means intention. "Objective" means goal.

When you are composing your list of aims and objectives think of what you actually intend to do (aims) and the intermediate goals (objectives) that you will hit as you reach for your aim.

(d) Methodology and methods

Methodology is made up of methods.

When you write your proposal write it as though you'd expect someone else to carry out the work. If you are so clear about what your study is going to involve doing that you could give instructions to somebody else, and have that person carry out your research (instead of you) you will have a good proposal. Your ideas should be clear and straightforward, easily articulated on paper (and not something in your head!)

Dissertation/project students sometimes fall into the trap of thinking they need a mass of data. As a result when they actually implement the research proposal they ask far more 'questions' than they need to, and get overwhelmed. When you write your proposal think about the anticipated outcome of the work in terms of a written piece of work. Think ahead to the tables, graphs etc. that you'll eventually present your results with and try to focus on just the amount of data you really need. Once you have established this you should be able to refine your ideas on issues such as sample size, and limit your aims to what is manageable for a dissertation/project at your level of study.

Remember that methods need to be identified for literature search and review and data analysis, as well as data collection. You need to say whether the methodology is quantitative or qualitative.

4. Proposal check list

Before you submit your work check that you have done everything asked of you. You can do so by making a list from the components of the instructions that you have been given. Examples of such components are given below.

Front cover

• Student name on front cover
• Matriculation number on front cover
• Supervisor name on front cover
• Programme name on front cover
• Title of project on front cover
• Date on front cover

Main text

• Title given in main text
• Statement of the "problem" to be investigated
• Reasons for choosing this area
• Statement on background material to put the project in context with other work completed in the field
• Aims section
• Objectives section
• Statement on methods/approaches to be used: data to be collected; sample
• Limitations section
• Resources section
• Timetable
• Proposed chapter headings
• References

Technical accuracy (see Rules and conventions of academic writing)

• Standard English
• Grammar
• Spell check
• Impersonal writer
• Check word count
• Sections numbered

Dissertation/project hints resources

• Dummy proposal
• Literature searching
• Proposal writing
• Self-organisation
• Writing up your dissertation/project
• SoC Honours projects page
• SoC Masters dissertations page