5-Write a Reasearch Proposal-Q&A

Thoroughly understanding the literature before writing a research proposal is crucial to avoid proposing research that has already been done or lacks originality. Rushing through the process of writing a research proposal is discouraged as it can lead to inadequate understanding and potential rejection or delays in approval. A well-polished research proposal in terms of language, grammar, and presentation enhances credibility and demonstrates professionalism. Before we wrap up I just want to touch on three additional tips that are useful to keep in mind when you are writing up your proposal. The first thing I'll say is make sure that you have really thought things through. In other words, make sure that you have undertaken the homework in terms of research literature review, understanding what is the state of the research, understanding where are things currently, what is the need for the research. Make sure that you really have spent your time and have a very clear argument for why your research is necessary. If you haven't spent your time in the literature review stage, if you haven't spent your time familiarizing yourself with the literature, it's very easy to get caught out by a supervisor or an advisor that knows the area and will very quickly say, oh but so and so already covered this or your argument's invalid because this was already discussed. So you really need to know your stuff in terms of the literature. If you're covering a topic, make sure you understand that topic well before you start making claims about where the gaps in the literature are and how your research is warranted. Make sure that you understand those components and the same applies for your research methodology, for your research design. I touched on this earlier, make sure you understand the methodology that you plan to use. Don't take a half-baked idea or half-baked understanding and trial it without a methodological plan or a research design. Know your stuff. The second tip is don't rush. So this sounds pretty obvious, but it's important to say. Research proposals usually take some time to get approved and that can be anything from a few days to a few weeks and not uncommonly a month to get approval on research because the university needs to allocate it to suitable supervisors etc. So there is a long lead time in terms of getting your research approved and students tend to rush through this process and then they don't know their stuff, as per my previous point, and then they end up submitting something, waiting a month and then getting a no. This is, one, soul-destroying and, two, putting a serious delay on completion of the dissertation. It can leave you with very little time to actually complete the research. Naturally, we live in a world of deadlines and you need to adhere to those, but don't rush through this thing. Take the time to really understand the state of the literature and really understand what it is that you're proposing. Very often students come with a preconceived idea of what they want to research without having done the literature review. They end up rushing through it just kind of picking up the pieces of the literature that support the argument. They rush through because they have an idea that they're already in love with and they really just want to get a research proposal approved. Then of course that that falls on its face. So don't rush, take the time to understand the literature. Take the time to understand whatever research design you're going to do or consult with someone that can really confirm that for you and then don't rush through this thing. Put in the time and effort and aim for first-time approval rather than pushing a half-baked thing through and then getting pushed back on that and then having to go back and forth back and forth until you finally get approval and then land up with a very small amount of time to actually do your dissertation or thesis. The last tip is that you should ensure that whatever you submit is well polished. What I mean by well polished is apart from everything I've just discussed, make sure that your entire product is as well designed that it's clean and accurate in terms of English language, in terms of grammar, in terms of presenting clear lines of argument, etc. I would really suggest that you invest in some sort of editing or proofreading or at least just get someone else to, just a friend, to proofread your work. But make sure that you are not submitting something that has typos, that has grammar issues, that has a weak English because there is just nothing more off-putting to to to a marker than reading a document that's full of those errors. What it just says is the student hasn't really put in the time and the effort and and therefore it sends signals about how much time and effort they put into actually understanding the research proposal or understanding the research problem, understanding the literature, etc., etc. So sloppy presentation brings into question the credibility and the legitimacy of everything else you've done. So my final tip is make sure your document is polished. You might want to, if you have the resources, you might want to get someone to edit and to proofread it and pay them for it. Or you might just want to ask a friend for a favor. Generally any set of second eyes will spot things that you didn't spot. So you might not have a perfect document, but you'll definitely have something improved. There you have it how to write a dissertation or thesis proposal in six pretty straightforward steps or at least six essential ingredients. As I said right up front, make sure that you understand the why of the research proposal. Make sure you understand what you're trying to convince the person on the other end of. If you if you keep that front of mind, you're going to present or you're going to develop a solid research proposal and you're going to have the best chances of first-time approval. If you have any questions about how to write a research proposal for your dissertation or thesis, you're welcome to drop us an email hello at grad.coach. I'll include that email address in this video or below this video. You're also welcome to book a free consultation with any of our PhD qualified research specialists and you can have a chat with them about your research topic, your research questions, etc. Hopefully they can provide you with with some guidance there free of charge, no obligation. Lastly, if you've enjoyed this video, please do give us a thumbs up, leave a comment below. If you have any questions, you're welcome to comment below as well and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more dissertation thesis related content. We will be doing additional videos on how to write a research proposal, how to write a literature review, all of these components that will hopefully help you write your research and help you pull off a great piece of work. So we do hope to see you again. That's all for today. This is Grad Coach signing out. Why is it important to thoroughly understand the literature related to your research topic before writing a research proposal? Thoroughly understanding the literature ensures that your proposed research addresses genuine gaps in knowledge and builds upon existing research effectively. It also helps you avoid proposing research that has already been done or lacks originality. What advice is given regarding rushing through the process of writing a research proposal? The advice is not to rush through the process, as doing so can lead to inadequate understanding of the literature and research methodology, which may result in rejection or delays in approval. Taking the time to thoroughly understand the topic and methodology can increase the chances of first-time approval. Why is it important for a research proposal to be well-polished in terms of language, grammar, and presentation? A well-polished research proposal demonstrates professionalism and attention to detail. It enhances the credibility and legitimacy of the research endeavor, signaling to reviewers that the researcher has invested time and effort into producing high-quality work.