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How to Write a Master Thesis Proposal: A Step-by-Step Guide

Writing a master's thesis proposal is a crucial step in your academic journey. It serves as the foundation for your entire thesis, outlining your research questions, methodology, and the significance of your study. A well-crafted proposal not only guides your research but also convinces your committee of the value and feasibility of your project. This step-by-step guide will help you navigate the process of writing a compelling master's thesis proposal, from understanding its purpose to preparing for the proposal defense.

Key Takeaways

• A master's thesis proposal is essential for outlining your research questions, methodology, and the significance of your study.
• Conducting a comprehensive literature review helps identify gaps in existing research and informs your study's direction.
• Formulating a strong research methodology is critical for ensuring the validity and reliability of your study.
• Structuring your thesis proposal with clear sections and a timeline enhances its readability and feasibility.
• Revising your proposal based on feedback and preparing for the defense are vital steps for gaining approval from your committee.

Understanding the Purpose of a Master's Thesis Proposal

A master's thesis proposal is a critical document that outlines your research plan and sets the stage for your entire thesis. It serves as a foundational blueprint that guides your research and writing process. Your proposal must convince your committee that your idea is strong and unique, and that you have done enough legwork to begin with the first few drafts of your final thesis.

Conducting a Comprehensive Literature Review

A comprehensive literature review is a critical component of your master's thesis proposal. It situates your research within the existing body of knowledge and demonstrates the scholarly context of your study. The literature review should not be a mere summary of sources but a critical analysis that identifies trends, gaps, and debates in the field. This section will guide you through the essential steps of conducting a thorough literature review.

Formulating a Strong Research Methodology

A well-structured research methodology is crucial for the success of your thesis. It provides a clear plan for how you will answer your research questions and achieve your study's objectives. Choosing the right methods ensures that your data collection and analysis are aligned with your research goals. This section will guide you through the essential components of a robust research methodology.

Structuring Your Thesis Proposal

Structuring your thesis proposal is crucial for presenting your research in a clear and organized manner. A well-structured proposal not only helps you stay on track but also makes it easier for your advisors and committee members to understand your research plan. Here are the key sections you should include:

Crafting a Compelling Introduction

Your introduction sets the stage for the rest of your proposal. It should provide a brief overview of your research topic, its significance, and the main objectives of your study. Make sure to capture the reader's interest and clearly state the purpose of your research.

Outlining the Main Sections

A typical thesis proposal includes several main sections such as the literature review, research methodology, and expected results. Each section should be clearly defined and logically connected to the others. This helps in maintaining a coherent flow throughout the document.

Developing a Clear Timeline

Creating a timeline is essential for managing your research project effectively. Break down your research activities into manageable tasks and set realistic deadlines for each. This not only helps you stay organized but also reduces thesis anxiety by providing a clear roadmap for your research journey.

Writing and Revising Your Proposal

Once you’ve planned your writing, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and get it done! Thesis proposals are often written in a formal style, which is what sets them apart from many other types of proposals. However, despite any formalities, be sure to keep things simple. Stay concise and practical while maintaining academic objectivity and leveraging readability.

Preparing for the Proposal Defense

Preparing for your proposal defense is a crucial step in your academic journey. This stage involves presenting your research plan to your committee for their approval. Understanding the format of the defense and anticipating potential questions can significantly boost your confidence. Here are some key aspects to consider:

Anticipating Committee Questions

Your committee will likely ask questions to assess the depth and feasibility of your research. It's essential to prepare for these questions by thoroughly understanding your research proposal. Consider the following:

• What is the significance of your study?
• How does your research fill existing gaps in the literature?
• What methodologies will you use, and why are they appropriate?

Practicing Your Presentation

A well-practiced presentation can make a significant difference. Practice delivering your presentation multiple times to ensure you can present your research clearly and confidently. Focus on the following areas:

• Clarity of your research objectives
• Logical flow of your presentation
• Effective use of visual aids

Revising Based on Feedback

After your practice sessions, seek feedback from peers or advisors and be open to making revisions. This iterative process will help you refine your presentation and address any weaknesses. Remember, the goal is to present a well-rounded and robust research proposal.

By following these steps, you can approach your proposal defense with confidence and poise, ensuring that your research plan is well-received by your committee.

Preparing for the Proposal Defense can be a daunting task, but with the right guidance, you can navigate it successfully. At Research Rebels, we offer a comprehensive Thesis Action Plan that has been tested and approved by students and professors alike. Don't let anxiety and sleepless nights hold you back. Visit our website to claim your special offer and start your journey towards a stress-free thesis defense today!

Crafting a master’s thesis proposal is a critical step in the journey towards completing your graduate studies. This guide has outlined the essential components and steps necessary to develop a compelling and well-structured proposal. By meticulously selecting your research objectives, conducting thorough literature reviews, and clearly defining your methodology, you lay a solid foundation for your thesis. Remember, a well-prepared proposal not only demonstrates your commitment and preparedness to your academic committee but also serves as a roadmap for your research. As you embark on this academic endeavor, utilize the strategies and tips provided in this guide to navigate the complexities of thesis proposal writing with confidence and precision.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main purpose of a master's thesis proposal.

The main purpose of a master's thesis proposal is to outline your research plan and convince your committee that your study is significant and feasible. It serves as a roadmap for your research and provides a clear plan for your thesis project.

How do I choose a research topic for my master's thesis proposal?

Choosing a research topic involves identifying an area of interest, reviewing existing literature, and finding a gap or unanswered question that your research can address. It's important to select a topic that is both interesting to you and relevant to your field of study.

What should be included in the literature review section of my proposal?

The literature review should include a summary of existing research related to your topic, an analysis of the findings, and identification of gaps in the literature that your research aims to fill. It demonstrates your understanding of the current state of research in your field.

What are some common research methods used in master's thesis proposals?

Common research methods include qualitative methods (such as interviews and case studies), quantitative methods (such as surveys and experiments), and mixed methods, which combine both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The choice of method depends on your research questions and objectives.

How important are ethical considerations in a master's thesis proposal?

Ethical considerations are crucial in any research project. Your proposal should address how you will ensure the ethical treatment of participants, obtain necessary approvals, and handle data responsibly. This demonstrates your commitment to conducting ethical research.

What is the best way to prepare for a proposal defense?

To prepare for a proposal defense, anticipate possible questions from the committee, practice your presentation multiple times, and be ready to explain and justify your research plan. Revising your proposal based on feedback from advisors can also help you prepare effectively.

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• Graduate School

How to Write a Master's Thesis Proposal

How to write a master’s thesis proposal is one of the most-asked questions by graduate students. A master's thesis proposal involves a copious amount of data collection, particular presentation ethics, and most importantly, it will become the roadmap to your full thesis. Remember, you must convince your committee that your idea is strong and unique, and that you have done enough legwork to begin with the first few drafts of your final thesis. Your proposal should serve as a foundational blueprint on which you will later build your entire project. To have the perfect thesis proposal, you need to have original ideas, solid information, and proper presentation. While it is a good idea to take assistance from thesis writing services , you still need to personally understand the elements that contribute to a master’s thesis proposal worthy of approval. In this blog, we will discuss the process of writing your master’s thesis proposal and give you tips for making your proposal strong. Stay tuned!

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Article Contents 8 min read

How to decide the goals for your master's thesis.

If you are pursuing a master’s or a PhD , you will be undertaking a major research paper or a thesis. Thus, writing a thesis proposal becomes inevitable. Your major objective for pursuing a master’s degree is to improve your knowledge in your field of study. When you start your degree, you delve deeper into different concepts in your discipline and try to search for answers to all kinds of questions. If you come across a question that no one can answer, you can select that question as your research thesis topic.

A master's thesis proposal will have multiple sections depending on your decided layout. These sections will continuously support your argument and try to convince the reader of your core argument. The structure will also help you arrange the various parts of the paper to have a greater impact on the readers. A paper should always begin with you giving a brief summary of the topic and how you have come across it. The introduction is particularly important because it will give the readers a brief idea about the topic of discussion and win their interest in the matter.

After the summary has been given, slowly you need to progress into the body of the thesis proposal which would explain your argument, research methodology, literary texts that have a relation to the topic, and the conclusion of your study. It would be similar to an essay or a literary review consisting of 3 or 4 parts. The bibliography will be placed at the end of the paper so that people can cross-check your sources.

Let's take a look at the sections most master's thesis proposals should cover. Please note that each university has its own guidelines for how to structure and what to include in a master’s thesis proposal. The outline we provide below is general, so please make sure to follow the exact guidelines provided by your school:

Restate your primary argument and give us a glimpse of what you will include in the main master\u2019s thesis. Leave the reader wanting more. Your research proposal should talk about what research chapters you are trying to undertake in your final thesis. You can also mention the proposed time in which you will complete these chapters.  ","label":"Conclusion and proposed chapters","title":"Conclusion and proposed chapters"}]" code="tab1" template="BlogArticle">

A thesis proposal needs to be convincing enough to get approval. If the information is not enough to satisfy the evaluation committee, it would require revision. Hence, you need to select and follow the right methodology to make your argument convincing. When a research proposal is presented, the reader will determine the validity of your argument by judging the strength of your evidence and conclusions. Therefore, even writige:ng a proposal will require extensive research on your part. You should start writing your thesis proposal by working through the following steps.

Interested in a summary of the points covered below? Check out this infographic:

Exploring your topic in detail

You need to delve deeper into your chosen topic to see if your idea is original. In the process of this exploration, you will find tons of materials that will be supportive of your argument. When choosing your research topic and the problem you want to explore, you should always consider your primary research interest (yes, the one which you had mentioned in your research interest statement during grad school applications) for a better master’s thesis. You have a high probability of performing better in an area that you have always liked as compared to any other research area or topic.

Reviewing the literature

You have to include all the sources from where you have formed your argument and mention them in the thesis proposal. If you neglect to mention important source texts, the reader may consider it to be plagiarism. Furthermore, you want to keep track of all your research because it will be easier to provide references if you know the exact source of each piece of information.

Finding opposing arguments for your study

You should also mention any texts that would counter your argument and try to disprove their claims in the thesis. Make sure to use evidence if you try to disprove the counterarguments you face.

Emphasizing the importance of your research

At the end of the thesis proposal, you need to convince the reader why your proposal is important to your chosen field of study, which would ultimately help you in getting your topic approved. Thus, it is essential to outline the importance of your research thoroughly.

Drafting your proposal

After doing proper research, you should go ahead and draft your proposal. Remember you will not get it right in just one draft, it will take at least 50 attempts to come up with a satisfactory proposal. You should proofread your draft several times and even have a fellow student review it for you before sending it further to your research supervisor.

Getting your proposal evaluated by your supervisor

After you have written sufficient drafts, you need to get your proposal evaluated by your research supervisor. This is necessary to meet the graduate research requirements. It will ensure the clarity and correctness of your proposal. For your supervisor to evaluate your proposal, you should complete the research methodology part along with sufficient proposed work.

Since your supervisor will play a crucial role in your master's research thesis, you must choose a supervisor who can be your ultimate guide in writing your master's thesis. They will be your partner and support system during your study and will help you in eliminating obstacles to achieving your goal.

Choosing the ideal supervisor is a pretty daunting task. Here’s how you can go about the process:

You should approach your professor with an open mind and discuss the potential goals of your research. You should hear what they think and then if you both mutually agree, you can choose them as your supervisor for your master\u2019s thesis. "}]">

Length of a Master’s Thesis Proposal

The length of a master’s thesis proposal differs from university to university and depends on the discipline of research as well. Usually, you have to include all the above-mentioned sections, and the length is around 8 pages and can go up to 12-15 pages for subjects such as the liberal arts. Universities might also define the number of words in the guidelines for your master’s thesis proposal and you have to adhere to that word limit.

Are you debating between pursuing a Masters or a PhD? This video has details that can help you decide which is best for you:

How to Format a Research Thesis Proposal Correctly?

Now that you know how to write a thesis proposal, you must make it presentable. Although your school might give your specific instructions, you can keep in mind some of the general advice:

• You can use some basic font like Times New Roman and keep the font size to 10 or 12 points.
• The left margin should be 1.5 inches and all other margins should be 1 inch each.
• You should follow double-spacing for your content.
• The first line of paragraphs should be indented 0.5 inches and the paragraphs should be left or center aligned.

Tips to Write a Strong Master's Thesis Proposal

When you are writing your master’s thesis proposal, you should keep these tips in mind to write an excellent master’s thesis proposal with all the correct elements to get approval from the evaluating committee:

Select your research objectives wisely

You should be clear on what you wish to learn from your research. Your learning objectives should stem from your research interests. If you are unsure, refer to your grad school career goals statement to review what you wanted out of grad school in the first place. Then, choose your objectives around it.

Write a clear title

The title of your research proposal should be concise and written in a language that can be understood easily by others. The title should be able to give the reader an idea of your intended research and should be interesting.

Jot down your thoughts, arguments, and evidence

You should always start with a rough outline of your arguments because you will not miss any point in this way. Brainstorm what you want to include in the proposal and then expand those points to complete your proposal. You can decide the major headings with the help of the guidelines provided to you.

Focus on the feasibility and importance

You should consider whether your research is feasible with the available resources. Additionally, your proposal should clearly convey the significance of your research in your field.

Use simple language

Since the evaluation committee can have researchers from different subject areas, it is best to write your proposal in a simple language that is understandable by all.

Stick to the guidelines

Your university will be providing the guidelines for writing your research proposal. You should adhere to those guidelines strictly since your proposal will be primarily evaluated on the basis of those.

Have an impactful opening section

It is a no-brainer that the opening statement of your proposal should be powerful enough to grasp the attention of the readers and get them interested in your research topic. You should be able to convey your interest and enthusiasm in the introductory section.

Peer review prior to submission

Apart from working with your research supervisor, it is essential that you ask some classmates and friends to review your proposal. The comments and suggestions that they give will be valuable in helping you to make the language of your proposal clearer.

You have worked hard to get into grad school and even harder on searching your research topic. Thus, you must be careful while building your thesis proposal so that you have maximum chances of acceptance.

If you're curious how your graduate school education will differ from your undergraduate education, take a look at this video so you know what to expect:

Writing the perfect research proposal might be challenging, but keeping to the basics might make your task easier. In a nutshell, you need to be thorough in your study question. You should conduct sufficient research to gather all relevant materials required to support your argument. After collecting all data, make sure to present it systematically to give a clearer understanding and convince the evaluators to approve your proposal. Lastly, remember to submit your proposal well within the deadline set by your university. Your performance at grad school is essential, especially if you need a graduate degree to gain admission to med school and your thesis contributes to that performance. Thus, start with a suitable research problem, draft a strong proposal, and then begin with your thesis after your proposal is approved.

In your master’s thesis proposal, you should include your research topic and the problem statement being addressed in your research, along with a proposed solution. The proposal should explain the importance and limitations of your research.

The length of a master’s thesis proposal is outlined by the university in the instructions for preparing your master’s thesis proposal.

The time taken to write a master’s thesis proposal depends upon the study which you are undertaking and your discipline of research. It will take a minimum time of three months. The ideal time can be around six months. 

You should begin your master’s thesis proposal by writing an introduction to your research topic. You should state your topic clearly and provide some background. Keep notes and rough drafts of your proposal so you can always refer to them when you write the first real draft.

The basic sections that your master’s thesis proposal should cover are the problem statement, research methodology, proposed activities, importance, and the limitations of your research.

A master’s thesis proposal which clearly defines the problem in a straightforward and explains the research methodology in simple words is considered a good thesis proposal.

You can use any classic font for your master’s thesis proposal such as Times New Roman. If you are recommended a specific font in the proposal guidelines by your institution, it would be advisable to stick to that.

The ideal font size for your master’s thesis proposal will be 10 or 12 points.

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• Knowledge Base
• Dissertation

How to Write a Dissertation Proposal | A Step-by-Step Guide

Published on 14 February 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on 11 November 2022.

A dissertation proposal describes the research you want to do: what it’s about, how you’ll conduct it, and why it’s worthwhile. You will probably have to write a proposal before starting your dissertation as an undergraduate or postgraduate student.

A dissertation proposal should generally include:

• An introduction to your topic and aims
• A literature review  of the current state of knowledge
• An outline of your proposed methodology
• A discussion of the possible implications of the research
• A bibliography  of relevant sources

Dissertation proposals vary a lot in terms of length and structure, so make sure to follow any guidelines given to you by your institution, and check with your supervisor when you’re unsure.

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Table of contents

Step 1: coming up with an idea, step 2: presenting your idea in the introduction, step 3: exploring related research in the literature review, step 4: describing your methodology, step 5: outlining the potential implications of your research, step 6: creating a reference list or bibliography.

Before writing your proposal, it’s important to come up with a strong idea for your dissertation.

Find an area of your field that interests you and do some preliminary reading in that area. What are the key concerns of other researchers? What do they suggest as areas for further research, and what strikes you personally as an interesting gap in the field?

Once you have an idea, consider how to narrow it down and the best way to frame it. Don’t be too ambitious or too vague – a dissertation topic needs to be specific enough to be feasible. Move from a broad field of interest to a specific niche:

• Russian literature 19th century Russian literature The novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky
• Social media Mental health effects of social media Influence of social media on young adults suffering from anxiety

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Like most academic texts, a dissertation proposal begins with an introduction . This is where you introduce the topic of your research, provide some background, and most importantly, present your aim , objectives and research question(s) .

Try to dive straight into your chosen topic: What’s at stake in your research? Why is it interesting? Don’t spend too long on generalisations or grand statements:

• Social media is the most important technological trend of the 21st century. It has changed the world and influences our lives every day.
• Psychologists generally agree that the ubiquity of social media in the lives of young adults today has a profound impact on their mental health. However, the exact nature of this impact needs further investigation.

Once your area of research is clear, you can present more background and context. What does the reader need to know to understand your proposed questions? What’s the current state of research on this topic, and what will your dissertation contribute to the field?

If you’re including a literature review, you don’t need to go into too much detail at this point, but give the reader a general sense of the debates that you’re intervening in.

This leads you into the most important part of the introduction: your aim, objectives and research question(s) . These should be clearly identifiable and stand out from the text – for example, you could present them using bullet points or bold font.

Make sure that your research questions are specific and workable – something you can reasonably answer within the scope of your dissertation. Avoid being too broad or having too many different questions. Remember that your goal in a dissertation proposal is to convince the reader that your research is valuable and feasible:

• Does social media harm mental health?
• What is the impact of daily social media use on 18– to 25–year–olds suffering from general anxiety disorder?

Now that your topic is clear, it’s time to explore existing research covering similar ideas. This is important because it shows you what is missing from other research in the field and ensures that you’re not asking a question someone else has already answered.

You’ve probably already done some preliminary reading, but now that your topic is more clearly defined, you need to thoroughly analyse and evaluate the most relevant sources in your literature review .

Here you should summarise the findings of other researchers and comment on gaps and problems in their studies. There may be a lot of research to cover, so make effective use of paraphrasing to write concisely:

• Smith and Prakash state that ‘our results indicate a 25% decrease in the incidence of mechanical failure after the new formula was applied’.
• Smith and Prakash’s formula reduced mechanical failures by 25%.

The point is to identify findings and theories that will influence your own research, but also to highlight gaps and limitations in previous research which your dissertation can address:

• Subsequent research has failed to replicate this result, however, suggesting a flaw in Smith and Prakash’s methods. It is likely that the failure resulted from…

Next, you’ll describe your proposed methodology : the specific things you hope to do, the structure of your research and the methods that you will use to gather and analyse data.

You should get quite specific in this section – you need to convince your supervisor that you’ve thought through your approach to the research and can realistically carry it out. This section will look quite different, and vary in length, depending on your field of study.

You may be engaged in more empirical research, focusing on data collection and discovering new information, or more theoretical research, attempting to develop a new conceptual model or add nuance to an existing one.

Dissertation research often involves both, but the content of your methodology section will vary according to how important each approach is to your dissertation.

Empirical research

Empirical research involves collecting new data and analysing it in order to answer your research questions. It can be quantitative (focused on numbers), qualitative (focused on words and meanings), or a combination of both.

With empirical research, it’s important to describe in detail how you plan to collect your data:

• Will you use surveys ? A lab experiment ? Interviews?
• What variables will you measure?
• How will you select a representative sample ?
• If other people will participate in your research, what measures will you take to ensure they are treated ethically?
• What tools (conceptual and physical) will you use, and why?

It’s appropriate to cite other research here. When you need to justify your choice of a particular research method or tool, for example, you can cite a text describing the advantages and appropriate usage of that method.

Don’t overdo this, though; you don’t need to reiterate the whole theoretical literature, just what’s relevant to the choices you have made.

Moreover, your research will necessarily involve analysing the data after you have collected it. Though you don’t know yet what the data will look like, it’s important to know what you’re looking for and indicate what methods (e.g. statistical tests , thematic analysis ) you will use.

Theoretical research

You can also do theoretical research that doesn’t involve original data collection. In this case, your methodology section will focus more on the theory you plan to work with in your dissertation: relevant conceptual models and the approach you intend to take.

For example, a literary analysis dissertation rarely involves collecting new data, but it’s still necessary to explain the theoretical approach that will be taken to the text(s) under discussion, as well as which parts of the text(s) you will focus on:

• This dissertation will utilise Foucault’s theory of panopticism to explore the theme of surveillance in Orwell’s 1984 and Kafka’s The Trial…

Here, you may refer to the same theorists you have already discussed in the literature review. In this case, the emphasis is placed on how you plan to use their contributions in your own research.

You’ll usually conclude your dissertation proposal with a section discussing what you expect your research to achieve.

You obviously can’t be too sure: you don’t know yet what your results and conclusions will be. Instead, you should describe the projected implications and contribution to knowledge of your dissertation.

First, consider the potential implications of your research. Will you:

• Develop or test a theory?
• Provide new information to governments or businesses?
• Challenge a commonly held belief?
• Suggest an improvement to a specific process?

Describe the intended result of your research and the theoretical or practical impact it will have:

Finally, it’s sensible to conclude by briefly restating the contribution to knowledge you hope to make: the specific question(s) you hope to answer and the gap the answer(s) will fill in existing knowledge:

Like any academic text, it’s important that your dissertation proposal effectively references all the sources you have used. You need to include a properly formatted reference list or bibliography at the end of your proposal.

Different institutions recommend different styles of referencing – commonly used styles include Harvard , Vancouver , APA , or MHRA . If your department does not have specific requirements, choose a style and apply it consistently.

A reference list includes only the sources that you cited in your proposal. A bibliography is slightly different: it can include every source you consulted in preparing the proposal, even if you didn’t mention it in the text. In the case of a dissertation proposal, a bibliography may also list relevant sources that you haven’t yet read, but that you intend to use during the research itself.

Check with your supervisor what type of bibliography or reference list you should include.

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Writing a dissertation proposal.

What is a dissertation proposal?

Dissertation proposals are like the table of contents for your research project , and will help you explain what it is you intend to examine, and roughly, how you intend to go about collecting and analysing your data. You won’t be required to have everything planned out exactly, as your topic may change slightly in the course of your research, but for the most part, writing your proposal should help you better identify the direction for your dissertation.

When you’ve chosen a topic for your dissertation , you’ll need to make sure that it is both appropriate to your field of study and narrow enough to be completed by the end of your course. Your dissertation proposal will help you define and determine both of these things and will also allow your department and instructors to make sure that you are being advised by the best person to help you complete your research.

A dissertation proposal should include:

• An introduction to your dissertation topic
• Aims and objectives of your dissertation
• A literature review of the current research undertaken in your field
• Proposed methodology to be used
• Implications of your research
• Limitations of your research
• Bibliography 

Although this content all needs to be included in your dissertation proposal, the content isn’t set in stone so it can be changed later if necessary, depending on your topic of study, university or degree. Think of your dissertation proposal as more of a guide to writing your dissertation rather than something to be strictly adhered to – this will be discussed later. 

Why is a dissertation proposal important?

A dissertation proposal is very important because it helps shape the actual dissertation, which is arguably the most important piece of writing a postgraduate student will undertake. By having a well-structured dissertation proposal, you will have a strong foundation for your dissertation and a good template to follow. The dissertation itself is key to postgraduate success as it will contribute to your overall grade . Writing your dissertation will also help you to develop research and communication skills, which could become invaluable in your employment success and future career. By making sure you’re fully briefed on the current research available in your chosen dissertation topic, as well as keeping details of your bibliography up to date, you will be in a great position to write an excellent dissertation.

Next, we’ll be outlining things you can do to help you produce the best postgraduate dissertation proposal possible.

How to begin your dissertation proposal

1. Narrow the topic down  

It’s important that when you sit down to draft your proposal, you’ve carefully thought out your topic and are able to narrow it down enough to present a clear and succinct understanding of what you aim to do and hope to accomplish in your dissertation.

How do I decide on a dissertation topic?

A simple way to begin choosing a topic for your dissertation is to go back through your assignments and lectures. Was there a topic that stood out to you? Was there an idea that wasn’t fully explored? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, then you have a great starting point! If not, then consider one of your more personal interests. Use Google Scholar to explore studies and journals on your topic to find any areas that could go into more detail or explore a more niche topic within your personal interest. 

Keep track of all publications

It’s important to keep track of all the publications that you use while you research. You can use this in your literature review.

You need to keep track of:

• The title of the study/research paper/book/journal
• Who wrote/took part in the study/research paper
• Chapter title
• Page number(s)

The more research you do, the more you should be able to narrow down your topic and find an interesting area to focus on. You’ll also be able to write about everything you find in your literature review which will make your proposal stronger.

While doing your research, consider the following:

• When was your source published? Is the information outdated? Has new information come to light since?
• Can you determine if any of the methodologies could have been carried out more efficiently? Are there any errors or gaps?
• Are there any ethical concerns that should be considered in future studies on the same topic?
• Could anything external (for example new events happening) have influenced the research?

Read more about picking a topic for your dissertation . 

How long should the dissertation proposal be?

There is usually no set length for a dissertation proposal, but you should aim for 1,000 words or more. Your dissertation proposal will give an outline of the topic of your dissertation, some of the questions you hope to answer with your research, what sort of studies and type of data you aim to employ in your research, and the sort of analysis you will carry out.

Different courses may have different requirements for things like length and the specific information to include, as well as what structure is preferred, so be sure to check what special requirements your course has.  

2. What should I include in a dissertation proposal?

Your dissertation proposal should have several key aspects regardless of the structure. The introduction, the methodology, aims and objectives, the literature review, and the constraints of your research all need to be included to ensure that you provide your supervisor with a comprehensive proposal. But what are they? Here's a checklist to get you started.

• Introduction

The introduction will state your central research question and give background on the subject, as well as relating it contextually to any broader issues surrounding it. 

The dissertation proposal introduction should outline exactly what you intend to investigate in your final research project.

Make sure you outline the structure of the dissertation proposal in your introduction, i.e. part one covers methodology, part two covers a literature review, part three covers research limitations, and so forth.

Your introduction should also include the working title for your dissertation – although don't worry if you want to change this at a later stage as your supervisors will not expect this to be set in stone.

Dissertation methodology

The dissertation methodology will break down what sources you aim to use for your research and what sort of data you will collect from it, either quantitative or qualitative. You may also want to include how you will analyse the data you gather and what, if any, bias there may be in your chosen methods.

Depending on the level of detail that your specific course requires, you may also want to explain why your chosen approaches to gathering data are more appropriate to your research than others.

Consider and explain how you will conduct empirical research. For example, will you use interviews? Surveys? Observation? Lab experiments?

In your dissertation methodology, outline the variables that you will measure in your research and how you will select your data or participant sample to ensure valid results.

Finally, are there any specific tools that you will use for your methodology? If so, make sure you provide this information in the methodology section of your dissertation proposal.

• Aims and objectives

Your aim should not be too broad but should equally not be too specific.

An example of a dissertation aim could be: ‘To examine the key content features and social contexts that construct successful viral marketing content distribution on X’.

In comparison, an example of a dissertation aim that is perhaps too broad would be: ‘To investigate how things go viral on X’.

The aim of your dissertation proposal should relate directly to your research question.

• Literature review

The literature review will list the books and materials that you will be using to do your research. This is where you can list materials that gave you more background on your topic, or contain research carried out previously that you referred to in your own studies. 

The literature review is also a good place to demonstrate how your research connects to previous academic studies and how your methods may differ from or build upon those used by other researchers. While it’s important to give enough information about the materials to show that you have read and understood them, don’t forget to include your analysis of their value to your work.

Where there are shortfalls in other pieces of academic work, identify these and address how you will overcome these shortcomings in your own research.

Constraints and limitations of your research

Lastly, you will also need to include the constraints of your research. Many topics will have broad links to numerous larger and more complex issues, so by clearly stating the constraints of your research, you are displaying your understanding and acknowledgment of these larger issues, and the role they play by focusing your research on just one section or part of the subject.

In this section it is important to Include examples of possible limitations, for example, issues with sample size, participant drop out, lack of existing research on the topic, time constraints, and other factors that may affect your study.

• Ethical considerations

Confidentiality and ethical concerns are an important part of any research.

Ethics are key, as your dissertation will need to undergo ethical approval if you are working with participants. This means that it’s important to allow for and explain ethical considerations in your dissertation proposal.

Keep confidentiality in mind and keep your participants informed, so they are aware of how the data provided is being used and are assured that all personal information is being kept confidential.

Consider how involved your patients will be with your research, this will help you think about what ethical considerations to take and discuss them fully in your dissertation proposal. For example, face-to-face participant interview methods could require more ethical measures and confidentiality considerations than methods that do not require participants, such as corpus data (a collection of existing written texts) analysis. 

3. Dissertation proposal example

Once you know what sections you need or do not need to include, it may help focus your writing to break the proposal up into separate headings, and tackle each piece individually. You may also want to consider including a title. Writing a title for your proposal will help you make sure that your topic is narrow enough, as well as help keep your writing focused and on topic.

One example of a dissertation proposal structure is using the following headings, either broken up into sections or chapters depending on the required word count:

• Methodology
• Research constraints

In any dissertation proposal example, you’ll want to make it clear why you’re doing the research and what positives could come from your contribution. 

Dissertation proposal example table

This table outlines the various stages of your dissertation proposal.

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• Dissertation & Thesis Outline | Example & Free Templates

Dissertation & Thesis Outline | Example & Free Templates

Published on June 7, 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on November 21, 2023.

A thesis or dissertation outline is one of the most critical early steps in your writing process . It helps you to lay out and organize your ideas and can provide you with a roadmap for deciding the specifics of your dissertation topic and showcasing its relevance to your field.

Generally, an outline contains information on the different sections included in your thesis or dissertation , such as:

• Your anticipated title
• Your abstract
• Your chapters (sometimes subdivided into further topics like literature review, research methods, avenues for future research, etc.)

In the final product, you can also provide a chapter outline for your readers. This is a short paragraph at the end of your introduction to inform readers about the organizational structure of your thesis or dissertation. This chapter outline is also known as a reading guide or summary outline.

Table of contents

How to outline your thesis or dissertation, dissertation and thesis outline templates, chapter outline example, sample sentences for your chapter outline, sample verbs for variation in your chapter outline, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about thesis and dissertation outlines.

While there are some inter-institutional differences, many outlines proceed in a fairly similar fashion.

• Working Title
• “Elevator pitch” of your work (often written last).
• Introduce your area of study, sharing details about your research question, problem statement , and hypotheses . Situate your research within an existing paradigm or conceptual or theoretical framework .
• Subdivide as you see fit into main topics and sub-topics.
• Describe your research methods (e.g., your scope , population , and data collection ).
• Present your research findings and share about your data analysis methods.
• Answer the research question in a concise way.
• Interpret your findings, discuss potential limitations of your own research and speculate about future implications or related opportunities.

For a more detailed overview of chapters and other elements, be sure to check out our article on the structure of a dissertation or download our template .

To help you get started, we’ve created a full thesis or dissertation template in Word or Google Docs format. It’s easy adapt it to your own requirements.

 Download Word template    Download Google Docs template

It can be easy to fall into a pattern of overusing the same words or sentence constructions, which can make your work monotonous and repetitive for your readers. Consider utilizing some of the alternative constructions presented below.

Example 1: Passive construction

The passive voice is a common choice for outlines and overviews because the context makes it clear who is carrying out the action (e.g., you are conducting the research ). However, overuse of the passive voice can make your text vague and imprecise.

Example 2: IS-AV construction

You can also present your information using the “IS-AV” (inanimate subject with an active verb ) construction.

A chapter is an inanimate object, so it is not capable of taking an action itself (e.g., presenting or discussing). However, the meaning of the sentence is still easily understandable, so the IS-AV construction can be a good way to add variety to your text.

Example 3: The “I” construction

Another option is to use the “I” construction, which is often recommended by style manuals (e.g., APA Style and Chicago style ). However, depending on your field of study, this construction is not always considered professional or academic. Ask your supervisor if you’re not sure.

Example 4: Mix-and-match

To truly make the most of these options, consider mixing and matching the passive voice , IS-AV construction , and “I” construction .This can help the flow of your argument and improve the readability of your text.

As you draft the chapter outline, you may also find yourself frequently repeating the same words, such as “discuss,” “present,” “prove,” or “show.” Consider branching out to add richness and nuance to your writing. Here are some examples of synonyms you can use.

If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or research bias, make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

Research bias

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When you mention different chapters within your text, it’s considered best to use Roman numerals for most citation styles. However, the most important thing here is to remain consistent whenever using numbers in your dissertation .

The title page of your thesis or dissertation goes first, before all other content or lists that you may choose to include.

A thesis or dissertation outline is one of the most critical first steps in your writing process. It helps you to lay out and organize your ideas and can provide you with a roadmap for deciding what kind of research you’d like to undertake.

• Your chapters (sometimes subdivided into further topics like literature review , research methods , avenues for future research, etc.)

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How to write a research proposal for a Master's dissertation

Unsure how to start your research proposal as part of your dissertation read below our top tips from banking and finance student, nelly, on how to structure your proposal and make sure it's a strong, formative foundation to build your dissertation..

It's understandable if the proposal part of your dissertation feels like a waste of time. Why not just get started on the dissertation itself? Isn't 'proposal' a just fancy word for a plan?

It's important to see your Master's research proposal not only as a requirement but as a way of formalising your ideas and mapping out the direction and purpose of your dissertation. A strong, carefully prepared proposal is instrumental in writing a good dissertation.

How to structure a research proposal for a Master's dissertation

First things first: what do you need to include in a research proposal? The recommended structure of your proposal is:

• Motivation: introduce your research question and give an overview of the topic, explain the importance of your research
• Theory:  draw on existing pieces of research that are relevant to your topic of choice, leading up to your question and identifying how your dissertation will explore new territory
• Data and methodology: how do you plan to answer the research question? Explain your data sources and methodology
• Expected results: finally, what will the outcome be? What do you think your data and methodology will find?

Top Tips for Writing a Dissertation Research Proposal

Choose a dissertation topic well in advance of starting to write it

Allow existing research to guide you

Make your research questions as specific as possible

When you choose a topic, it will naturally be very broad and general. For example, Market Efficiency . Under this umbrella term, there are so many questions you could explore and challenge. But, it's so important that you hone in on one very specific question, such as ' How do presidential elections affect market efficiency?'  When it comes to your Master's, the more specific and clear-cut the better.

Collate your bibliography as you go

Everyone knows it's best practice to update your bibliography as you go, but that doesn't just apply to the main bibliography document you submit with your dissertation. Get in the habit of writing down the title, author and date of the relevant article next to every note you make - you'll be grateful you did it later down the line!

Colour code your notes based on which part of the proposal they apply to

Use highlighters and sticky notes to keep track of why you thought a certain research piece was useful, and what you intended to use it for. For example, if you've underlined lots of sections of a research article when it comes to pulling your research proposal together it will take you longer to remember what piece of research applies to where.

Instead, you may want to highlight anything that could inform your methodology in blue, any quotations that will form your theory in yellow etc. This will save you time and stress later down the line.

Write your Motivation after your Theory

Your Motivation section will be that much more coherent and specific if you write it after you've done all your research. All the reading you have done for your Theory will better cement the importance of your research, as well as provide plenty of context for you to write in detail your motivation. Think about the difference between ' I'm doing this because I'm interested in it ' vs. ' I'm doing this because I'm passionate, and I've noticed a clear gap in this area of study which is detailed below in example A, B and C .'

Make sure your Data and Methodology section is to the point and succinct

Link your Expectations to existing research

Your expectations should be based on research and data, not conjecture and assumptions. It doesn't matter if the end results match up to what you expected, as long as both of these sections are informed by research and data. 

Published By Nelly on 01/09/2020 | Last Updated 23/01/2024

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University Thesis and Dissertation Templates

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Theses and dissertations are already intensive, long-term projects that require a lot of effort and time from their authors. Formatting for submission to the university is often the last thing that graduate students do, and may delay earning the relevant degree if done incorrectly.

Below are some strategies graduate students can use to deal with institutional formatting requirements to earn their degrees on time.

Disciplinary conventions are still paramount.

Scholars in your own discipline are the most common readers of your dissertation; your committee, too, will expect your work to match with their expectations as members of your field. The style guide your field uses most commonly is always the one you should follow, and if your field uses conventions such as including all figures and illustrations at the end of the document, you should do so. After these considerations are met, move on to university formatting. Almost always, university formatting only deals with things like margins, font, numbering of chapters and sections, and illustrations; disciplinary style conventions in content such as APA's directive to use only last names of authors in-text are not interfered with by university formatting at all.

Use your university's formatting guidelines and templates to your advantage.

If your institution has a template for formatting your thesis or dissertation that you can use, do so. Don't look at another student's document and try to replicate it yourself. These templates typically have the necessary section breaks and styles already in the document, and you can copy in your work from your existing draft using the style pane in MS Word to ensure you're using the correct formatting (similarly with software such as Overleaf when writing in LaTeX, templates do a lot of the work for you). It's also often easier for workers in the offices that deal with theses and dissertations to help you with your work if you're using their template — they are familiar with these templates and can often navigate them more proficiently.

These templates also include placeholders for all front matter you will need to include in your thesis or dissertation, and may include guidelines for how to write these. Front matter includes your table of contents, acknowledgements, abstract, abbreviation list, figure list, committee page, and (sometimes) academic history or CV; everything before your introduction is front matter. Since front matter pages such as the author's academic history and dissertation committee are usually for the graduate school and not for your department, your advisor might not remember to have you include them. Knowing about them well before your deposit date means you won't be scrambling to fill in placeholders at the last minute or getting your work returned for revision from the graduate school.

Consider institutional formatting early and often.

Many graduate students leave this aspect of submitting their projects until it's almost too late to work on it, causing delays in obtaining their degree. Simply being aware that this is a task you'll have to complete and making sure you know where templates are, who you can ask for help in your graduate office or your department, and what your institution's guidelines are can help alleviate this issue. Once you know what you'll be expected to do to convert to university formatting, you can set regular check-in times for yourself to do this work in pieces rather than all at once (for instance, when you've completed a chapter and had it approved by your chair). 

Consider fair use for images and other third-party content.

Most theses and dissertations are published through ProQuest or another publisher (Harvard, for instance, uses their own open publishing service). For this reason, it may be the case that your institution requires all images or other content obtained from other sources to fall under fair use rules or, if an image is not considered under fair use, you'll have to obtain permission to print it in your dissertation. Your institution should have more guidance on their specific expectations for fair use content; knowing what these guidelines are well in advance of your deposit date means you won't have to make last-minute changes or removals to deposit your work.

How to write a thesis proposal

I. Framework II. Structure of a thesis proposal III. Order in which to write the proposal IV. Tips V. Resources

I. Framework

• An environmental issue is identified.
• Other people's work on the topic is collected and evaluated.
• Data necessary to solving the problem are either collected by the student, or obtained independently.
• Data are analyzed using techniques appropriate to the data set.
• Results of the analysis are reported and are interpreted in light of the initial environmental issue.
• the thesis topic addresses a significant environmental problem;
• an organized plan is in place for collecting or obtaining data to help solve the problem;
• methods of data analysis have been identified and are appropriate to the data set.

II. Structure of a thesis proposal

• Table of contents
• Introduction
• Thesis statement
• Approach/methods
• Preliminary results and discussion
• Work plan including time table
• Implications of research
• List of references
• contains short, descriptive title of the proposed thesis project  (should be fairly self-explanatory)
• and author, institution, department, resreach mentor, mentor's institution, and date of delivery
• the abstract is a brief summary of your thesis proposal
• its length should not exceed ~200 words
• present a brief introduction to the issue
• make the key statement of your thesis
• give a summary of how you want to address the issue
• include a possible implication of your work, if successfully completed
• list all headings and subheadings with page numbers
• indent subheadings
• this section sets the context for your proposed project and must capture the reader's interest
• explain the background of your study starting from a broad picture narrowing in on your research question
• review what is known about your research topic as far as it is relevant to your thesis
• cite relevant references
• the introduction should be at a level that makes it easy to understand for readers with a general science background, for example your classmates
• in a couple of sentences, state your thesis
• this statement can take the form of a hypothesis, research question, project statement, or goal statement
• the thesis statement should capture the essence of your intended project and also help to put boundaries around it
• this section contains an overall description of your approach,  materials, and procedures
• what methods will be used?
• how will data be collected and analyzed?
• what materials will be used?
• include calculations, technique, procedure, equipment, and calibration graphs
• detail limitations, assumptions, and range of validity
• citations should be limited to data sources and more complete descriptions of procedures
• do not include results and discussion of results here
• present any results you already have obtained
• discuss how they fit in the framework of your thesis
• describe in detail what you plan to do until completion of your senior thesis project
• list the stages of your project in a table format
• indicate deadlines you have set for completing each stage of the project, including any work you have already completed
• discuss any particular challenges that need to be overcome
• what new knowledge will the proposed project produce that we do not already know?
• why is it worth knowing, what are the major implications?
• cite all ideas, concepts, text, data that are not your own
• if you make a statement, back it up with your own data or a reference
• all references cited in the text must be listed
• cite single-author references by the surname of the author (followed by date of the publication in parenthesis)
• ... according to Hays (1994)
• ... population growth is one of the greatest environmental concerns facing future generations (Hays, 1994).
• cite double-author references by the surnames of both authors (followed by date of the publication in parenthesis)
• e.g. Simpson and Hays (1994)
• cite more than double-author references by the surname of the first author followed by et al. and then the date of the publication
• e.g. Pfirman, Simpson and Hays would be:
• Pfirman et al. (1994)
• cite newspaper articles using the newspaper name and date, e.g.
• ....this problem was also recently discussed in the press (New York Times, 1/15/00)
• do not use footnotes
• list all references cited in the text in alphabetical order using the following format for different types of material:
• Hunt, S. (1966) Carbohydrate and amino acid composition of the egg capsules of the whelk. Nature , 210, 436-437.
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (1997) Commonly asked questions about ozone. http://www.noaa.gov/public-affairs/grounders/ozo1.html, 9/27/97.
• Pfirman, S.L., M. Stute, H.J. Simpson, and J. Hays (1996) Undergraduate research at Barnard and Columbia, Journal of Research , 11, 213-214.
• Pechenik, J.A. (1987) A short guide to writing about biology. Harper Collins Publishers, New York, 194pp.
• Pitelka, D.R., and F.M. Child (1964) Review of ciliary structure and function. In: Biochemistry and Physiology of Protozoa , Vol. 3 (S.H. Hutner, editor), Academic Press, New York, 131-198.
• Sambrotto, R. (1997) lecture notes, Environmental Data Analysis, Barnard College, Oct 2, 1997.
• Stute, M., J.F. Clark, P. Schlosser, W.S. Broecker, and G. Bonani (1995) A high altitude continental paleotemperature record derived from noble gases dissolved in groundwater from the San Juan Basin, New Mexico. Quat. Res. , 43, 209-220.
• New York Times (1/15/00) PCBs in the Hudson still an issue, A2.
• it is acceptable to put the initials of the individual authors behind their last names, e.g. Pfirman, S.L., Stute, M., Simpson, H.J., and Hays, J (1996) Undergraduate research at ......

III. Order in which to write the proposal

• Make an outline of your thesis proposal  before you start writing
• Prepare figures and tables
• Figure captions
• Discussion of your data
• Inferences from your data
• Bibliography
• "Pictures say more than a thousand words!" Figures serve to illustrate important aspects  of the background material, sample data, and analysis techniques.
• A well chosen and well labeled figure can reduce text length, and improve proposal clarity.  Proposals often contain figures from other articles.  These can be appropriate, but you should consider modifying them if the modifications will improve your point.
• The whole process of making a drawing is important for two reasons.  First, it clarifies your thinking.  If you don’t understand the process, you can’t draw it. Second, good drawings are very valuable.  Other scientists will understand your paper better if you can make a drawing of your ideas.  A co-author of mine has advised me: make figures that other people will want to steal.  They will cite your paper because they want to use your figure in their paper.
• Make cartoons using a scientific drawing program.  Depending upon the subject of your paper, a cartoon might incorporate the following:
• a picture of the scientific equipment that you are using and an explanation of how it works;
• a drawing of a cycle showing steps, feedback loops, and bifurcations: this can include chemical or mathematical equations;
• a flow chart showing the steps in a process and the possible causes and consequences.
• Incorporate graphs in the text or on separated sheets inserted in the thesis proposal
• Modern computer technology such as scanners and drafting programs are available in the department to help you create or modify pictures.

Grammar/spelling

• Poor grammar and spelling distract from the content of the proposal.  The reader focuses on the grammar and spelling problems and misses keys points made in the text.  Modern word processing programs have grammar and spell checkers.  Use them.
• Read your proposal aloud - then  have a friend read it aloud. If your sentences seem too long, make two or three sentences instead of one.  Try to write the same way that you speak when you are explaining a concept. Most people speak more clearly than they write.
• You should have read your proposal over at least 5 times before handing it in
• Simple wording is generally better
• If you get comments from others that seem completely irrelevant to you, your paper is not written clearly enough never use a complex word if a simpler word will do

V. Resources/Acknowlegements

The senior seminar website has a very detailed document on " How to write a thesis " which you might want to look at. Most of the tips given there are relevant for your thesis proposal as well. Recommended books on scientific writing Some of the material on this page was adapted from: http://www.geo.utep.edu/Grad_Info/prop_guide.html http://www.hartwick.edu/anthropology/proposal.htm http://csdl.ics.hawaii.edu/FAQ/FAQ/thesis-proposal.html http://www.butler.edu/honors/PropsTheses.html

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The templates below have been built to ensure a consistent look among most theses and dissertations submitted to the Graduate School. These templates should be used as a guide in formatting your thesis or dissertation with the understanding that your department may require modifications of the template to fit your discipline’s style. Please contact your department’s Format Advisor to discuss any necessary changes.

The Thesis & Dissertation Office recommends using the PurdueThesis.cls file.

Please take note that Overleaf SHOULD NOT be used for writing, editing, or publishing documents or research papers that contain data subject to EAR, ITAR, DFARS Clause 252.204-7012, and other controlled data designators due to the increased security required for these types of data.

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Please download one of the following templates to begin your thesis/dissertation. Formatting within each template is already set up for your convenience. Be sure to paste your Word document INTO the template. Otherwise, it can cause formatting issues.

You will need to select the appropriate answer for all dropdown boxes on page 1.  Ex. Thesis/Dissertation, Choose Degree, Choose Department, Choose Campus Location, Choose Graduation Term.

You will need to manually input your committee information on page 2. We ask that you only list your committee member's primary department. The name after "Approved by:" should match the name listed on your Form 9 as "Thesis Form Head".

Follow instructions within the template to complete the rest of your thesis/dissertation. Please be careful when making changes so that you do not override/change the template formatting.

Please contact us if your department is not listed, or with other questions. 

Last modified June 24, 2024.

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How To Write A Dissertation Or Thesis

8 straightforward steps to craft an a-grade dissertation.

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) Expert Reviewed By: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | June 2020

Writing a dissertation or thesis is not a simple task. It takes time, energy and a lot of will power to get you across the finish line. It’s not easy – but it doesn’t necessarily need to be a painful process. If you understand the big-picture process of how to write a dissertation or thesis, your research journey will be a lot smoother.  

In this post, I’m going to outline the big-picture process of how to write a high-quality dissertation or thesis, without losing your mind along the way. If you’re just starting your research, this post is perfect for you. Alternatively, if you’ve already submitted your proposal, this article which covers how to structure a dissertation might be more helpful.

How To Write A Dissertation: 8 Steps

• Clearly understand what a dissertation (or thesis) is
• Find a unique and valuable research topic
• Craft a convincing research proposal
• Write up a strong introduction chapter
• Review the existing literature and compile a literature review
• Design a rigorous research strategy and undertake your own research
• Present the findings of your research
• Draw a conclusion and discuss the implications

Step 1: Understand exactly what a dissertation is

This probably sounds like a no-brainer, but all too often, students come to us for help with their research and the underlying issue is that they don’t fully understand what a dissertation (or thesis) actually is.

So, what is a dissertation?

At its simplest, a dissertation or thesis is a formal piece of research , reflecting the standard research process . But what is the standard research process, you ask? The research process involves 4 key steps:

• Ask a very specific, well-articulated question (s) (your research topic)
• See what other researchers have said about it (if they’ve already answered it)
• If they haven’t answered it adequately, undertake your own data collection and analysis in a scientifically rigorous fashion
• Answer your original question(s), based on your analysis findings

In short, the research process is simply about asking and answering questions in a systematic fashion . This probably sounds pretty obvious, but people often think they’ve done “research”, when in fact what they have done is:

• Started with a vague, poorly articulated question
• Not taken the time to see what research has already been done regarding the question
• Collected data and opinions that support their gut and undertaken a flimsy analysis
• Drawn a shaky conclusion, based on that analysis

If you want to see the perfect example of this in action, look out for the next Facebook post where someone claims they’ve done “research”… All too often, people consider reading a few blog posts to constitute research. Its no surprise then that what they end up with is an opinion piece, not research. Okay, okay – I’ll climb off my soapbox now.

The key takeaway here is that a dissertation (or thesis) is a formal piece of research, reflecting the research process. It’s not an opinion piece , nor a place to push your agenda or try to convince someone of your position. Writing a good dissertation involves asking a question and taking a systematic, rigorous approach to answering it.

If you understand this and are comfortable leaving your opinions or preconceived ideas at the door, you’re already off to a good start!

Step 2: Find a unique, valuable research topic

As we saw, the first step of the research process is to ask a specific, well-articulated question. In other words, you need to find a research topic that asks a specific question or set of questions (these are called research questions ). Sounds easy enough, right? All you’ve got to do is identify a question or two and you’ve got a winning research topic. Well, not quite…

A good dissertation or thesis topic has a few important attributes. Specifically, a solid research topic should be:

Let’s take a closer look at these:

Attribute #1: Clear

Your research topic needs to be crystal clear about what you’re planning to research, what you want to know, and within what context. There shouldn’t be any ambiguity or vagueness about what you’ll research.

Here’s an example of a clearly articulated research topic:

An analysis of consumer-based factors influencing organisational trust in British low-cost online equity brokerage firms.

As you can see in the example, its crystal clear what will be analysed (factors impacting organisational trust), amongst who (consumers) and in what context (British low-cost equity brokerage firms, based online).

Need a helping hand?

Attribute #2:   Unique

Your research should be asking a question(s) that hasn’t been asked before, or that hasn’t been asked in a specific context (for example, in a specific country or industry).

For example, sticking organisational trust topic above, it’s quite likely that organisational trust factors in the UK have been investigated before, but the context (online low-cost equity brokerages) could make this research unique. Therefore, the context makes this research original.

One caveat when using context as the basis for originality – you need to have a good reason to suspect that your findings in this context might be different from the existing research – otherwise, there’s no reason to warrant researching it.

Attribute #3: Important

Simply asking a unique or original question is not enough – the question needs to create value. In other words, successfully answering your research questions should provide some value to the field of research or the industry. You can’t research something just to satisfy your curiosity. It needs to make some form of contribution either to research or industry.

For example, researching the factors influencing consumer trust would create value by enabling businesses to tailor their operations and marketing to leverage factors that promote trust. In other words, it would have a clear benefit to industry.

So, how do you go about finding a unique and valuable research topic? We explain that in detail in this video post – How To Find A Research Topic . Yeah, we’ve got you covered 😊

Step 3: Write a convincing research proposal

Once you’ve pinned down a high-quality research topic, the next step is to convince your university to let you research it. No matter how awesome you think your topic is, it still needs to get the rubber stamp before you can move forward with your research. The research proposal is the tool you’ll use for this job.

So, what’s in a research proposal?

The main “job” of a research proposal is to convince your university, advisor or committee that your research topic is worthy of approval. But convince them of what? Well, this varies from university to university, but generally, they want to see that:

• You have a clearly articulated, unique and important topic (this might sound familiar…)
• You’ve done some initial reading of the existing literature relevant to your topic (i.e. a literature review)
• You have a provisional plan in terms of how you will collect data and analyse it (i.e. a methodology)

At the proposal stage, it’s (generally) not expected that you’ve extensively reviewed the existing literature , but you will need to show that you’ve done enough reading to identify a clear gap for original (unique) research. Similarly, they generally don’t expect that you have a rock-solid research methodology mapped out, but you should have an idea of whether you’ll be undertaking qualitative or quantitative analysis , and how you’ll collect your data (we’ll discuss this in more detail later).

Long story short – don’t stress about having every detail of your research meticulously thought out at the proposal stage – this will develop as you progress through your research. However, you do need to show that you’ve “done your homework” and that your research is worthy of approval .

So, how do you go about crafting a high-quality, convincing proposal? We cover that in detail in this video post – How To Write A Top-Class Research Proposal . We’ve also got a video walkthrough of two proposal examples here .

Step 4: Craft a strong introduction chapter

Once your proposal’s been approved, its time to get writing your actual dissertation or thesis! The good news is that if you put the time into crafting a high-quality proposal, you’ve already got a head start on your first three chapters – introduction, literature review and methodology – as you can use your proposal as the basis for these.

Handy sidenote – our free dissertation & thesis template is a great way to speed up your dissertation writing journey.

What’s the introduction chapter all about?

The purpose of the introduction chapter is to set the scene for your research (dare I say, to introduce it…) so that the reader understands what you’ll be researching and why it’s important. In other words, it covers the same ground as the research proposal in that it justifies your research topic.

What goes into the introduction chapter?

This can vary slightly between universities and degrees, but generally, the introduction chapter will include the following:

• A brief background to the study, explaining the overall area of research
• A problem statement , explaining what the problem is with the current state of research (in other words, where the knowledge gap exists)
• Your research questions – in other words, the specific questions your study will seek to answer (based on the knowledge gap)
• The significance of your study – in other words, why it’s important and how its findings will be useful in the world

As you can see, this all about explaining the “what” and the “why” of your research (as opposed to the “how”). So, your introduction chapter is basically the salesman of your study, “selling” your research to the first-time reader and (hopefully) getting them interested to read more.

How do I write the introduction chapter, you ask? We cover that in detail in this post .

Step 5: Undertake an in-depth literature review

As I mentioned earlier, you’ll need to do some initial review of the literature in Steps 2 and 3 to find your research gap and craft a convincing research proposal – but that’s just scratching the surface. Once you reach the literature review stage of your dissertation or thesis, you need to dig a lot deeper into the existing research and write up a comprehensive literature review chapter.

What’s the literature review all about?

There are two main stages in the literature review process:

Literature Review Step 1: Reading up

The first stage is for you to deep dive into the existing literature (journal articles, textbook chapters, industry reports, etc) to gain an in-depth understanding of the current state of research regarding your topic. While you don’t need to read every single article, you do need to ensure that you cover all literature that is related to your core research questions, and create a comprehensive catalogue of that literature , which you’ll use in the next step.

Reading and digesting all the relevant literature is a time consuming and intellectually demanding process. Many students underestimate just how much work goes into this step, so make sure that you allocate a good amount of time for this when planning out your research. Thankfully, there are ways to fast track the process – be sure to check out this article covering how to read journal articles quickly .

Literature Review Step 2: Writing up

Once you’ve worked through the literature and digested it all, you’ll need to write up your literature review chapter. Many students make the mistake of thinking that the literature review chapter is simply a summary of what other researchers have said. While this is partly true, a literature review is much more than just a summary. To pull off a good literature review chapter, you’ll need to achieve at least 3 things:

• You need to synthesise the existing research , not just summarise it. In other words, you need to show how different pieces of theory fit together, what’s agreed on by researchers, what’s not.
• You need to highlight a research gap that your research is going to fill. In other words, you’ve got to outline the problem so that your research topic can provide a solution.
• You need to use the existing research to inform your methodology and approach to your own research design. For example, you might use questions or Likert scales from previous studies in your your own survey design .

As you can see, a good literature review is more than just a summary of the published research. It’s the foundation on which your own research is built, so it deserves a lot of love and attention. Take the time to craft a comprehensive literature review with a suitable structure .

But, how do I actually write the literature review chapter, you ask? We cover that in detail in this video post .

Step 6: Carry out your own research

Once you’ve completed your literature review and have a sound understanding of the existing research, its time to develop your own research (finally!). You’ll design this research specifically so that you can find the answers to your unique research question.

There are two steps here – designing your research strategy and executing on it:

1 – Design your research strategy

The first step is to design your research strategy and craft a methodology chapter . I won’t get into the technicalities of the methodology chapter here, but in simple terms, this chapter is about explaining the “how” of your research. If you recall, the introduction and literature review chapters discussed the “what” and the “why”, so it makes sense that the next point to cover is the “how” –that’s what the methodology chapter is all about.

In this section, you’ll need to make firm decisions about your research design. This includes things like:

• Your research philosophy (e.g. positivism or interpretivism )
• Your overall methodology (e.g. qualitative , quantitative or mixed methods)
• Your data collection strategy (e.g. interviews , focus groups, surveys)
• Your data analysis strategy (e.g. content analysis , correlation analysis, regression)

If these words have got your head spinning, don’t worry! We’ll explain these in plain language in other posts. It’s not essential that you understand the intricacies of research design (yet!). The key takeaway here is that you’ll need to make decisions about how you’ll design your own research, and you’ll need to describe (and justify) your decisions in your methodology chapter.

2 – Execute: Collect and analyse your data

Once you’ve worked out your research design, you’ll put it into action and start collecting your data. This might mean undertaking interviews, hosting an online survey or any other data collection method. Data collection can take quite a bit of time (especially if you host in-person interviews), so be sure to factor sufficient time into your project plan for this. Oftentimes, things don’t go 100% to plan (for example, you don’t get as many survey responses as you hoped for), so bake a little extra time into your budget here.

Once you’ve collected your data, you’ll need to do some data preparation before you can sink your teeth into the analysis. For example:

• If you carry out interviews or focus groups, you’ll need to transcribe your audio data to text (i.e. a Word document).
• If you collect quantitative survey data, you’ll need to clean up your data and get it into the right format for whichever analysis software you use (for example, SPSS, R or STATA).

Once you’ve completed your data prep, you’ll undertake your analysis, using the techniques that you described in your methodology. Depending on what you find in your analysis, you might also do some additional forms of analysis that you hadn’t planned for. For example, you might see something in the data that raises new questions or that requires clarification with further analysis.

The type(s) of analysis that you’ll use depend entirely on the nature of your research and your research questions. For example:

• If your research if exploratory in nature, you’ll often use qualitative analysis techniques .
• If your research is confirmatory in nature, you’ll often use quantitative analysis techniques
• If your research involves a mix of both, you might use a mixed methods approach

Again, if these words have got your head spinning, don’t worry! We’ll explain these concepts and techniques in other posts. The key takeaway is simply that there’s no “one size fits all” for research design and methodology – it all depends on your topic, your research questions and your data. So, don’t be surprised if your study colleagues take a completely different approach to yours.

Step 7: Present your findings

Once you’ve completed your analysis, it’s time to present your findings (finally!). In a dissertation or thesis, you’ll typically present your findings in two chapters – the results chapter and the discussion chapter .

What’s the difference between the results chapter and the discussion chapter?

While these two chapters are similar, the results chapter generally just presents the processed data neatly and clearly without interpretation, while the discussion chapter explains the story the data are telling  – in other words, it provides your interpretation of the results.

For example, if you were researching the factors that influence consumer trust, you might have used a quantitative approach to identify the relationship between potential factors (e.g. perceived integrity and competence of the organisation) and consumer trust. In this case:

• Your results chapter would just present the results of the statistical tests. For example, correlation results or differences between groups. In other words, the processed numbers.
• Your discussion chapter would explain what the numbers mean in relation to your research question(s). For example, Factor 1 has a weak relationship with consumer trust, while Factor 2 has a strong relationship.

Depending on the university and degree, these two chapters (results and discussion) are sometimes merged into one , so be sure to check with your institution what their preference is. Regardless of the chapter structure, this section is about presenting the findings of your research in a clear, easy to understand fashion.

Importantly, your discussion here needs to link back to your research questions (which you outlined in the introduction or literature review chapter). In other words, it needs to answer the key questions you asked (or at least attempt to answer them).

For example, if we look at the sample research topic:

In this case, the discussion section would clearly outline which factors seem to have a noteworthy influence on organisational trust. By doing so, they are answering the overarching question and fulfilling the purpose of the research .

For more information about the results chapter , check out this post for qualitative studies and this post for quantitative studies .

Step 8: The Final Step Draw a conclusion and discuss the implications

Last but not least, you’ll need to wrap up your research with the conclusion chapter . In this chapter, you’ll bring your research full circle by highlighting the key findings of your study and explaining what the implications of these findings are.

What exactly are key findings? The key findings are those findings which directly relate to your original research questions and overall research objectives (which you discussed in your introduction chapter). The implications, on the other hand, explain what your findings mean for industry, or for research in your area.

Sticking with the consumer trust topic example, the conclusion might look something like this:

Key findings

This study set out to identify which factors influence consumer-based trust in British low-cost online equity brokerage firms. The results suggest that the following factors have a large impact on consumer trust:

While the following factors have a very limited impact on consumer trust:

Notably, within the 25-30 age groups, Factors E had a noticeably larger impact, which may be explained by…

Implications

The findings having noteworthy implications for British low-cost online equity brokers. Specifically:

The large impact of Factors X and Y implies that brokers need to consider….

The limited impact of Factor E implies that brokers need to…

As you can see, the conclusion chapter is basically explaining the “what” (what your study found) and the “so what?” (what the findings mean for the industry or research). This brings the study full circle and closes off the document.

Let’s recap – how to write a dissertation or thesis

You’re still with me? Impressive! I know that this post was a long one, but hopefully you’ve learnt a thing or two about how to write a dissertation or thesis, and are now better equipped to start your own research.

To recap, the 8 steps to writing a quality dissertation (or thesis) are as follows:

• Understand what a dissertation (or thesis) is – a research project that follows the research process.
• Find a unique (original) and important research topic
• Craft a convincing dissertation or thesis research proposal
• Write a clear, compelling introduction chapter
• Undertake a thorough review of the existing research and write up a literature review
• Undertake your own research
• Present and interpret your findings

Once you’ve wrapped up the core chapters, all that’s typically left is the abstract , reference list and appendices. As always, be sure to check with your university if they have any additional requirements in terms of structure or content.  

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

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20 Comments

thankfull >>>this is very useful

Thank you, it was really helpful

unquestionably, this amazing simplified way of teaching. Really , I couldn’t find in the literature words that fully explicit my great thanks to you. However, I could only say thanks a-lot.

Great to hear that – thanks for the feedback. Good luck writing your dissertation/thesis.

This is the most comprehensive explanation of how to write a dissertation. Many thanks for sharing it free of charge.

Very rich presentation. Thank you

Thanks Derek Jansen|GRADCOACH, I find it very useful guide to arrange my activities and proceed to research!

Thank you so much for such a marvelous teaching .I am so convinced that am going to write a comprehensive and a distinct masters dissertation

It is an amazing comprehensive explanation

This was straightforward. Thank you!

I can say that your explanations are simple and enlightening – understanding what you have done here is easy for me. Could you write more about the different types of research methods specific to the three methodologies: quan, qual and MM. I look forward to interacting with this website more in the future.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions 🙂

Hello, your write ups is quite educative. However, l have challenges in going about my research questions which is below; *Building the enablers of organisational growth through effective governance and purposeful leadership.*

Very educating.

Just listening to the name of the dissertation makes the student nervous. As writing a top-quality dissertation is a difficult task as it is a lengthy topic, requires a lot of research and understanding and is usually around 10,000 to 15000 words. Sometimes due to studies, unbalanced workload or lack of research and writing skill students look for dissertation submission from professional writers.

Thank you 💕😊 very much. I was confused but your comprehensive explanation has cleared my doubts of ever presenting a good thesis. Thank you.

thank you so much, that was so useful

Hi. Where is the excel spread sheet ark?

could you please help me look at your thesis paper to enable me to do the portion that has to do with the specification

my topic is “the impact of domestic revenue mobilization.

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Statement Of Work Ultimate Guide: Simple Definition & Template

An unclear Statement of Work can turn a dream project into a living nightmare. Here's how to write one that will get everyone on the same page (& a template to make it easy for you).

An effective statement of work can be the ultimate tool to head off trouble before it starts. It's the single source of truth that clarifies what you and your team are responsible for when delivering the project. On the flip side, an unclear statement of work can mean delays, extra work, and reduced profitability.

Here's how to craft one that sets clear expectations, protects you and your team, and maximizes everyone's chance for success.

What is a Statement of Work?

In project management, a statement of work (SoW) is an agreement between a client and an agency, contractor, or service provider that defines what’s included within a project.

A well-written SoW clearly defines what your team will and won’t do on a project—saving you from painful client negotiations and protecting your timeline and the bottom line.

PS: Some people refer to the statement of work as a scope of work instead. Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.

Here's a very un-serious explanation:

What Should a Statement of Work Contain?

The SoW is the project contract that sets and aligns expectations. It summarizes the purpose of the project and defines deliverables, standards, criteria, and requirements for each project phase.

If you’ve already created a project plan or timeline and a project estimate, then the SoW is the icing on the cake—it’s got the juicy details to tie everything together.

Statement of Work Components

So what should a SoW contain? What are the bits of a SoW that are important? What’s redundant?

At a minimum, the SoW should clearly detail:

• Project objectives : purpose statement, ie. why the project is happening and what it will achieve
• Project governance : who has approval to do what
• Work breakdown structure (WBS) : how the project will be completed, what approach will be taken, and the specific tasks and phases that will be completed
• Deliverables, including due dates : what will be produced and by when
• Period of performance : when the project will be delivered, along with the amount of time needed, approximate start date and end date, and a list of milestones
• Estimate : project pricing, along with a payment schedule
• Assumptions : what is and isn’t included in the project scope, including acceptance criteria, i.e. what is and isn’t acceptable to deliver
• Work requirements : any other special requirements and specifics about how the project is to be completed, such as specific approaches or project management tools. For software development projects, include functional requirements.

Pitfalls in Creating a Statement of Work

While creating a SoW might sound reasonably simple, you’ll need to watch out for some common pitfalls:

Not Enough Details

If the work statement is too vague, too broad, or too generic, it can leave room for multiple interpretations. This can create misunderstandings later in a project.

Too Many Details!

If the SoW is too detailed, it can artificially constrain the project. You may end up doing work that’s not truly needed, simply because you said you would.

Imagine Goldilocks is building your SoW... it needs to be juuust right .

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How to Write a Statement of Work

Keep these tips and tricks in mind when crafting a SoW:

1. Break it Up

Don’t scope what you don’t know. Rather than trying to create a SoW for an entire project, split the project into phases, and develop separate SoWs for each phase as the project progresses.

2. Make a Plan

Decide what you’re doing and how. Define the deliverables, and the process required to produce them so you can clearly articulate what’s in and what’s out of the project scope.

3. Put it into Context

Explain why you’re doing the project. Even if the specifics of the plan evolve, the SoW should help you to assess whether the project was a success.

4. Be Specific

Set the project’s boundaries. Minimize the risk of misinterpretation from your client by defining the extent of the work to do and quantifying it wherever possible so the client doesn’t expect more than you’ve budgeted.

5. Make Assumptions Clear

Lay the ground rules. Use project scope statements to explain mutual expectations and what has to hold true for your team to properly execute the project.

6. Simplify

Be clear and concise. Strike a balance between making the SoW as lean as possible while also carefully specifying the work to be done. Avoid words with multiple interpretations, and use plain language to ensure the SoW is easy to understand.

As the project manager, you should know your SoW inside and out and be able to communicate its contents to your stakeholders. Make sure stakeholders have seen a copy of the SoW, and continue to refer back to the SoW throughout the project lifecycle. More on this later on!

Statement of Work Template & Example [Download]

Searching for SoW templates online yields countless results. The challenge is that many of these templates are confusing and contain much more than is typically needed for managing digital projects. The goal is to be able to produce a robust and flexible SoW quickly, with the appropriate level of detail.

Fortunately, we’ve got the template for you! Our digital project SoW template is fully detailed and ready to use. It helps answer the questions: “what should I include in my SoW?”, “how much detail do I need?”, and “where do I store project information?”

Instead of wasting time cobbling together something yourself, we’ve done the hard work for you. Our detailed SoW template is approximately 12 pages long (1000 words) and is available in a format that's compatible with Microsoft Word & Google Docs for you to adapt as you need. The template is unbranded and uses generic styling to make it easy for you to edit content and brand it with your logo.

The template includes two parts. The first section outlines overarching project information, while the second section defines the details of each phase. You can add subsequent phases if your project requires them.

The SoW template includes the following sections:

• Project Information
• Project Summary
• Project Process
• Project Budget
• Project Milestones
• Project Governance
• Terms and Conditions
• Phase Details
• Deliverable Descriptions

You can find a pre-made statement of work template (plus a filled-in example!) in the DPM Membership templates library . I’ve included prompts to help you fill out each section, and because SoW documents are such a massive undertaking, I’ve also put together a complete sample SoW for reference.

Find more project management templates here .

How To Use a Statement of Work

So you’ve finally got your SoW approved—now the real fun of keeping the project on track begins. If you don’t stick to the SoW, it’s highly likely you’ll end up:

• Not quite delivering what was desired
• Late delivering on your project goals
• Running over your budget

So how do you stick to the plan and keep your SoW on track?

1. Know Your SoW Inside & Out

You need to know this thing better than anyone.

I mean, how embarrassing is it if the client brings up something that you’ve written in the SoW but forgotten about? That's right, SoW embarrassing.

Bad joke? Okay, moving on.

Keep a copy of your SoW on hand. I recommend uploading it to your project management software for central access but, if you're a caveperson, you can print it out, too.

Whatever you do, have the SoW available when you’re on a call or in a meet­ing; whenever it’s in question, everyone will look to you for answers.

That being said, you need to...

2. Get Your Team on Board

It’s not good enough for you alone to know the SoW—you need to evangelize the SoW with your team to guard against the risk of scope creep.

Even if your team was involved in architecting the SoW, it’s bound to have changed and evolved since project inception. Make sure team members understand:

• Project activities
• Deliverables
• Assumptions
• What success looks like

Circulate the SoW, print copies, stick it on the walls of your war room, or get it tattooed on your body. Just make it visible and ensure everyone's read up.

The last thing you want is for a team member to agree to an ad hoc client request (that isn’t part of the execution plan) or overlook a key contract requirement. Therefore, you need to...

3. Get Buy-In From Your Team

Let's get something clear: Blind agreement is a bad thing .

Take the time to go through the finalized plan with your project team and get their real buy-in. If they think that something doesn’t make sense or isn’t ultimately going to drive the success of the project, hash it out before you send everyone off to work.

If you get it clear from the start, you reduce the number of check-ins necessary along the way, allowing your team to work with collaboration tools on their own time.

There’s never value in doing work simply because the SoW dictates it. If it’s good for the project, then you should be able to make a case to the client to change it, which means you have to...

4. Keep Your SoW Top of Mind

Don’t be afraid of bringing up the SoW in your client meetings—in fact, a review of the SoW should be a standing agenda item. Discuss if the SoW is still valid and whether things are going according to plan.

If there are things that need to be adjusted, understand the reasons why, make the changes, and ensure everyone is aware of them.

But remember: Don't succumb to every new request and idea. The SoW is there to set boundaries on your project scope, so you don't fall victim to project management's Bogeyman: Scope creep .

5. Watch Out for Scope Creep

Scope creep happens when the project scope begins to grow, seemingly sneakily. Typically, it’s when a request starts out as one thing, then slowly morphs into a much bigger project that bites chunks out of your profits.

It sucks... but it happens honestly. Clients are full of (mostly) good ideas and, often, don't understand the schedule or budgetary implications of what they’re asking for.

In order to manage scope creep , you need to watch for, call out, and resolve the problem. When you see ad-hoc requests creep in, come back to your SoW. If you and the client agree it’s out of scope but they still want it done, you need to issue a change request (aka, an update to the SoW).

The change request should describe:

• The change from the original SoW
• How you’re going to execute the request
• The budget and timeline implications

6. Be Vigilant from the Beginning

Projects that go off the rails often do so in the early stages of the project.

It happens when project managers don’t want to rock the boat by raising issues when they should. The downstream effects of being too flexible in the first few weeks of a project can be huge.

Not only does it leave you with catching up to do, but it sets an expectation with the client that the SoW is flexible. They may assume that you’ll honor future requests for scope changes, regardless of their budgetary or timeline impacts.

Let this happen and you might as well say goodbye to your SoW's usefulness.

What Does A Statement Of Work Document Do?

We've gone over this a bit already but, just to remind you, your Statement of Work exists to:

• Help you figure out what the heck you need to charge
• Provide the extra layer of detail that cost estimates and project plans don’t usually include
• Reassure the client about what they'll be getting for their money
• Keep your team accountable with clear, publicly agreed-upon timelines
• Uninvite scope creep from the party by specifying what’s  not  included
• Set crystal clear expectations for both sides to proactively address miscommunication conflict

If you think this'll be a lot of work... you aren't completely wrong. But by putting in the work upfront to craft and agree upon a detailed SOW, you'll help the project succeed (profitably) and reduce many-a-headache later in the project lifecycle.

Other Documents Related to the Statement of Work

There are a few similar and related documents to SoWs that are often mistaken for SoWs, even though they serve different purposes.

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A Master Services Agreement (MSA) exists to get broad, non-project-related items clarified from the jump. You define basic terms and their meaning, then have both parties agree, so you can move more quickly in the future.

If it's a new client, an MSA often accompanies your SoW but it can't be used in place of one.

you do have an MSA in place, you can leave these details out of the SoW.

Project Charter vs Statement of Work

A project charter is a document closely related to the SoW, but your charter focuses on the bigger picture. Instead of going into detail about each task and deliverable, it covers project objectives and expected outcomes.

Use this document for larger projects with more phases, where losing track of the SoW between phases is more likely. The project charter is intended for use at the beginning of projects after both parties have signed off on the SoW.

Request for Proposal vs Statement of Work

Requests for Proposals (RFPs) are documents created by organizations that wish to find an agency, vendor, or contractor for a particular service.

Agencies interested in completing the scope of work set out in the RFP respond to these with a proposal , usually outlining their approach to the work, their methodologies , and examples of similar projects they’ve completed.

The SoW follows after the agency has been awarded the project and contains more details regarding execution.

Frequently Asked Questions about Statements of Work

In case you still have questions, I’ve compiled responses to some frequently asked questions regarding project SoWs.

Is a Statement of Work Necessary?

If you’re wondering this, I’ll assume you haven’t read the article yet. Don’t worry, I can answer it quickly:

Yes. 1000% yes.

A statement of work is about managing and documenting expectations. And, as with any agreement, it’s best if those making the agreement know exactly what they’re agreeing to.

I get it. It’s tempting not to bother with a statement of work; after all, who likes paperwork?

If you subscribe to an agile approach to documentation—aka as little as possible and only where necessary—you may think that the days of producing a SoW are over.

Nice try, but no.

As a project manager, it’s in your best interest to have something that enables you to say, “sorry, that’s out of scope” when a client starts asking whether the estimate for a banner ad campaign also includes a campaign landing page.

The failure to write (or properly write) a statement of work is often the reason clients and agencies end up in conflict. When there’s uncertainty or ambiguity, it creates tension. The idea of a SoW is not to catch a client out, but to state exactly what’s being done, how, when, and the cost to ensure a common understanding of project requirements .

Are Statements of Work Important for Internal Projects?

Whether or not you actually build one is up to you but it can really help.

A statement of work for internal projects is less formal; it’s more of a game plan than anything. Your team sets expectations and outlines the tasks and project deliverables they’ll need to complete. The document doesn’t need to be a formal SoW, like the one you might create for a client, but having some type of SoW in place is beneficial.

How Detailed Should a Statement of Work Be?

The short answer is: Extremely detailed about the things that matter. Less detailed about the things that are likely to change.

You need to be specific in order to:

• Prove that you understand and can communicate the project’s goals from its outset
• Understand how success is being measured
• Leave very little up for interpretation (thus closing the door to scope creep)
• Make sure doubt and disagreement are dealt with early
• Give you insurance against Client-zillas

The rest is up to you.

Remember: the aim isn’t to be a stickler for the sake of it; your SoW exists to ensure you and your client are on the same page from the start. Use as much detail as necessary to do that.

When is the Best Time to Create a Statement of Work?

Start early & create your SoW in phases.

In our guide on estimating projects , we talk about three phases of estimation:

• SoW Estimation

It’s a good idea to start making notes for your SoW in the ballpark estimation phase. Begin documenting your SoW as you’re creating the budget estimate so that, by the time you’re creating the final SoW estimate, you’ve got the information you need to send the SoW to the client for approval.

What’s Not Included in the Statement of Work?

SoWs are a critical part of project planning , not project execution (although, of course, they may be updated throughout the project lifecycle to reflect changing requirements). As such, project SoWs typically do not contain:

• Risks and risk mitigation plans
• Project status reports / progress against schedule
• Project expenditures
• Lessons learned

What's Next?

Want to master the finer points of project scoping and planning? Check out expert-created training from the DPM School .