Expanding dissertation proposalExpanding dissertation proposal

Source: McEvedy, R, 1984, Source: McEvedy, R, 1984, Analysis and Synthesis: Developing Report Analysis and Synthesis: Developing Report Writing Skills in Tertiary StudentsWriting Skills in Tertiary Students, in part1 of the Proceedings of the , in part1 of the Proceedings of the Australasian Fifth Annual Study Skills Conference Deakin University Australasian Fifth Annual Study Skills Conference Deakin University (15-18 May)(15-18 May)

Write brief proposal onWrite brief proposal on

1. What is your central question or problem?

2. Why is this problem important and worthy of study?

3. How will you go about it (research methods and underlying assumptions)?

IntroductionIntroduction

Use this section to provide a setting for your area of research;

Introduce your area of research, without going into specific details, touching upon the nuances of your work and the problems at hand;

The theoretical and conceptual framework may not directly relate to your work but it shall provide an element of the foundation of your final work.

BackgroundBackground

This section shall provide the space for an extensive literature review;

It is STRONGLY recommended you avoid journalistic pieces when writing on your topic. You may use it to supplement your knowledge but it cannot be used in a literature review;

Ideally a review should provide a broad spectrum of literature of your area of research;

BackgroundBackground

The purpose of this review is to provide the theoretical and conceptual framework of your work; it will also provide a better understanding of the discourse and help you to come to a conclusion on your research topic.

If you choose to follow one school of thought over another, you must outline your interpretation and reasons for selecting it.

If you fail to carry out solid literature review, you may end up writing several dissertations! This means one dissertation with several disjointed arguments, each one failing to fully support your research