The Dissertation Proposal

A dissertation proposal, sometimes called a prospectus, is a written document that outlines your plans for your dissertation. You will be required to defend your proposal in front of your dissertation committee. This allows you to get feedback on your plans before getting too far along on your project. It also provides you

with some protection at the defense of your eventual dissertation because if you execute the plan that your committee approved, they should be supportive of your final dissertation.

The event is called a proposal defense, but you should not be defensive. You want to highlight areas of concern and get help, not hide those areas of concern hoping that no one notices. The proposal defense gives you the chance to get feedback from experts with lots of experience. For that 1-2 hour period, they will all be focusing on your work. This is a great opportunity for you. Besides, you should be working closely with your advisor, who should not let you schedule the defense unless you are ready.

The mechanics of the defense might differ from program to program. Gener- ally speaking, the student is asked to open with a brief presentation. It is generally unhelpful to simply summarize the proposal because your committee has already read it. I encourage students to emphasize the theoretical and/or methodological contributions they believe they are making, and to highlight areas where they need help and advice. Your best strategy is to simply ask your advisor what to expect during the defense and what you should prepare.

Often a proposal defense begins with sending the student out of the room for a few minutes while the committee gets organized. At this time, the chair often asks whether anyone on the committee has any real fundamental objections to the proposal.

The student is brought back into the room, and the defense occurs. The bulk of the defense will consist of committee members asking questions/raising issues and the student responding. The goal is not for the student to successfully defend every decision they have made in the proposal. Rather, the goal is for the conversation to lead to consensus around a stronger proposal. It should be a conversation, not an argument or a debate.

After the discussion, the student will be sent out again so the committee can discuss the proposal. The committee may strongly suggest major or minor revi- sions to the proposal. They will ultimately decide whether the student has passed the proposal defense or whether they want the student to defend a revised proposal before proceeding. The student is brought back into the room and informed of the committee’s decision. Typically the chair of the committee will be charged with the task of working with the student to reshape the proposal as needed in response

to the committee’s suggestions.

The best dissertation proposals provide a motivation for the project. You should describe the theoretical, substantive, and/or methodological contributions the project will make. You should also include a detailed outline of the work you will be doing. In a perfect world, that work plan would be sufficiently detailed that you could hand your proposal to one of your grad student friends and they could execute the dissertation pretty much the way you would have. That level of detail requires identifying data sources, specifying analysis plans/statistical models, and articulating the evidence you expect to find if your theory is supported.

People disagree on the desired length of a dissertation proposal, but I tend to think that 20-30 double-spaced pages should be enough. Less than that, and you probably need to provide additional information. More than that, and your ideas probably need to be boiled down to their most important components.

This page length also corresponds with the guidelines for the National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant program that is part of the Political Science Program at NSF.1I think every graduate student doing empirical research for their dissertation should follow the NSF guidelines for their dissertation pro- posal whether they plan to apply for funding or not. Funding agencies require a clear rationale for the proposed project along with a detailed plan that convinces the funding agency that the researcher knows what they are doing and can execute the project with a high probability of success. If you can meet these standards, you will easily pass your proposal defense. Accepting the discipline and rigor of the NSF guidelines will serve you well. Currently, their deadline for proposals is June 15 of every year, which is also perfect for those able to defend their proposal in the spring of their third year. I encourage you to apply – even if you do not get funded, it will be a good experience.

The National Science Foundation evaluates all grant proposals on two criteria: 1) the intellectual merit and 2) the broader impacts of the research. The first criteria refers to the theoretical contribution of the research, and is centered on how the research will add new knowledge to help scholars understand the topic at hand better. The second criteria deals more with how the research might have practical implications and how products of the research, such as data that can be shared, might impact the work of others. Every successful proposal must meet

these two criteria.

I applied to NSF for my dissertation. I did not get funding from them, but I did get it from another source. Even without that NSF funding, however, the process was extremely beneficial to me. It gave me a clear path for my dissertation as well as experience seeking funding. Many of my students have applied to NSF. Some received funding and some did not, but all of them were grateful for the experience.

Brief Outline for Prospectus

If we assume a twenty page document, I suggest the following structure:

1. Introduction- 1-2 pages

This section should include three paragraphs. The first paragraph should say what the project is about. What problem are you addressing, or what ques- tion are you answering? Your reader needs to know what your dissertation is going to be about after reading this paragraph.

The second paragraph should explain why answering this question is im- portant. What theoretical, methodological, and/or substantive contributions are you making?

The third paragraph should provide a brief chapter outline of your disserta- tion. Most dissertations consist of three core empirical chapters. You should write no more than two or three sentences for each empirical chapter. 2. Theory- 4-6 pages

Here you need to articulate the general theory guiding your dissertation. You should place your theory within the existing literature, but you should NOT write a literature review. You need to present your argument, not the arguments of others. Importantly, you must be clear about your unique theoretical contribution.

3. Overview of Empirical Chapters12-15 pages

This section needs details on the data, research design, and analyses you plan for each chapter. In a perfect world, these plans will be detailed enough

that you could give your prospectus to another student and they would be able to pretty much execute your dissertation themselves.

Of course your prospectus should also include a list of cited references. If you are planning to conduct a survey, elite interviews, an experiment, or some other similar type of study, you should also include an appendix that provides the survey instrument, proposed interview questions, etc. Providing these details to your committee gives you the opportunity to get more specific feedback from them at the defense.