Before you start writing a PhD thesis in some universities, it is necessary to prepare a proposal for research (Research Proposal), which will become the basis of a future dissertation. The research proposal is normally presented at least 4 months before the thesis is presented and is the second mandatory stage of work on it after coordination and approval of the thesis topic.
When writing a professional PhD research proposal from scratch, students necessarily reflect two dissertation preparation blocks:
- theoretical and methodological part of the thesis;
- research part of the dissertation.
The theoretical and methodological part describe the relevance of the topic of the finance PhD research, establishes the problem area, the object and subject of research, as well as the purpose and objectives of the work associated with the hypothesis (hypotheses) of the study. The first part also includes an analysis of the main sources of literature – a review of the key sources in this area, as well as a proposal for working with primary sources, including periodicals, research data, etc. Based on the plan and concept of the dissertation, a brief description of the future work, its structure is given.
In the research part, on the basis of the hypothesis put forward (hypotheses) of the research, the methodology of the future research, the design, the expected results, the system of the methods used are described, the validity criteria of the research are established. The research proposal is approved by the student’s supervisor, agreed with the head of the master’s program and defended before the supervisor.
A research proposal is a document that describes in detail what is planned to write for research work on a specific PhD project. To come up with material that will serve as the basis for a successful proposal, you need to think over and prepare a topic. Once you have a topic, review the literature to identify gaps. This will help you identify and highlight the problem area. It will also provide an opportunity to add body and demonstrate knowledge. The introduction is the next stage where you can formulate a statement of the goal, which describes in detail why the topic is of interest and importance. You can do this by highlighting the gap you have noted and the relevance of the solution to the main problem. This will give you a guide on how you should argue, suggesting a field of study.
The research question should be properly described with clearly defined goals and objectives for the results. A preliminary bibliography can also be constructed by writing links, pages, authors. Titles and publication information. Specify the methods that will be used to collect your data; for example, if you conduct informal interviews or hand out questionnaires. Depending on the topic, the focus group can also be used to collect accurate information. Review your audience and understand that they need a comprehensive offer to follow your proposal, accept its ingenuity and welcome your choice of learning.
If you offer a narrow topic or an insufficiently defined area of study, you can instill confidence in the reader by compiling a list of resources that you will consult to obtain conclusive evidence and results. Such as: documentaries, publications, magazines, newspaper records and even biographies that will support your research.
It is important to demonstrate that you can complete the work on time or at the time set by the institution. This will be demonstrated when discussing data collection and analysis methods. Be sure to include the ethical permissions required for your research, if necessary. Sometimes approval is required depending on your training method. For the safety of the participants involved, it is necessary to ensure that the investigation is conducted with respect. It is also useful to mention a methodology that differs from the method when writing a good research proposal for PhD application. Methodology refers to a theory that justifies the method of research that you have chosen to comply with. Given these few simple instructions, you can write a good research proposal.