5 Simple Tips That Will Help You with Your Dissertation Proposal Defense
Introduction
Dissertations begin with a proposal, and from there expect many questions to make sure that your idea holds water. The first major step of writing a dissertation is the dissertation proposal defense, and preparing for this endeavor can seem overwhelming. However, here are five tips that are going to help you through this time.
Determine expectations
Your board of reviews is likely going to have some specific expectations on what you present and how you present yourself. Realize that there are likely to be particulars in what your board is looking for, so you should ask them what they expect of you. Make sure that you can fulfill these and be successful.
Prepare for their questions and determine answers
Realize that you are going to be asked questions, and a big part of this process is getting the answers right when asked. Some questions will be for clarification, and some of them will be trying to find holes in your proposal, so you will need to anticipate what you are going to be asked and make sure that you have adequate answers.
Know relevant literature
To be able to defend your paper, you are going to need to know the relevant literature that has been published in your field. What studies have been done that is similar to yours, and how might they affect your results? Are you too close to someone else's work? What can you do to apply what you have learned from those to your current proposal? This should all be considered carefully.
Look at those you are presenting too
You should have foresight and look into the motivations and opinions of those reviewing your work. So look up their research, and see if you can find anyone else who has been reviewed by them. This will let you know if there is anything that you should know, and also by this method, you will be able to be introduce your material.
Recognize that it is a statement of intent
All you are doing right now is expressing a statement of intent. This means that you are not expected to present research results in the proposal, just the statement of what you want to do. You want to outline what exactly your research is going to accomplish, how you are going to go about it, and a timetable as to how you are going to complete this research. The committee will likely add or remove proposed objectives.
