Writing Thesis Proposals

Thesis Proposals

• Proposed Plan of work which describes:

– What you intend to study (Problems, Objectives,
& Scope, sometimes significance).

– How and where you intend to study your topic

(methodology).

– When you will complete this work (timeline).

 Parts of a Proposal

• Title • Methodology
• Introduction/Background • Schedule of Work
• Problem Statement • Tentative Budget
• Purpose/Research • References
Questions/Objectives
• Overview of Chapters
• Review of Literature
 Creating a Thesis Title

• What is your subject

– Table of contents of books

– Table of contents of Research journals/ publications

Examples:
A study on job satisfaction level and work motivation
in civil-engineers
 Introduction/Background
• Prepares your readers for what they’re about to read

• Establish the general area

• Indicate the general objective and scope of your

project.

• Possible outcomes
 Statement of the Problem
• What is the problem that needs to be solved? What is it
we don’t know?

• State the problem clearly early in a paragraph.

• Limit the variables

• Consider framing the problem as a question

 Problem Statement: Example
Organization environment have both positive and negative work incentives
that could influence the behavior of employees within the organization.
Positive work incentives motivates employee that make work interesting are
attractive work environment, good communication and personnel policies,
adequate reward system and promotional opportunities, aboard and on the
job tanning, provision of bonus and benefits, job structure and
compensation. However, negative work incentives include those incentives
that make work boring, unchallenging and dissatisfying in the workplace
leading in absenteeism, turnover and accidents. Thus to prevent these
negative work outcomes, there is a need to find out factors within the
organizational environment that leads to satisfaction and work motivation
among engineers so as to continually have productive, creativity and
engagement. (Source: M.Sc. EM Thesis by Amul Basnet)
 Goal, Research Questions, Objectives

• Explain the goals and research objectives of the study

• Describe the research questions of the study

 Goal, Research Questions, Objectives
(Example)
The main objective of this study is to determine the level of job
satisfaction and work motivation among civil engineers

The specific objectives are therefore listed below;

1. To find out the present technical Human Resource Capacity
utilization and its effectiveness in DRILP-AF.
2. To identify factors that determines job satisfaction of engineers
and their consequential effects on their work excellence.
3. To find out the level of job satisfaction among engineers
working at different condition in DRILP-AF.
4. To find out motivation factor level that has cause job
satisfaction and job dissatisfaction among engineers
 Scope & Limitation
– Is there any aspect of the problem the researcher
will not discuss?

– Is the study limited to a specific geographical area

or to only certain aspects of the situation?

– Is there any factor, condition or circumstance that

prevents the researcher from achieving all his/her
objectives?
 Significance/Implications
• Discuss the methodological, or theoretical
contribution.

• State the practical and/or theoretical importance

of the problem and/or objectives of your study.

• Explain the usefulness or benefits of the study to

both the outside world and the research
community.
 Significance/Importance: Example

The study is important as it will highlight the factors that

engineers view as enhancing job satisfaction within their
organizational environment and their motivation factors. The
management will find the research helpful in improving staff
morale and bringing about job satisfaction of their employees.
An engineer who achieves success in his or her job and whose
needs are met in the work place would be a happy employee
that would strive to maintain excellence in development
works. In addition, the study will help in
recommending adoptable policies and strategies for
mitigating organizational correlates of job dissatisfaction.
(Source: M.Sc. EM Thesis by Amul Basnet)
 Overview of Chapters
• A sentence length description of each chapter

• Example:
– Chapter 1: Introduction
– Chapter 2 : Literature review
– Chapter 3: Methodology etc.
 Review of Literature
Writing the literature review allows you to understand:
• Things we already know in the research area

• The key concepts or the main factors or variables and their

relationships

• The existing theories

• Data analysis tools, methodologies and research techniques

• Why study (further) the research problem?

• What research designs or methods seem unsatisfactory?

 Writing Literature Reviews: Key Point

• Summary of literature related to your topic

• Do not copy whole article

• Write summary of their findings related to your study

• Write down why further study of the research problem,

• What research designs or methods seem unsatisfactory?

• Write literature on any tools that you are going to use

(such as software packages, applications, theories etc.)
 Literature Review: Example
• Maslow (1970) and Alderfer (1972) explain job satisfaction as an indicator of the
degree of need fulfillment experienced by anindividual. Hewstone and Stroebe
(2001) define job satisfaction as an effective reaction to a job that results from
the incumbent’s comparison of actual outcomes with those that are desired.
Similarly, Birly and MacMillan (1997) regards job satisfaction as the extent to
which rewards actually meet or exceed the perceived equitable level of rewards.
In this regard, performance on the job requires that an individual’s expectations
and aspirations in terms of reward considerations and fulfillment of needs. If
these needs are fulfilled, employees will be satisfied and the satisfaction will
motivate employees in performing their tasks efficiently.
(Source: M.Sc. EM Thesis by Amul Basnet)
 Methodology
• Type of research design

• Introduce the overall methodological approach.

• How will the data be collected or generated?

• Explain how you intend to analyze your results (i.e. statistical

analysis, theoretical framework, applications tools ).
 Methodology
• Research design

• Study area

• Data collection methods (Questionnaire survey, Interview,

field visit etc.)

• Tools (questionnaire, experiment etc.)

• Possible problems and their solution measures

• Analysis methods of collected data

 Methodology: Example

The research plan will proceed with questionnaire survey. People

are selected randomly to answer prepared questionnaire…..
 Timeline/Schedule of Work
• Important dates for submitting and defending thesis

• Length of time required for testing, questionnaire survey,

other data collection etc.

• Time for analyzing and interpretation results

• Time for drafting and redrafting).

 Tentative Budget
• Cost for testing, questionnaire survey, other data collection
etc.

• Cost for travel and hiring surveyors etc.

• Cost for printing, binding

 References
• Include a working References of key texts that inform your
study and methodology, which are directly cited in your
proposal

Example:
Acharya,S. P. (2009) Stimulus- Job Satisfaction Relationship
Survey on Bank and Financial Institution Supervision in Nepal,
Administration and Management Review, Patan: Journal of
Nepal Administration Staff Collage, Nepal
(Source: M.Sc. EM Thesis by Amul Basnet)
 Appendices
• Your appendices may include Experiment
Diagrams, Sample questionnaire etc.
 At glance,
• Length
– Varies by field; most are roughly 20 pages, but
they can be much longer.
• Instead of ‘I’, & ‘We’, use Researcher or The study
• Use passive voice
• Future tense for work to be done
• Visual Aids and charts
 The End

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