The prospectus
The prospectus is a plan of the dissertation itself. Although it is not uncommon for plans to change after research has begun, it is the faculty’s experience that a well-considered and reasonably detailed prospectus growing out of repeated consultations with advisors is an essential condition for any successful dissertation.
Typically a prospectus is a document of no more than 25 to 30 pages with several components. For a dissertation relying on empirical research it will include the following elements:
- A statement of the problem or puzzle to be solved;
- a description of the intellectual context in which this problem can be seen to be important, together with an overview of the pertinent literature;
- a reasonably detailed research design indicating the evidence to be marshaled to solve the problem and the methods to be used to gather and analyze it; and
- a preliminary bibliography.
The research design for dissertations not relying on empirical research (for example, most dissertations in political theory) should contain the same elements, substituting for (3):
3. a description of the materials to be examined, the central claims to be advanced and the approach to be taken to substantiate them.