The Third Edition of this practical book confronts the problems of writing a research proposal successfully and is the ideal tool for launching students into writing proposals for theses, dissertations and grants, and through one of the major barriers to an academic career. Written in an accessible style, it provides both practical advice for the would-be writer and examples that show how effective proposal writing can be done. In this new edition the authors update their previous work with issues that have come to the forefront within the last five years. The book includes new chapters on ethics and verbal presentations; an expanded chapter on qualitative proposal writing; and updated sections on literature search,
Excellent reference for creating dissertations as well as grant proposals, suggestions on how to obtain funding and how to manage the funding relationship. No wonder it's reached its 6th edition.
I purchased and read this book because of the thesis books that existed it got very high markets. I echo these thoughts and would specify why I found it particularly helpful over other resources that I have read to keep me mentally enthusiastic about a fairly arduous process.
The key difference of this book relative to others is that it drives the thesis process with the eventual goals in mind that the writer should have, i.e. receiving funding to assist with eventual publication. As such, it offers several hints and ways of thinking about the writing process that others might leave out.
As a young researcher thinks of a topic, it is often hard to consider making time for the networking aspects of what is involved. The book provides helpful advice in exactly how to cover one's basis with one's audience. It also provides paragraph by paragraph dissection of successful proposals, what made them successful and what could have been left out. It discusses how others go about funding this venture and where to look. For someone new to the process I this is a fantastic book to get into the right frame of mind.
I think this is a great book for graduate students. Researcher and investigators in higher education are well recommended to read this. I found the chapter in Writing the Proposal was particularly helpful. Readers cannot miss the importance of the diagram at page 52. Furthermore, some of the questions this book explores ought to be in the forefront of any Higher Education student's mind. I'm glad I got hold of this book. And a read for PhD students or other researchers is a great idea.