How to Create a Dissertation Proposal Defense PowerPoint (+Example)

As part of the dissertation process, you will need to create a dissertation proposal defense PowerPoint to present a summary of the plan for your study. You will need to show how important your study is and how it is useful.

When creating the PowerPoint, keep in mind that you need to make sure all of your audience can understand all aspects of your study. The exact content for the defense PowerPoint varies by college, discipline and department, so it is important that you discuss with your committee chair about the requirements. However, we will give some general guidelines that apply to most institutions.

The defense typically takes 20‐30 minutes. You should keep the timeframe in mind as you consider the information you will have in your presentation.

Except for aspects of your presentation, such as the research question(s) or hypothesis(es), do not just read the slides. Instead, explain or expand on what is on the slides. To ensure you keep within the timeframe, practice narrating your PowerPoint presentation.

Format

Although the APA manual does not provide guidelines for creating a PowerPoint presentation, you will need to follow some of the APA style guidelines within your PowerPoint.

For example, provide in-text citations for quotes, paraphrases, images, graphs, and other information that should be cited. Also, you will need to provide a list of pertinent references.

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The following are other format requirements for the slides:

• Create 17-20 slides.
• Do not provide a lot of information. Be concise and write a few sentences (approximately 1-7 on each slide).
• Because your slides will contain only a small amount of information, any extra information that you want to touch on should be put in the notes section of the PowerPoint.
• Write the information in your slides for visual appeal and optimum communication, using a legible font size.
• You can use graphics and images to enhance and reinforce the information. However, ensure that they do not distract from your information.
• You can use bullet points but keep them to a minimum of 3-4 for each listing.

Example Dissertation Proposal Defense PowerPoint Template

The dissertation proposal will consist of three chapters, which you will be providing information on in the presentation. Although the contents and order of the contents may vary, there are some basic parts of the proposal that are usually required.

The following is a breakdown of the usual contents that are included in the presentation. Each of these headings below represents the titles of each slide. The information below the headings is the type of content you will need to provide.

Title (1 slide):

• Dissertation’s Title
• Your Name
• Department of Program of Study/Name of University
• Chair and Committee Members

Statement of the Problem (1 slide):

• Provide the problem that your dissertation will address.

Purpose of the Study (1 slide):

• Provide what the study will do relative to the issue(s) defined in the statement of the problem.

Significance of the Study (1 slide):

• Provide the main argument of why the solution to the problem that you propose is important.

Research Question(s)/Hypothesis(es) (1 slide):

• Provide the research question(s) or hypothesis(es) relevant to your field of study, written exactly as it is in your dissertation proposal.

The Literature Review (2 slides):

• These slides should consist of a coherent, organized overview of the main literature that frames your study’s problem, and the gap in literature that your study will address. Make sure that you include the sources.

Theoretical/Conceptual Framework (1 slide):

• This slide should consist of the theoretical/conceptual framework that will help you make sense of the phenomenon that you will investigate.

Research Design (1 slide):

• Provide the framework for the methods of data collection and data analysis. Indicate whether the study will be quantitative or qualitative.

Sample and Population (1 slide):

• Provide the population that refers to the entire group that you will draw conclusions about, and the sample that refers to the specific group that you will collect data from.

Data Collection (1 slide):

• Provide the methods by which you will obtain the data. If the research design is quantitative, provide methods such as correlation and regression, mean, mode and median or others. If the design is qualitative, provide methods such as, interviews, questionnaires with open-ended questions, focus groups, observation, game or role-playing, case studies, or others.

Data Analysis (1-2 slides):

• This slide should contain the process you will use to understand, gather, compile, and process the data you will obtain.

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Limitations (1 slide):

• In this slide, explain the nature of the limitations and how they will be overcome during your research.

Delimitations (1slide):

• Provide the characteristics that describe the boundaries of your study and limit the scope, such as sample size, geographical location, population traits, or others.

References (1-2 slides):

• Only provide those sources that you referred to in the presentation. Do not provide all the sources that you have in your dissertation proposal.

Thank You/Questions (1 slide):

• Use this final slide to thank your committee and to request questions from them.

Note: For information about citing your references, refer to Chapters 9 and 10 of the APA Manual 7 th edition.

Resources

For instructions on how to create a PowerPoint, see How to Create a Powerpoint Presentation.

You can find several templates of students’ Dissertation Proposal Defense presentations online by searching for “Dissertation Proposal Defense PowerPoint.” You can also find one at this webpage.