Applying for Scholarship in Taiwan

Taiwan offers several scholarship opportunities for Filipinos intending to pursue higher education. Here's Scholarship 101: Taiwan based on my experience and updated based on current developments since my own admission for PhD.

Information Sources:

As a student, the best place to go in person for scholarships is your school's Student Guidance and/or Career Office. The staff in those offices are always nice and helpful in any school, so don't hesitate to go.

Aside from that, for specific Taiwan scholarships offered to Pinoys, you can check out:

• roc-taiwan.org -  the official site of the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in the Philippines. This will be your go-to aside from information. You will be going here for your education documents authentication, scholarship application, and VISA. 
• Taiwan Scholarships in the Philippines - FB page run by TECO education division, a good spot to follow for announcements.
• Taiwan in the Philippines - the TECO general FB page.
• Manila Economic and Cultural Office - FFB page of the Philippine equivalent of TECO.

Time Management:

Be sure to take note of dates, times, periods, or seasons. Here are important tips:

• Make sure that you have ample time to process your documents. For example, do you already have your transcript? Is it already internationally authenticated? 
• The two main semesters are the Fall and Spring seasons. make sure to check announcements during this time for calls for admissions and the opening of scholarship applications.

Documents to Prepare:

Each scholarship has its own requirements list, but I'll be taking note here of significant items that one needs to know as one applies to study abroad. Also, these documents are used when you apply for school admissions, which is usually before the scholarship application process.

• Authenticated Transcript and Diploma: Since you'll be studying in another jurisdiction, you need to have your education documents authenticated. The process goes as follows:

1. Make a request through your school.
2. Get the authentication from CHED Philippines.
3. Get the authentication from the Department of Foreign Affairs Philippines.
4. Get the authentication from TECO.

Note: TECO has had a requirement of using A4, so make sure that your documents are in A4, also photocopies should be colored. Just make sure to double check at the TECO website.

• English Language Competency: usually TOEFL or IELTS, or if your school uses English as an official mode of instruction, you can just request this from your register.
• Make sure to check out the international admissions office website and social media of the school you are applying to. Schools do not process the scholarship, but they provide updates, announcements, forms, and info sessions that can be of great help.

THE SCHOLARSHIPS:

I'm reposting the exact wording from TECO's website. These are details for scholarship applications 2024. Please note that some logistic details change per year, i.e. the time period of applications. It's always best to check the updated list at the website. I'm just reposting here so that you have a general idea.

Begin Repost

1.Ministry of Education (MOE) Scholarship : Grants a 4-year scholarship for undergraduate studies, a 2-year scholarship for Master's, and a grant of up to 4 years for Doctoral Degree. The MOE will shoulder up to 40,000 NTD each semester for the corresponding tuition and miscellaneous expenses. The remaining costs will be shouldered by the scholarship recipient. An additional 15,000 NTD will be given to recipients undertaking university undergraduate studies, 20, 000 NTD for those pursuing their Master's and Ph.D. as the monthly stipend. 

The application is from February 1 to April 30, 2024. 

Website:  https://edu.law.moe.gov.tw/EngLawContent.aspx?lan=E&id=250

2. Huayu (Mandarin) Enrichment Scholarship : Allows applicants to choose to pursue either 3 or 6 months of Mandarin courses, subject to TECO's approval. The grant provides a monthly stipend of 25,000 NTD to cover all the expenses (tuition, miscellaneous, etc.) 

The application is from February 1 to March 31, 2024. 

Website:  https://edu.law.moe.gov.tw/EngLawContent.aspx?lan=E&id=70

3. International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF): The grant covers the full tuition fee, living expenses, economy class airfare tickets, and textbook costs. Scholars pursuing Master's will receive a monthly stipend of 18, 000 NTD and 20, 000 NTD for those pursuing Doctoral degrees.  

The application is from December 1, 2023 to March 15, 2024. 

Website: https://www.icdf.org.tw/wSite/np?ctNode=31561&mp=2

Each applicant can only apply for one scholarship program among these offerings and must process first their university admission to their preferred university in Taiwan. They also have to comply with and submit necessary scholarship requirements to Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines for review and recommendation based on the indicated deadlines of each program. It is important to note that it is ineligible to apply if the applicant currently has enrolled in another program in Taiwan .

End Repost

Source: https://www.roc-taiwan.org/ph_en/post/5713.html

Here's to a successful scholarship application! May you graduate and enter history.

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Reference Management Software: Mendeley

There are a lot of things to do in the academic wilderness, so let's make sure that we work smart and make use of the proper tools. Let's learn smart citations for this post.

Most students google the citation for a reference, then copy-paste it into their reference list. Then, type the in-text citations. 

Some do the supposedly smart thing of generating the citation from the journal webpage where they got the journal, then copy-paste it into their reference list. Then, type the in-text citations.

Those are actually somewhat smart, but not really.

Please make use of a citation tool. It will help make things convenient and leave you free to read, analyze, and write.

I personally use Mendeley citation software because it's free. Named after Dmitri Mendeleev, the software was created by three PhD students. The software was such a success that Elsevier brought the rights to it and further developed it. Beyond the issue of being purchased by a company, this software works with .ris, .bib, and .xml file types. These three file types are citation files that you can download from journals, which you can then import to Mendeley.

Let's go through the steps to get to know this program. 

The Software/s:

Note: I'm not adding most of the links because links might change. Just google search names of the software that I will mention. 

Go to www.mendeley.com. Create an account. Your citation data will be saved here, aside from the software. This lets you work wherever you are. Remember your password.

Download and install the Mendeley Reference Manager software. This is the main software. Once installed, you log in using your account. Your citation data will be synced here. 

The first optional add-on is Mendeley Desktop. This software is the old version, which I didn't initially like, but it has the capacity to make footnote citations. So, while we wait for Mendeley Reference Manager to update and have the power to make footnotes, make sure you have Mendeley Desktop if you do research that needs to have footnote citations.

You will also need the following add-ons. These two are a must. One is Mendeley Web Importer, and the other is Mendeley Cite for MS Word. If you want to use Mendeley Desktop, you will also have to get the MS Word Plugin. All these have download links at the TOOLS tab of your Mendeley Reference Manager and your Mendeley Desktop, so just go to the tools in each program and download and install the needed add-ons.

Note: Mendeley Web Importer is an extension of Chrome. Once added, make sure that you organize your extensions and place the Mendeley Importer Button on the Google Chrome bar.

Lastly, if you are willing to spend for convenience, purchase the Uploader for Mendeley for your Apple smartphone or tablet. It costs around 50-60 PHP. Super convenient. I'm not sure if there's a Google Play version, but as I searched, I think there's a different app, and it's free in Google Play. Please remember, Uploader for Mendeley is an OPTION. You don't need to buy it if you can't spare the amount for the purchase.

I'll further explain how to use them below; for now, here's a summary list of things to download and install.

1. Mendeley Referece Manager (Main Program)
2. Mendeley Web Importer (A Must)
3. Mendeley Cite (A Must)
4. Uploader for Mendeley (Optional)
5. Mendeley Desktop (Optional)

Getting citation data while on your computer

This is where you need Mendeley Web Importer. Make sure its installed on your Google Chrome. You then search for references on Google or Google Scholar or any high-quality and reputable journal databases such as Jstor, Taylor and Francis, and Sage. 

Once you have a certain chosen journal on display on Chrome, just click the Mendeley Web Importer Button. Just sign in if you still need to. Then, the citation data for that material will appear. You can double-check two sets of information:

First is the citation info for that article. Second is that Mendeley has searched the journal and has recommended related literature, you can check the ones that you think are relevant. Once everything is ok, then click "add." The data will then be synced to your Mendeley account and Mendeley Reference Manager.

Most automatic data are available if you are accessing a journal article from a reputable/high-quality publisher. If you are accessing books, news articles, or websites, then you will have to fill in some of the data.

Getting citation data while on a mobile device

Uploader for Mendeley is a useful tool for those who work on mobile devices it works just like the Web Mendeley Importer above, though it does not give related literature recommendations. Just open a journal article and click the share button on the Safari or Chrome browser bar. Check the info, then just click "save."

Managing citation data

Important things to note. Make sure that the data is complete. Remember that the machines help us, but they can't completely take over (yer :D ), so double-check the data before clicking "add" or "save."

You can always edit on your Mendeley Reference Manager or through your account by going to Mendeley.com and opening the library. The online library can also check for double entries. 

Using Mendeley on Word

If you are using Mendeley Desktop, you can make things easier by using alt+m, and it will open a reference search. So, start your sentence, then if you need a text citation, do alt+m then search the reference, select it, then press "ok" or "enter." For multiple references to cite, select and collect each on the search bar before pressing "ok" or "enter." 

In Mendeley Reference Manager, you have to click Mendeley Cite at the REFERENCES toolbar of MS Word, sign in, search for the reference, select it by checking it, and then click "insert citation." For multiple references to cite, just select those by checking each, then click "insert citation."

Thus far, these are the initial uses of Mendeley. Use it, and you'll find that you can do more, such as automatically shifting citation styles and editing in-text citations. See you next post. For now, I will take the winter vacation and maybe post again if inspiration or any need intrudes on a post.

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Stealing Thunder

One of the reasons that I'm thankful for having had debate experience in college is that it helped me with reasoning and eventually helped me in writing my thesis and any class papers that I had in my years during my Master's and my Ph.D. There is a debate strategy called stealing one's thunder wherein you use your opponent's arguments against them or use their arguments or even evidence to help you win. It seems underhanded but quite valid. It's an advanced version of exploiting your enemy's weaknesses.

This, however, only translates directly into research writing. Remember, we discussed ethics last week. There's no enemy in research per se. But in research, you converse with the accomplishments of those who have come before you. This is a  mark of professionalism and of expertise. Being professional and an expert means that you know the body of literature surrounding the topic that you want to study (reviewing literature). They also mean that you know how to situate yourself and your idea among what ideas already exist (research gap). Lastly, professionalism and expertise imply that you know how to operate ideas in such a way that you can use them to argue a valid point (thesis statement).

Let's cover them today.

Practically a thesis means two things that both relate to each other. It means a valid argument that you can back up with evidence.  It is also a written manuscript containing the same argument with all the evidence and processes (methods) used to support your claim.

Take for example, scientific theses such as:

• Darwin's theory that species do change over time became the theory of evolution.
• Newton's that a force causes objects to be pulled to one another depending on their mass, which became the Law of Gravity.

In Political Science, there are:

• Michel stated that in every group, power will always form a pyramid, with the elite at the top. This became the Law of Oligarchy.
• Kant's was that Democracies do not start wars; non-democracies do. Hence if there's no non-democracy in the world, then there will be no one to start wars. This became the Principle of Perpetual Peace.

Some of those examples have already been tried and tested; they are laws and not theories any more. Those theories can still be tested, expanded, or improved.

This is where the conversation between the researcher and those who have made accomplishments comes in. That's why we review the literature. What has already been argued about our topic? Which is nearest to the topic? What are we doing regarding this?

When you have found the nearest or closest theory to your thesis, you can use this to frame your argument. It becomes the focal point of discussion. It will help frame your research questions, and it will help frame your thesis statement. This also provides a pathway to what needs to be conceptualized.

Extensions/Variations

When you test a theory, you either affirm if it is true or not in the particular location or population that you proposed. Take, for example, Darwin's theory of evolution. He made his observations in the Galapagos islands. Then, can you use the same methods of observation and check if the principle is the same in some islands in northern Europe? 

One of my preliminary lectures when I used to handle Political Science as a Profession was the story of Chris Wlezein, who proposed the theory of thermostatic response. That the voters are like thermostats. If you saturate them with one policy, they will choose the candidate from an opposing party in the next elections. Wlezein used this in the U.S. in a particular state but found that his formula needed to be revised in other states. The theory is faulty, so he went back to his drawing board and proposed the element of salience in the formula. Eventually, the formula did not work in any other location, making the theory stronger.  As a note. Just because there are lots of Democrat policies during this term doesn't mean that voters will thermostatically respond and vote Republican in the next election. But what makes this work is that if there are a lot of salient (noticeable) policies, then the thermostatic response can be activated. 

Going back, the story also tells us what happens when we test a theory, and it turns out to not work or be false in the location or population that we proposed; then, part of our professionalism and expertise is to extend the theory or provide a variation. Both terms are the same. I encountered extensions in British Parliamentary format debates. The closing teams extend the proposals of the opening teams.  In research, we provide an alternative theory, or we propose a variation to the theory by adding a new element to it that helps make it work or make it better in explaining the world around us.

As we close today, please check out the quote on our Magic: the Gathering card for the day. It reminds us of ethical practice in research and the practicalities of knowing the field of literature. I apologize for the late post. Tune in to the next post where we discuss the use of Mendeley citation tool.

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Research Ethics

The quote from our Magic: the Gathering card for today sounds satirical and tells more beyond what is said. Conducting ethical practice should, at the very least, be guided by principles as basic as the Golden Rule or the Law of Karma. For more rational people, actions have consequences, and today, we explore them regarding a research career. All researchers are expected to know ethical research practices, and I won't iterate those lessons, but I'll explore their practicalities.

Respect your resources.

A funded researcher had two research assistants. This researcher overlooked all the errors and laziness of one of the assistants, thus causing more burdens for the other assistant. Eventually, the other assistant stopped pointing out the errors of the lazy one since if he did, the researcher would just lump the task back to him. The project resulted in a manuscript that has just seen positive remarks from any journal. 

Funding is not the only research resource. Research requires several resources. Data, these come from our primary sources - the people whom we interview. For collection and management, this includes the research staff and even third-party consultants. Respect and politeness, or what Filipinos call delicadeza, will go a long way because most of the resources in the social sciences come from our social networks.

What about if you are just a student, without even any funding? You still need to treat your research with respect. And no matter the funding, you will also need to engage with different members of society to collect your data.

What's an ethics certification for?

An ethics certification is needed if you study vulnerable subjects. I.e. children, and marginalized people whose stories, when published, can touch on certain social sensitivities. Hence, you polish all aspects of ethical practice as mentioned in your methodology, then submit your manuscript for evaluation BEFORE data gathering. 

You can't be certified after data has already been collected.

You can only get published in a reputable journal if you have certification.

Refrain from blabbing about your stuff to everyone.

Your ideas are only really yours once you have made your stamp on them. That means you need to publish. The least you can do is present at an international professional conference. This is not a publication but tells the world you have declared this idea yours. So also make sure you have pored through all relevant literature to proudly say that your argument is yours. Other than that, if you keep blabbing about any researchable idea, some carrion feeder might be listening and stealing your idea and even end up publishing before you.

So, make sure that you conduct research ethically; karma will get you.

Tune in next week when we discuss the ethical strategy of branching from another person's ideas.

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Perspectives

This entire post is riddled with perspectives. Get ready.

- - -

It was the pandemic, and I was shocked when an advocacy group wanted to hold a seminar promoting a particular cause to students, and the event was around four hours long. I was shocked and told them that audiences wouldn't have the attention span for four hours for such an activity. I was dumbfounded when I was aggressively told that if the audience wanted to advocate for that cause, then they would stay. 

- - -

A highly respected journal publishes research articles that are but a few pages long compared to the usual periodicals. The articles here have highly technical writing; only experts can read and understand them at first glance. The practice works because it was meant for a specific audience, and the journal's authority is highly sought.

- - -

All new faculty at my university receive employee orientation and some training. I always cherish an essential lesson from one of the speakers. In fact, I quoted this same luminary a post back. Dr. Allan De Guzman reminded us to know our place. Such a statement can sound rude in most conversations, but the way the esteemed professor delivered it was smooth and polite. It was good advice.

I recall seeing a meme yesterday commenting about how the world of education can foster an elevated sense of self such that one will tend to look down on others. This has relevance in research writing and publication because it is easy to get lost in this part of the academic wilderness.

The best way to keep one on the right path is to remember two perspectives.

1. Your perspective as a writer.
2. The perspective of your would-be reader.

You need to remember the first perspective to ensure that you keep the argument ppr advocacy that you are trying to relay.

You have to enforce the second perspective to deliver your message clearly.

- - -

Why you can't proofread your own work?

You can proofread your work to ensure that what you are trying to say is in the text. You proofread to make sure you remembered something.

But you always need someone else to reread your work because there are mistakes that we commit simply because we do not know that what we did was wrong. So, swallow that pride and let someone else who knows more look at your work and let them comment most harshly. Be thankful that they beat your work up because now, you can correct it.

Jargon and digestibility 

Jargon is words that have technical uses in different academic programs. They are the language of the discipline where you belong or where you are trying to prove that you belong (i.e., if you are a would-be Bachelor, Master, or Doctor). The use of specific keywords shows that you and your work are acceptable. There's something worth remembering here, too.

Use the jargon; don't just put it on the manuscript.

That means that as you write, the jargon appears, but your subsequent statements also show that you understand what it is. 

Sometimes, you must also include an explanatory statement to help readers understand the jargon. This is because there will be interested people who may want to read your work, yet they may need to be more experts in the niche that you have written on. You don't need a definition of terms, but you can find ways to converse with your reader and add explanations without intruding on the text. How you strategize this also shows other experts that you understand what you are saying. This, in particular, is necessary for those trying to defend a proposal. Whan you forget to put the rest of perspective in your writing, your panel will tend to get lost in what you write, they will get pissed, and they will add unnecessary suggestions because you did not clearly convey what yu needed to deliver.

Remember, not everyone shares our own vision of the same thing, just as the quote says on our Magic: The Gathering card for today.

Tune in next week when we talk about ethics.

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Why are you doing this?

Metrobank Foundation recognized Teacher of the Year - Dr. Allan De Guzman has a principle that "when the why is clear, the how is easy." 

It's important to remember when navigating the academic wilderness, especially when you have already entered the writing phase - be it a term paper or your opus of a thesis or dissertation.

Papers for one. These come in many forms: term paper, weekly paper, weekly response, and issue paper. They are often used as major grading outputs. Hence, hitting the mark when writing something like this is crucial. Again - know why you are here, and as a corollary, why are you writing this.

Several students fail or get low grades on a paper simply because the professor has already laid out the goals for that writing assignment, and the student just writes anything on that topic. Sloppy.

For today, let's put the perspective of writing a thesis or a dissertation and go through some general points to answer the question Why are you doing this?

To graduate

You may not graduate if this is your only purpose. Of course, all students intend to graduate. But for now, we are at a phase of writing your great work/accomplishment, which serves as proof that you do merit (not I did not say deserve) to graduate. This is one of the reasons why a certain school task can be tedious, boring, irritating, or simply difficult to do. It;s because the student may have entered a perspective that divorces the task from the goal of graduation. The next two are better general perspectives.

To advocate

Particularly within the social sciences and humanities, advocacy is part of life. Something that we fight for. When you write to advocate, the data you produce can help push forward the advocacy. Take, for example, me; I advocate for the environment and for the welfare and rights of LGBT. 

An essential caution is that advocacy can be biased, preachy, or both. In addressing this, first, resolve if your paper is intended to be normative or scientific. Scientific papers require freedom from biases, though they can get preachy. 

Also, make sure you detail any steps you take in your methods to make your data as unbiased as possible. 

And, of course, tone down the preaching. Get off the high horse, get off the podium/pedestal, and talk to your reader instead of giving them a sermon.

To argue

Of course, we argue when we advocate. Still, I distinguish this from the previous section by pointing out that in this perspective, we argue because we are trying to establish newly discovered information or fact and prove its veracity.

For example, St. Thomas argued that there is a God. This saint also argued that theft is sometimes allowable. Charles Darwin argued that living beings evolved and were not created in the way the Bible says. Galileo and his peers also argued that the Earth revolves around the sun as opposed to the reverse argument.

Remembering that you are trying to prove undiscovered or unrecognized information will structure your thinking and research attitude to sequence, organize, and logically prove your argument. Instead of simply wanting to graduate, you may pick convenient methods and data that are not the right ones to fit the job.

Below is a simple quote from today's Magic: The Gathering card. Tune in next week when we further talk about perspectives in writing.

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Jack of All Trades, Master of One, or Master of None

Of Hares and Brains

One of my inspirations for graduate studies is the Numb3rs TV series. Each episode explores practical uses of mathematical and theoretical ideas. More so, how the main character explained theory through analogy is an excellent way of translating academic jargon into layman's explanation. Their episode on AI (see IMDB info here), which aired in March more than a decade ago, says that there are circumstances where we can only really multitask or, to be more precise, spread our attention in an arc. 

The example in the series was about a scientist who was working on both AI and Cybernetics. Yes, both disciplines may seem at first glance to belong under one umbrella, but each of these disciplines requires opposite modes of thinking. To pursue both hares is like spending research resources such as time, money, and even mechanical usage of computers in a scatterbrained manner. In a way, this behavior is a perfect example of the expression "harebrained." It implies making foolish or flighty plans. 

Academia and Profession

Political Science is one of those disciplines that is categorized under the category of "Jack-of-All-Trades, Master of None." There are numerous sub-disciplines within the field and also several career options. The need for specialization for an initiative from such a discipline can spell potential danger when already exploring a place within the professional world. Not everyone is blessed with a clear-cut path when they enter higher education; however, specialization or having a space where one belongs in the future should be something worth thinking about when choosing any of the following:

1. A college or post-graduate degree
2. The thesis to write
3. The electives to choose

I first bulleted the above list and then decided to sequence it in numbers because they have a relevant sequence. In particular, numbers 3 and 4. There are required courses and elective courses, sometimes called cognates. Whether called elective or cognate, we get to choose which path we should take given a particular budget of units. This choice is crucial because the courses we take will help shape the thesis that we write. Thus, we don't need a clear-cut thesis argument or proposal by the time we have to make our elective choices, but at least have a general topic where we would like to situate our place in the future.

The Bachelor, the Master, the Doctor

To say that one is a bachelor of a particular field of study, i.e., arts or sciences, means that one has had ample preparation to become familiar with all the needed knowledgein that specific field. The proof of this is usually the college degree thesis. These researches generally explore the field and the writing, which shows the gatekeepers of the discipline (the panel) that the student does have enough study to merit becoming a bachelor. Masters engage a specific theory. Their research supports or contradicts a particular existing theory based on scientific research. Doctors propose their own theories and sometimes even set out to establish a new law. That's why these individuals are considered scientists.

The above configurations are basic. Some institutions have unique ways of approaching these. Sometimes, college students are required to prove or disprove a theory. Sometimes, masters are already expected to propose their own theories. What's common, however, in this basic configuration is that there's a trajectory in the linear process from one to the next. These are steps toward proving that one has a degree of adeptness in a particular topic or field.

Trajectories and Tangents

As I end today's post, I want to iterate. There are structural ways to help discipline oneself. If not, then at least plot a course toward a direction while living in the wilderness of higher education.  

First is the linear and future thinking perspective mentioned above. Another is to avoid the pitfall of tangents. Going on a tangent means taking a path not within one's trajectory. We can encounter these when we find something interesting in the academic wilderness, and we can get pulled by social factors, i.e., bandwagoning, peer pressure, fanboy/fangirling towards a particular topic, course, book, teaching, or professor's ideas. When this happens, be sure to take note of your academic progress. Is it better to shift plans? Are you abandoning resources that you've already accumulated? Sometimes making a jump is better, sometimes it's just being harebrained.

For our Magic: The Gathering card, check out the quote on the sphinx below. Don't let yourself get distracted.

P.S. Tune in next week where we talk about what the heck you are doing in this academic wilderness.

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Where to begin (writing a research proposal)

Elementary

Let's first familiarize ourselves with the components of IMRAD.

I - Introduction

M - Method

RAD - Results and Discussion

These are the basic components of publishable research. 

There are, of course, unmentioned parts.

It ends with a Conclusion, and the entire set is preceded by an Abstract.

The introduction contains it the following important elements:

• The Hook, the opening part of the introduction, should catch the reader's attention and make them want to continue reading.
• Strategies include a puzzling question, a quote, or a description of an interesting event.
• Backgrounder - I use this wording instead of Background because not all submission formats use this as a heading. However, the content remains important. This informs the reader of information that they need to better understand what you are talking about
• An excellent example is my own dissertation experience. My topic is very interdisciplinary. It includes media and social science because I'm studying Boys Love on TV. So, we can only expect the media experts to know a little of the social sciences part and vice versa. More so, expect that only some of your readers will fully know your topic. This section bridges that issue.
• The problem statement group. I say group because there's a unique relationship among them. This group comprises the Literature review, Research question, and Framework.

For the sake of completeness, I'm mentioning that Methods can have its own subheadings depending on the complexity of the research. In particular, an Ethics Declaration should be declared if the research can touch on a sensitive subject of study.

Praxis

The above lists a sequential order of layout for publishable material. It does not mean that it was produced in the same sequence. Let's trace the actual process of how it is done.

1. Gather and familiarize with literature.
• I also collate the details of my pieces of literature onto an organized spreadsheet, but that's my personal strategy.
2. Compose the framework and problem statement.
3. Write the backgrounder.
4. Write the Literature Review.
5. Write your Method.

This sequence ensures that you have a certain degree of expertise within the field that you are studying. Part of this is your knowledge of the existing literature. Who are the currently published people who say something on the topic? Are their articles engaging each other? Complementing? Debating? Extending? 

A good illustration is attending a high-end gala. It would be weird if you did not know who the movers and shakers were in the event. 

It's the same thing with a proposal. How is it that you are proposing, yet you only have the basics? You need to know what's being discussed in the community.

If you have this, it proves in the proposal that you are ready to undertake your mission to prove your own thesis/dissertation (which is a synonym for argument).

As I say good luck to any of my readers, I also include this day's relevant Magic: the Gathering card. Just check out the quote (flavor text).

(Source: https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=414344)