Preparation of Thesis and Dissertation Proposals

Content and Format of a thesis/dissertation should include:

• Title, name of investigator, and abstract
• Objectives. Statement of the major objectives of the work (aims) and its significance in relation to the present state of knowledge in the field.
• Background Literature. Summary of relevant research literature, including details germane to the proposed research. Considerable care should be taken with this background section, for it is an index of scholarly preparation for the project.
• Hypothesis/Predictions. A step-by-step theoretical and empirical development of the questions or hypotheses to be investigated.
• Methods and Procedures
  • Participants, including relevant background information concerning development, health, age, sex, and species.
  • Apparatus and/or Materials, including description of anything that needs to be constructed.
  • Design; this should include a step-by-step analysis of preliminary and experimental treatments, and a rationale for what is to be done, including controls. Procedural contingencies, depending on outcomes, also should be described.
  • Principal procedures for data analyses should be described, as well as supplemental analyses where appropriate.
• Expected Results. A statement of expected results, preferably in graphic form. It is a good idea to consider alternative outcomes and suggest how the project as designed will contribute some useful knowledge about the problem, regardless of outcome.
• Significance. A general statement of the significance and implications of the potential outcomes.