Standard Proposal and Thesis Outline

For all thesis formatting and submission deadlines and information, also reference the 菠菜网lol正规平台 Graduate Studies Thesis Guide.

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Front Pages

Please refer to the guidelines listed in the Thesis Front Pages.

Generic Proposal/Thesis Outline

For format information, please reference the 菠菜网lol正规平台 14 Formatting Rules.

Introduction (include in both proposal and thesis)

(page numbering restarts at 1)

Cite other authors throughout this section.

  • Motivation/Scope - Importance of the problem, big picture. (1-2 pages)
  • Background - Broad logic leading to specific choice of research questions. (1-2 pages)
  • Literature Review (10-15 pages, with 30-45 references). Organized from the general to specific. Subheadings should reflect internal organization. Often includes:
    • Theoretical framework
    • Related research
    • Similar research methods

Problem Statement (include in both proposal and thesis)

Will contain few external citations, on average.

Concise (less than 3 pages) statement of central problem, culminating in the:

  • Objectives – 1 to 3 sentence summary of overall goals of research
  • Research Questions – Open or close-ended, depending on your major subdiscipline, guidance from your thesis chair
  • Hypotheses (if appropriate) – 3 to 5 specific testable predictions (active or null/statistical hypotheses, depending on guidance from your thesis Chair)

Methods (include in both proposal and thesis)

Include only citations necessary and relevant to methodology.

Generally includes the following subsections (depends on committee):

  • Study System/Site
  • Study Design - organized by research objective(s) and hypotheses
  • Data Collection - organized by research objective(s) and hypotheses
  • Positionality Statement
  • Data Analysis - organized by research objective(s) and hypotheses.

Results (only include in the thesis)

  • Describe what your research found succinctly.
  • Organize by research objective(s) and hypotheses as relevant.

Will not contain external citations, on average.

Discussion (only include in the thesis)

Cite other authors throughout this section.

  • Interpret your findings in light of the literature, including theoretical and applied contexts.

Conclusions (include in only the thesis)

Will not contain external citations, on average.

  • Very short take-home message of the importance of your results in the context of the problem.

Recommendations (include in only the thesis)

Will not contain external citations, on average.

  • Please use complete sentences, and tie directly to your findings.
  • May be bulleted.

Literature Cited (include in both the proposal and thesis)

  • Cite all sources referenced in the text, but none beyond that.

Appendices (include in both the proposal and thesis; number as they appear sequentially in the text in the body of your document)

Include in both proposal and thesis, if available:

  1. Data collection tools (full questionnaires, data collection sheets)
  2. Relevant permits if obtained

Proposal ONLY, do not include in thesis: 

  1. Timeline
  2. Budget
  3. Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Thesis ONLY, not needed for proposal:

  1. Original data?
  2. Relevant Permits?
  3. Long Tables?
  4. Other?