The slide is an excerpt from www.psu.edu/dept/cew/WritingProposals.doc

Writing Thesis Proposals
Your thesis proposal provides an overview of your proposed plan of work, including the general scope of your project, your basic research questions, research methodology, and the overall significance of your study. In short, your proposal explains what you want to study, how you will study this topic, why this topic needs to be studied. Purpose: Thesis proposals are designed to: Justify and plan (or contract for) a research project. Show how your project contributes to existing research. Demonstrate to your advisor and committee that you understand how to conduct disciplinespecific research within an acceptable time-frame.

PARTS OF A PROPOSAL Proposals generally include at least some form of the following sections: Title, Abstract, Introduction/Background, Problem Statement, Purpose/Aims/Rationale, Review of Literature, Methodology, Significance/Implications, Overview of Chapters, Plan of Work, Bibliography. Sometimes these sections may be combined— the problem statement, aims, and review of literature are all part of the introduction. The most common elements are the introduction/problem statement, review of literature, and methodology

Title A good title should: Orient your readers to the topic you will research. Indicate the type of study you will conduct.

Abstract The abstract should: Provide a brief (100-350 word) overview of the proposal that gives a reader a basic understanding of your proposal and encourages her or him to read more. Summarize Introduction, Statement of the Problem, Background of the Study, Research Questions or Hypotheses, and Methods and Procedures. (In some cases, the abstract may need to be very brief—no more than 50 words—in which case, it will be more descriptive than complete.)

Introduction/Background The introduction helps put your