Thesis proposal 写作指南及样本.docx

Thesis proposal 写作指南及样本.docx

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Thesisproposal写作指南及样本

Thesisproposal写作指南及样本

proposalshouldmakeaconvincingscholarlycasethattheprojectisrigorous 

andinnovativeintheoryandconception,methodologyandmaterialcontent,an 

dthatitcanproducenew,relevantandindependentlyverifiableinsights. 

Theproposaloutlineformatalsoprovidesthemainstructureforthefinalthe 

sisessay. 

Introduction:

WintheReader’sAttention 

Everyproposalshouldprovideclear,explicitanswerstothreequestions:

Whatarewegoingtolearnfromtheproposedprojectthatwecurrentlydonot 

know?

Whyisitworthknowing?

Onwhatbasiscanweevaluatethevalidityoftheconclusions?

Saywhatyouhavetosaydirectly,firmlyandconcisely.Grabthereader’sat 

tentionintheopeningparagraphs.Hereyoushouldoverstate,ratherthanunde 

rstate,yourquestionorposition.Youcanintroducequalificationslater. 

Oneapproachistobeginwithaclearlyposedquestion:

"Hasthediscourseof  

developmentachieveditsends?

""Isanthropologytheagentofimperialism?

""W 

hatcontributionshasanthropologymadeinthequestforworldpeace?

"Donot  

poserhetoricalquestions,butconcreteissueswhoseanswerscanbedetermined 

whiletheyarenotimmediatelyapparent. 

Alternately,stateyourcentralpoint,hypothesis,orinterpretationdirectly:

"Culturaldifferencesdonotkillpeople,onlypeoplekillpeople.""Developm 

enthasdonewondersfortheremainingfood-foragingpeoplesoftheplanet."" 

Thestudyofpopularmusicrevealstheunspokenculturalpreceptsofthesocie 

tythatproducesandconsumesit." 

Ofcourse,noteveryprojectisreducibletosuchbriefpropositions.Itmayb 

enecessarytolayoutalogical,sequentialargumenttodefinethecorequest 

ion.However,ifyoursisamorecomplexargument,becertaintoprojectacle 

arandexplicitmessagethatwillmakeyoursstandoutfromotherproposals. 

WritingStyle:

StriveforClarityandGrace 

Yourproposalshouldofferaclearexpositionofanthropology’sresearchfron 

tiers,notatediouslitanyofitsdullerdimensions.Avoidpretentiousjargon 

andiftechnicallanguageiscalledfor,useonlythosenewwordsandtechni 

caltermsthathavenoequivalentsineverydaylanguage.Likewise,focusonth 

eideas,notthedetails.Arguetheconceptsandtendenciesinyourareaofco 

ncentration,notthedescriptivefinepoints.Keepthemaintextasstreamline 

daspossible. 

Poorwritingkillsthebestofideas.Useastylemanualinallyourwriting.  

Oneexcellentwritingreference（availableonline）isStrunkandWhite'sTheE 

lementsofStyle.Thisandotherresourcesareaccessiblefromthejumppage,  

AnthropologyResourcesontheInternet,reachedfromalinkontheHartwickAn 

thropologyDepartmentHomePage. 

TheoreticalConcerns:

EstablishtheProposalContext 

Yourproposalshouldnotbeatiredexerciseintheobvious.Itshouldstatew 

hatnewknowledgetheprojectwillproduce.Summarizepreciselyandsuccinctly 

thecurrentstateofknowledge,andprovideacurrent,comprehensivebibliogr 

aphy.Youdonotneedtoprovideareviewof"theliterature,"butofferacle 

arlyfocusedviewofthespecificbodyofknowledgetowhichyouwilladd.The 

bibliographyprovidesameasureofyourseriousness,anditscomprehensivenes 

swillreflectuponyourproposal'sevaluation.Agoodbibliographyindicates  

thoroughpreparationtoensurethatyourprojectwillenhancetheworkofothe 

rs,notduplicateit. 

Avoidexcessivediscussion,especiallyintheAbstractandIntroduction,ofth 

egeneraltheoreticalproblem.Concentratemoreondiscussingspecificallyhow 

youwillcarryouttheresearchandanalysis（seemethodologydiscussionbelo 

w）. 

Intheearlystagesofproposalwriting,theHartwicklibraryprofessionalsca 

nhelpyouidentifyandaccessthemanyprintandelectronicresourcesrelevan 

ttoyourproject.BeginwiththeLibraryofCongressSubjectHeadingstoiden 

tifythekeywordsthatwillbeessentialtoefficient,effectivebibliographic 

research.ConsultsuchresourceguidesasDissertationAbstractsInternationa 

l,theSocialSciencesCitationIndex（SSCI）,SocialSciencesIndex,andtheS 

ocialSciencePeriodicalIndex,andotheronlineperiodicalsearchengines.Th 

eAnnualReviewofAnthropologyisanimportantvenueforstate-of-the-artdis 

cussionsandextensivebibliographies,asaresucharea-studiesguidesasthe  

HandbookofLatinAmericanStudies（availableonline）andtheInternationalA 

fricanBibliography.AlsoconsideronlinedatabasessuchasCARLandERIC.In  

theearlystages,Iwillaskthatyouidentifytheresearchresourcesyouhave 

utilized.Youwillavoidfrustrationandsavevaluableresearchtimebyconsu 

ltingsuchresourcesattheoutset. 

WhatIstheCoreObjective?

Thestatementthat"ithasnotbeenstudied"maybeasufficientargument.Ind 

eed,generally,thelessknownaboutone’schosentopic,themorecompelling  

theproposal.Whateveryouchoose,aimtoconvincethereaderthatyourtopic  

isnotonlytimely,butalsothatitsresultswillelucidateenduringhumanpr 

oblems. 

Explicittheoreticalinterestisalwaysimportant.Yourtheoreticalframeshou 

ldsituatethequestionintermsofitsrelevancetocontroversialtheoretical 

arguments.Howdoesyourprobleminformthemaintheoreticaldebatesinanthr 

opology?

Howdoesyourapproachtestacceptedideasoroffernewones?

Tobee 

ffective,yourproposalshoulddemonstrateawarenessofcompetingviewpointsa 

ndargueyourpositionbyaddressinganthropologicaltheorybroadly,whilenot 

ingalternativetendencies. 

ConceptualIssues:

DevelopanInnovativeApproach 

Enigmasandseemingcontradictionscanbepowerfullypersuasive."Beginningin 

the1950s,theCivilRightsMovementpromisedtoremakeracialrelationsint 

heJimCrowsouth,butseveraldecadeslater,identitypoliticsismorecontro 

versialissuethaneverinpopularculturaldiscoursethroughoutthenation."  

"AfterWorldWarII,socialscientistsworriedthatwidespreadmigrationtour 

bancenterswouldunderminerurallife.Indeed,theeffectscanbeseeninman 

ypartsofthecountry,buttoday,aidedbymoderncomputerandcommunications 

technology,anewurban-to-ruralmigrationtrendissimultaneouslyunderway." 

Cautionarynote:

Unlessyouhavesomethingoriginaltoadd,youmaywanttoav 

oidtopics"ofcentralinteresttoanthropology."Usuallythesearesubjectsa 

boutwhichmanyarewriting,inresponsetothedefinitivecontributionofat 

rueinnovator.Bythetimeyouwriteyourproposal,dotheresearch,andsitd 

owntowrite,youmightwishyouwereworkingonsomethingelse.Soifyourin 

terestsleadyoutoarelativelyunexploredproblem,one"notofcurrentandc 

entralinteresttoanthropology,"considerpursuingit. 

OutlineYourMethodology 

Regardingmethodologicalefficacy,theproposalmustspecifyyourresearchstr 

ategyandhowyouwillinterprettheresultsvis-à-visyourcentralproblem.  

Donotjuststateyourgoal;tellhowyouwillgoaboutit.Amethodologygoes 

beyondsimplylistingresearchtaskstoassertingwhythesetasksconstitute  

thebestapproachtotheproblem.Asimplelistingoftasksdoesnotnecessari 

lymeanthattheycomprisethebestormostexpedientapproach. 

Somecommonexpressionsdonotspecifytangibleresearchstrategies.Forexamp 

le,"Iwilllookattherelationbetweenxandy"isuninformative."Lookinga 

t"arelationbetweenvariablescanonlybedoneindirectly,bydiggingthroug 

harchives,interviewing,observingandtakingstandardizednotes,collecting  

data,analyzingpatternsandthelike.Howwillyouhighlighttherelationship 

ofunderlyingforcesintrinsictothemassofdata?

Youshouldoutlinethepr 

ocessofgatheringdataandinterpretingitasspecificallyasyoucan.Whata 

ctivitieswillyoupursuetocollectdata,whattechniqueswillyouusetoana 

lyzeit,andhowwillyoutestthevalidityofyourconclusions?

Donotleave  

thereaderwonderingwhatyouactuallywilldo.Specifythesources,therespo 

ndents,andtheproposedtechniquesofdatacollectionandanalysis. 

Proposalsthatengageapowerfulcurrentissue（identity,gender,ethnicity,r 

ace,nationalism,hegemony,culturalresistance,relationsofstatesandindig 

enouspeople）oftenfollowapredictablyweaklineofreasoning.Theybeginby 

discussingvarioustheoreticalformulationsoftheissue.Thentheyofferav 

aguelaundrylistofresearchmethods,hintingthattheprojectwillapplythe 

"appropriate"methodologyinthefield.Theproposalendsbyassertingarath 

erslackandgeneralizedconnectionbetweenBandA.Trytoavoidthisdeaden 

d. 

Incontrast,acomparativeresearchdesignhasparticularappeal.Insomeways 

allresearchiscomparativebecauseitmustemploysomeimplicitorexplicit  

pointofreference.Makethecomparisonexplicittoenhanceitsvalueasanav 

enueofscientificinquiry.Incomparativeproposals,theevaluatoraskswheth 

erthesimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenthechosencaseselucidatethecen 

tralquestion,andwhethertheauthoriscapableofexecutingbothsidesofth 

ecomparison. 

Summary:

RestateandSpecifyYourObjectives 

Aneffectiveproposalusuallyendsbyre-invokingtheoriginalthesis.Howwil 

lresearchanditsresultsfinallyilluminatethecentralquestion?

Howwilly 

oudemonstratethevalidityofyouroriginalidea?

Youmustconvincethereade 

rthatthereissomethingclearlyatstakeinthestudy,thatdoesnothavea  

preconceivedconclusion,andt