The Thesis Proposal
I. Proposal Length and Content The thesis proposal is the background and planning document for the thesis. It must be professional and thorough, and it must be a product of the student’s own original thought and effort. Use of others’ work must be properly referenced in accordance with the APA guidelines.
The thesis proposal should be between 15 – 20 pages, not including the cover page or references. However, the length will vary according to the demands of each thesis and will ultimately be at the discretion of the thesis advisor. At a minimum, it will include the following, in APA format:
Cover page (with working title) Introduction to the proposed topic Purpose and significance (why the paper will add to the body of knowledge in the discipline) Statement of the research problem (including relevant research questions) Literature review (assessing relevant scholarship which informs the thesis) Methodology (overview of whether the study will be quantitative, qualitative, or mixed, and its justification, and what exact methods are to be used) Working Reference List
II. Proposal Format and Style The proposal should be written in accordance with the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (students should contact the writing center, or visit the graduate writing center website, with questions regarding the APA formatting and guidelines). Electronic references (including Tweets, Facebook, Blog, and other online sources) should be formatted as described in the APA guidelines. The proposal also should be preceded by a formal title page.
Margins: 1 inch at the top and bottom, 1 inch on the right side, and 1.5 inch on the left side (for binding purposes). 1 inch top margins for the prefatory pages, for the first page of each chapter, and for the first page of the references.
Font and Justification: Times New Roman, 12 point font. Text within the body of the manuscript should be left justified.
