Thesis proposal 写作指南及样本.docx
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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
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