Research Thesis Outline

Research Thesis Outline




Here is an easy outline for a research thesis. Enjoy!!!
For more detailed discussion, go to http://www2.hawaii.edu/~matt/proposal.html.

The Basic Thesis Outline

Introduction
  Topic area 
  Research question  (finding?)
  Significance to knowledge
Literature review
  Previous research
   others & yours 
  Interlocking findings and Unanswered questions
  Your preliminary work on the topic
  The remaining questions and inter-locking logic
  Reprise of your research question(s) in this context
Methodology
  Approach 
  Data needs
  Analytic techniques
  Plan for interpreting results
Results
Discussion and Conclusions
Bibliography 

Another outline (maybe from Gary Fuller?).

Introduction
  Topic area 
  Research Question and its significance to knowledge
Literature review
  Previous research
  Your preliminary work on the topic
  The remaining questions and their inter-locking logic
  Reprise of your resulting question in this context
Methodology
  Approach to answering the question
  Data needs
  Analytic techniques
  Plan for interpreting results
Budget
Expected results
Bibliography / References 

Each of these outlines is very similar. You get the idea of what the proposal does for you and organizing your thoughts and approach. The section below goes into slightly more (boring) detail on what each of the points in the outline is and does.

Good Luck!!