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Chapter 5: Propose

You have prepared yourself for research, explored your discipline until you found a topic, read through the literature to develop a research problem, and designed a methodology with which to study it. Now, it is time to prepare and defend an official proposal of your thesis/dissertation research. Depending on the degree you are pursuing and your departmental preferences, this process may be an informal affair between yourself and your adviser or it might be a presentation in front of your entire committee. Feel free to adapt the steps in this chapter to fit your situation. This chapter is written with the more formal process in mind of presenting and defending a proposal.

Topic: Amending When Necessary

When you first prepared for your thesis/dissertation, you read in terms of a wider topic. Although you have successfully narrowed this topic into a specific research problem, some of the related yet off-point concepts you read will still float around your mind. Beware of the distracting potential of these concepts, even if a committee member brings them up. Committee members like to throw around additional possibilities because they do not necessarily know everything you have already considered. If one of these possibilities triggers a memory of something you read and you engage in conversation about it, you may end up having to amend your research problem to include it — an amendment that will add time and complexity to your research. The more focused you are on your specific problem, the easier it will be to say, “That is an interesting thought, possibly to research later, but I think it is outside the scope of the problem at hand.”

Write Your Title

The seemingly obvious step of writing a title for the proposal document is frequently forgotten until the last minute. However, writing the title at the outset of the proposal process rather than the end allows you to synthesize everything you have read and outlined up to this point. It gives your brain thinking time in which to orient itself to the writing task. This orientation will set your subconscious working on ways to logically communicate the background to, support for, and elements of your proposed research which will make the rest of the writing flow faster from your conscious mind. How you word the title of your proposal will influence how you word the title of your actual thesis/dissertation, so spending quality time on this now will make things easier down the line.

Driven by your research problem

Your title should be driven by the research problem you have selected to study. Find the document that contains the official problem statement you wrote in the Design stage. Read through it several times, and highlight the key phrases from the problem statement. These phrases should serve as the basis of your title. For instance, if your problem statement was a hypothesis such as:

“In the home environment, use of the ignore technique coupled with a flat-affect verbal prompt labeling the technique will decrease the number of aggressive behaviors exhibited by highly verbal teens with high-functioning autism.”

You would highlight the phrases:

If you find yourself tempted to highlight the entire problem statement, do not. Look through the wording, and determine which parts are main concepts versus qualifiers that describe the main concepts. The qualifiers are important for narrowing the scope of your research, but they are not the best words to include in the title.

Include keywords

Keep this highlighted version of your problem statement out, and find the keyword glossary you built in the Design stage. Scan through the words you have highlighted, and look for words defined in your glossary. Underline these words, including words with the same root but in a different form, such as “aggression” rather than “aggressive.” Most of the phrases you highlighted should contain at least one keyword. If most of the highlighted phrases do not, add keywords to your glossary that pertain to these phrases.

Additional tips

Successful proposals are those that have been approved and research has officially begun. If you can access successful proposals from other graduate students in your peer network, do it. If you cannot, ask your adviser for some proposals he or she has on file from previous graduate students. Writing titles requires a specific kind of voice. A quick scan through the titles of your peers’ proposals will help you slip into the title voice more easily. Characteristics to pay attention to are length, verb tense, format, complexity of phrase, and whether the title is in a complete sentence or a sentence fragment. How closely do these sample proposal titles mirror the hypotheses/questions? Do they use the word “proposal” in the title or subtitle? Do they use any words pertaining to their methodologies? Getting permission to make a copy of a proposal will allow you to study it for the duration of your proposal writing.

After all this preparation, is your title ready to fly through your fingertips? If not, write your highlighted phrases as a centered list on a blank sheet of paper. Try to play an altered version of connect-the-dots, where the highlighted phrases are the dots and transitional words are the lines. If you cannot logically connect the phrase dots, try rearranging the phrases until you can. Eventually, you should be able to write a title that reads like the samples from your peers. Open up a word-processing document and type your title, your name, and any other identifying information in a style that mirrors your sample proposals. Insert a page break, and save the document under a file name that includes the word “proposal” in it. Then, take a break and pamper yourself because you have officially begun writing your proposal.

Memorize your question/hypothesis

In preparation for the defense of your proposal, memorize the official wording of your question/hypothesis. Being able to state it word for word without looking will save you the time and trouble of looking it up repeatedly. It will also help you to automatically filter all the questions and suggestions your committee members make through it. The complete absorption that comes through memorization will ensure you can quickly and effectively steer discussions back on track during the defense.

Literature: Mastering Information

While writing and defending your proposal, concentrate on mastering all the implications of the information you have already gathered. If you look up additional sources at this stage, it may introduce conflicting ideas about your methodology, which could then result in writer’s block. It may also tempt you to add another thread to your research problem, a thread you will not have time to pursue and still defend on time. Instead, use your reading time to cement the choices you have already made and develop strategies for defending them.

Study your key sources

During the Read stage, you were encouraged to designate appropriate sources as key sources and share them with your adviser. Review these sources one at a time in detail, both the original sources and all associated notes you took regarding them. This review will not be from the standpoint of gleaning information as previous readings have been. Instead, it will be from the standpoint of how a given source supports your proposed research.

Support the necessity of your research

One of the things you will be defending before you are allowed to proceed with your research is that it is necessary. Necessary does not mean earth-shatteringly vital, merely that results from your research will provide useful information. Support for the necessity of your research should be found within the sources that helped you most while developing your research problem. Make a list of your key sources that directly influenced or laid the groundwork for your choice of study subjects and variables. Keep this list handy during your defense.

Support your choice of methodology

Another thing you will be defending is your choice of methodology. There may be multiple data-collection or analysis techniques that would have been appropriate for answering your question or testing your hypothesis. Why did you settle on using the one(s) included in your proposal? If the answer to this question is, “My adviser/data consultant said so,” your proposal defense will not succeed, and you will have to do additional work before continuing with your thesis/dissertation. Instead of taking a chance on scuttling your research before it begins, spend time making a list of your key sources that use similar research types, analytic methods, sample sizes, and underlying assumptions or philosophies. If your adviser or data consultant introduced you to any sources during the development of your methodology, make sure you include them. Keep this list handy during your defense as well.

Review Successful Proposals From Your Department

Pull out two copies of successful proposals you obtained when you wrote your title. Read through them. They will help you embed the diction and structure you will be required to produce yourself. While you read, ask yourself:

By the time you complete this activity, have a mental image of the proposal you are required to produce. If your brain is already generating phrases or sentences for your own proposal, jot them down so you can incorporate them into the final document.

Assistance: Proving Your Skills

Unlike previous stages, assistance will be thin during the Proposal stage. Only you can write the proposal document. Only you can study for, present, and answer questions at your proposal defense. This does not mean the system is designed to throw as many roadblocks in your way to see if you quit. It is more of a way for faculty members to figure out if you have mastered enough research skills to move on in the process or if you need to brush up a little more before you continue. Limited help is available, however, if you know where to look.

Adviser as chair of the committee

If your proposal defense is a formal one that includes the rest of your committee, your adviser will act as chair of the committee. This means that your adviser will control the agenda of the meeting, rephrase any questions you do not understand, and steer off-topic discussions back on target. As chair, your adviser should also monitor the tone of the meeting to ensure it stays professional and courteous. The proposal defense is not designed to be a fight for the ability to begin research but a demonstration that the research is ready to begin. Be sure you understand what you are and are not responsible for regarding the flow of the meeting; then, trust your adviser to hold up his or her end of things.

Committee as source of fine-tuning

You chose the members of your committee based on the benefit your research will derive from their skill sets. As such, they should be considered assets, so you can meet their suggestions and reservations with an open mind. They might see weaknesses in your approach because of their experience, weaknesses that your adviser did not see because he or she is not as experienced within the area in question. Rather than viewing these suggestions and reservations as roadblocks, view them as opportunities to fine-tune your research problem and methodology. When this fine-tuning is done prior to the start of data collection, results are more reliable than when this fine-tuning is done in response to unforeseen problems. You asked these people to serve on your committee for a reason. Remind yourself what those reasons are, and celebrate when the related situations occur.

Graduate student survival tips

Talk to graduate students in your peer network who have successfully defended their proposals, especially those who have members of your committee on their committees. Make these discussions as informal as possible so it does not seem like you are interrogating your peers. Ask if they would share their proposal-defense experiences and offer to take them out for coffee — or beverage of their choice. During these informal discussions:

Your goal for these informal events is to dispel the mystery surrounding the process. Not knowing what you face is a source for anxiety, but anxiety is the last thing you need right now. If you are having trouble getting the discussion started with your peers, consider kicking things off with the following questions:

Again, this is not an interrogation. No matter how anxious you are to get the answer to these questions and more, do not fire them at your peers like a batting-practice machine fires baseballs. Ask one question, and see where the conversation leads. Your peers should have funny stories to share. These stories may include some tense moments, but that is what makes them exciting because you already know they have the happy ending of a successful defense.

Extra help for ESL students

If English is your second language, then the written form of the proposal may pose extra challenges for you. Understanding academic English is one thing, producing it is another. It is beyond the scope of your adviser’s duties to tutor you in the fine points of grammar and sentence structure, so consider getting tutoring from the on-campus writing center. The international student center on your campus may also have a list of writing-assistance resources. Accessing this help will mean you will spend more time on the written portion of your proposal than other students. Composition and revision will take longer and will involve more people. Do not be surprised if a writing tutor says that a passage is great, but your adviser has problems with it. The tutor is speaking from a written-conventions standpoint, while your adviser is speaking from a content standpoint. Just as writing instruction is beyond the scope of your adviser’s duties, content instruction is beyond the scope of your writing tutor’s duties.

Data: Collection Considerations

By this point in your discussions with your adviser and data consultant, you should be settled on a methodology. You know what kind of data you plan to collect, as well as how you will collect and analyze it. You have also developed data-collection instruments. If possible, take a moment with some practice data — information that will not be used in your research — and try using the instrument so you can answer questions about its use with first-hand experience. Sources of practice data could be journal articles, public data from government agency websites, documentary videos, or any other multimedia source that mimics the kind of data you would like to collect.

As you finalize and write the methodology section of your proposal, you will need to finalize the logistics of your research. Although you may not be able to get binding commitments yet, you should at least have verbal agreements that these logistics should be approved soon. Your committee will want some kind of reassurance that if they approve your methodology, you will be able to access the things you need to complete the research.

Sources of assistants and subjects

Chapter 4 walked you through suggestions on where to find study subjects. If you still have not found a source of the types of people/organisms/things you need for your study, work with your adviser on a plan to fix this. He or she may need to call in a few favors to get you connected with someone willing to help.

Depending on the scope and intensity of your proposed data-collection process, you may want to ask people to volunteer as assistants. Undergraduates in their junior or senior year may be willing to take independent study for a semester and help you under the supervision of your adviser. You may also be able to get some fellow graduate students to assist with your data collection, especially if you have already helped them collect theirs. If you only need help for a day or two, you could also post help-wanted fliers on the departmental bulletin board (physical or electronic). However, safety and quality-control concerns will be harder to address when using strangers. A better plan would be to contact on-campus clubs or honor societies that pertain to your discipline and to ask them to put you in touch with respected members who might be willing to help.

Cost and sources of funding

Regardless of whether you think the cost of your research is high, prepare a budget for it. Practicing the estimation of costs and searching for funding to meet those costs will help you in the future when you need to apply for grants or to ask your company to allocate funds. Budgets normally list income and expenses by category. In this case, income would be funding from any source applied to cover research expenses. This will be money from your personal funds, gifts from a rich uncle who believes in what you are doing, any grant money you may have acquired, or any funds the university earmarks for graduate student research. Expenses would be the costs of everything associated with your research from photocopies to overnight stays. The following is a sample list of expense categories that may be adjusted to fit your situation:

How detailed you list things out within each category is up to you, but it should be detailed enough for you to know which receipts go with which categories later on. Total all these expenses, and compare that total with the estimated income. Is there more income than expense? If so, then you may relax as long as you plan to keep tracking expenses closely. Is there more expense than income? If so, budget shortfalls will come out of your pocket. Either way, find ways to trim expenses or continue to look for additional research funding.

Working With Oversight Agencies and Individuals

Depending on the kind of study subjects from which you will collect data, you may need to coordinate with additional people beyond your adviser and committee. It is vital for you to find and contact these additional people as soon as possible, even if it is not yet time to start any official proceedings. It will take you some time to get oriented to and meet these requirements, so starting now will ensure you are ready to go when your committee approves your methodology.

Human research

The complexity of human research was already discussed in Chapter 4. Take a moment to review where you are in the IRB application process. Follow up with the departmental coordinator to see if it is time for you to apply or if there is anything missing from an application you have already submitted. If you have already applied and the application was rejected, work with the IRB coordinator and your adviser to resolve these issues before your research time period gets extended beyond your personal tolerances.

Animal research

If your study involves animal subjects, as some research questions involving biology or psychology will, there may be someone who oversees the treatment of these animals. This oversight is most formal with vertebrate subjects (animals with an internal skeleton of bone or cartilage). Work with your adviser to navigate these oversight processes. If your study subjects are housed at a zoo or animal research laboratory, you will have to work under the supervision of the animals’ handler. Work in a conscientious manner, and follow all guidelines. If you cut corners, these people are less likely to agree to let the next graduate student work with their animals. You will also damage your ability to use these handlers as references when you are looking for new research/employment opportunities.

Property owners

If your study involves field work, as some research questions involving biology or geology will, someone will own the property that houses your study subjects. This may be a governmental agency, a nonprofit organization, a business, or an individual. Understand that none of these types of owners has to grant you access to their property. Be respectful and professional when making your request. If they seem hesitant, gently ask what their concerns are, and show your willingness to address them. Let them know you would be happy to abide by a list of ground rules and/or sign a liability waiver. There may be some concerns you will not be able to overcome; for instance, a farmer’s worry you will find an endangered species on the land which will limit his use of his own land. Accepting ahead of time that your research may not be a good fit for the land owner will help you graciously thank the owner for his or her time and move on to the next possibility. You will have far fewer conflicts with property owners while conducting your research if they truly are happy to have you there.

Written Work: The Proposal

Depending on the degree you seek and your department, the written proposal may be a multi-chaptered document or a short document with a few sections. You should know by this point what kind of document you are expected to write because you reviewed successful proposals from your department. Find out how your multi-page document should be bound. It may be as simple as a staple in the upper left-hand corner or as complex as comb binding. Even though the proposal is not your finished thesis/dissertation, it is an official and important document that will be read by busy faculty members. It should be clean and professional looking to show your respect for the process and the committee’s time.

Typical proposal complexity

As stated above, the length and organization of the proposal is affected by the final research document produced. The complexity of the information presented is also affected by this. By necessity, the more complex the document is expected to be, the longer it will be because there needs to be enough space to properly introduce and support thoughts. Theses are normally shorter than dissertations, but total length of either document varies by department and research approach.

Thesis

The thesis proposal has the potential to become the first portion of your thesis with a bit of verb-tense revision. Take the writing of it seriously, even if you only have to present it to your adviser in an informal meeting. Your written and verbal proposal should demonstrate a level of proficiency with academic thought and an understanding of your proposed methodology. Note that the level here is proficiency — a sign that you are ready for your academic apprenticeship.

Dissertation

Typically, the dissertation proposal will become the first three chapters of the dissertation — with some verb-tense changes and other minor revisions. With this in mind, make sure the thoughts you present in your proposal demonstrate mastery of the background material for your topic. The level of questions asked at your proposal defense is likely to be highly complex as well, especially in terms of your methodology. As a doctoral candidate, you are expected to have a deeper understanding of your topic and how to design research than someone pursuing a master’s degree.

Proposal style guidelines

The written proposal is a document governed by your department’s preferred style guide, a guide you identified in the Design stage. But, this published style guide may not include items peculiar to proposals at your university. Fortunately, you have already built a model thesis/dissertation while working through Chapter 2 and taken notes on the shape of successful proposals while working through this chapter. Both of these activities have helped you develop an informal style guide you can use to fill in the gaps from the published manuals. Although you do not want to copy wording from these models, you do want to refer to them when you are stuck and have questions.

Function

The function of the written proposal is two-fold. The first part is to act as a training ground for writing in the academic style. This training includes diction, clarity, use of sources to support the opening of an argument, and proper citation technique. The second part is to communicate the who, what, where, when, why, and how of the research you would like to engage in as part of your degree requirements. Learning to communicate these concepts effectively and persuade a committee to approve them will enable you to propose research to future academic partners, employers, and grant committees.

Verb tense and tone

When writing a thesis or dissertation, you will use either active or passive voice. Your adviser should be able to assist you in deciding which tense to use, as it will depend on your subject matter. If you are writing a journalism thesis, you are more likely to use active voice than if writing a scientific thesis.

In passive voice, the subjects of sentences are acted upon rather than completing an action. For instance, “Evidence of parasite infestation was not recorded” is passive, while, “We did not record evidence of parasite infestation” would be active. Passive voice lends a more objective tone to academic documents and lessens the chance of wording things in a way that will imply causation where none has been proven. It also tends toward long and complex phrases, which is one reason people find the academic style difficult and/or dry to read. But, after reading all your sources, you should be more comfortable reading this style. You probably also have the tone and voice embedded in your head, ready to be reproduced in your own writing.

Some parts of the proposal, such as the statement of the research problem and the methodology, will be written in future tense because the research has not happened yet. Other parts, such as the literature review and other sentences referring to your sources, will be written in past tense because that research has already happened. If this seems confusing to you, look over one of the proposals you read in the previous section and specifically look for sentences with past versus future tense.

Formatting

Formatting varies, so make sure to check your model proposals for an appropriate look and feel. Look for the use of font size, bold, italics, capitalization, and indentation in the following proposal elements:

However you choose to format your proposal, the important thing is to be consistent throughout the document. This will allow your committee members to find the relationships and hierarchies of the information you are presenting if you have inadvertently used formatting your committee would consider nonstandard.

Proposal contents

Whether you are writing a multi-chaptered document or a ten-page report-style document, all proposals should contain the same three elements: a statement of the problem, a review of pertinent literature, and a proposed methodology. The contents of your proposal must communicate what you want to research, why you want to research it, and how you plan to research it. The written proposal also prepares your committee members for their participation in your research and serves as a starting point for discussion.

Statement of problem with background

You have already written the statement of your research problem in the form of a question or hypothesis. This statement can either open this section or close it, depending on your personal writing style. If you open this section with your statement, then your rationale will be presented afterward with support from your key sources. All your thoughts will flow from your research statement. If you close this section with your statement, your thoughts and rationale will flow toward your research statement with support from your key sources. Either way, everything you write in this section should answer the question, “What do I want to research?”

Literature review

You have read and utilized far more sources to design your research than just your key sources. There are numerous supporting sources in your notes that have lent their findings to the minutiae of your design. You have had to weigh multiple views on points of fact and methodologies. You have decided which ones you feel are stronger and found even more sources to justify those decisions. The literature review is more than an annotated bibliography. It is a synthesis of all the sources that have led you to this particular research design. Introduce and describe essential points of background and methodology through the conclusions of the literature. Sources that agree on points should be presented together and then contrasted with sources that disagree on the same points. The order in which you present these points should flow in a logical progression that will lead readers from the background of your research problem to your proposed methodology. While you write this section, focus on the question, “Why do I want to research this?”

Proposed methodology

You have already designed your methodology. Now is the time to communicate that design in writing. This section is intended to describe every aspect of data collection and analysis so your methodology can be optimized before you begin. When it is incorporated into your thesis/dissertation, it will also serve the purpose of relaying enough information so another researcher could repeat your study to confirm your results. As such, organize tasks and considerations in chronological order. You will also include copies of any surveys, forms, or other data-collection instruments and refer to them from within the text. Make sure to include a detailed description of your study subjects and research location. Give the steps that will be involved in collecting data, including any rewards that participants may be given. Walk through the planned analysis method and the rationale for that choice. If you experience any anxiety or writer’s block while writing this section, take a breath and remind yourself that everything in this section answers the question, “How do I plan to research this?”

Bibliography

Even though your proposal contains a review of the literature, you still need to include a bibliography. Hopefully, you stored your bibliography data in an Excel spreadsheet or the OpenOffice Bibliography Database mentioned in Chapter 1. If not, you will need to build your bibliography from scratch. Your bibliography should be placed behind your proposal sections/chapters. Each source you referenced and used should be listed. Include complete bibliographic information for each source, which should be formatted according to your department’s preferred style guide. Frequently, a bibliography will be sorted alphabetically by the first author’s last name with the first line of text touching the left margin and the rest of the auto-wrapped lines tabbed in half an inch. Typing in all your sources’ bibliographic information from scratch is time-consuming, so allow yourself several hours to find, type, and format this essential piece of your proposal (and the future thesis/dissertation).

If you stored your bibliography in an Excel spreadsheet, you will need to perform a mail merge operation in order to generate your bibliography. To do this:

1. Look in your spreadsheet to make sure your headers are named meaningfully such as “Author Name 1” or “Section/Article Title.” If not, rename them so you will know which fields to include later in the merge. Also, be sure your sources are listed alphabetically by first author before moving on to Step 2.

2. In an empty Word document, select Tools > Letters and Mailings > Mail Merge. This will bring up a mail merge tool bar, typically in a right-hand column.

3. Under “Select document type,” choose Directory, and then click “Next.”

4. Under “Select starting document,” choose “Use the current document,” and then click “Next.”

5. Under “Select recipients,” choose “Use an existing list,” then browse to the spreadsheet file that contains your bibliographic data. Click once on that file, and then click “Open.”

6. In the “Select a table” dialog box, click on the choice that contains the data you need. This might be a tab within a multi-tabbed spreadsheet or the spreadsheet as a whole. Click “OK.”

7. In the “Mail Merge Recipients” box, uncheck any of the entries you do not want included in your bibliography, and then click “OK.” Then click “Next.”

8. Under “Arrange your directory,” choose “More items.” This will bring up a box that lists all your headers.

9. Insert your headers (in the same order that the information should print according to your style guide) by clicking on a header and then clicking “Insert.” When you are finished inserting fields, click “Close.”

10. You will have a string of fields that look something like: <<Author_Name1>><<Author_Name2>>
<<Author_Name3>><<year>><<ArticleChapter_Title>>
<<JournalBook_Title>><<VolumeEdition>><<PagesPlace>>

11. Format the string of fields so it has all the spaces and punctuation it will need to match the style guide. At the end of the string, be sure to hit the “Enter” or “Return” key so your cursor is on the next line. This should look something like: <<Author_Name1>>, <<Author_Name2>> and <<Author_Name3>>. <<year>>. “<<ArticleChapter_Title>>,” <<JournalBook_Title>>, <<VolumeEdition>>, <<PagesPlace>>. You may need to tweak the punctuation in the finished product if some of your sources are of an unusual kind.

12. Be sure the margins and indents are set the way they will need to be for your bibliography.

13. When all your fields are in place and your formatting is set, click “Next.” Then click “Next: Complete the merge.”

14. Under “Merge,” select “To New Document,” and then click “Next.”

15. Under “Merge to New Document,” select All and click “OK.”

16. A new document should pop up that has all your sources listed in alphabetical order with nearly perfect formatting.

To fix glaring format errors, return to the original merge document and keep clicking “Previous” until you get to the stage where you can correct the formatting of the fields. Then, retrace your steps, and merge again. To fix minor errors in a few special sources, just correct them in the finished document. Be sure to save this merged document and the field-layout document so you can easily alter them later when creating the final bibliography for your thesis/dissertation.

If you used the OpenOffice Bibliography Database to store your bibliographic data, review the tutorial by Don Peterson from the Tutorials for OpenOffice website (www.tutorialsforopenoffice.org/tutorial/Bibliographies.html) that was presented in Chapter 1. Properly formatting your bibliography using this tool is a detailed process beyond the scope of this book; however, following this tutorial step by step will get you where you need to go. Although you do have to invest more time in learning how to use this application, the benefit comes as you further your research post-graduation and write additional papers that use these same sources.

Defending the Proposal

Whether you are presenting to your adviser alone or to your entire committee, the proposal defense is your chance to continue the academic argument introduced in the written proposal. This oral forum allows you to discuss your academic argument by presenting your intentions, explaining unclear passages, straightening out misunderstandings, and demonstrating your readiness to embark on the next phase of your research. The public speaking aspect of this step is intimidating, even to people who routinely speak in front of people for their jobs. There is a lot riding on the presentation. But, at the end of the day, everyone in your audience will be there playing their part to move your research forward. They want to approve your proposal; they just might have some helpful comments along the way.

Presentation

Before the committee can ask you clarifying questions, you must first make the oral presentation of your proposal. Plan your presentation with the same look and feel to the departmental seminars you have attended. Although you will not have data to present, you will be presenting the research problem, its rationale, and methodology in a similar way. Ask your adviser how long this initial presentation should take so you may plan to relay the proper amount of detail. You should have at least 20 minutes to get through your initial presentation uninterrupted; it would be a good idea to find good stopping places along the way to ask the committee if they have any questions before you move on. This way you will be able to control the timing of interruptions in your presentation flow and not get lost in your notes while answering questions.

Revisions

Make no mistake: You will have revisions to do after your proposal defense. Be sure to bring a notepad and pen with you to record the revisions agreed upon by the committee. Your adviser may also meet with you after the official meeting to discuss these revisions in more detail. Feel free to take some time to decompress after the meeting, but try to revise your proposal file to reflect the changes as soon as you can. You do not want to forget the nuances of the changes before you have them worded appropriately. If the committee asks you to do extra reading before making a revision, be sure to show the extra sources and the completed revisions to your adviser. Find out whether the rest of the committee wants a copy of the revised proposal as well.

Scheduling your proposal defense

The proposal defense is a lengthy meeting that takes hours of preparation for your committee members, not to mention for yourself. Do your committee members the courtesy of scheduling your proposal with enough advance notice that everyone involved can do a thorough job preparing and reshuffle their regular duties with limited inconvenience. When attempting to schedule the defense, ask your adviser for a list of available dates that he or she thinks are a reasonable target. Once you have this list, check it against your own schedule. If you have an unchangeable conflict on a particular date, cross it off. If you have conflicts that could be rescheduled, leave them on the list for now. E-mail the rest of your committee, and ask them which of the potential dates work best for them. This step may take a bit of negotiation, but do the best you can. If a particular committee member has a packed calendar you cannot seem to schedule around, ask your adviser to contact that member and find an alternate that will work. If no alternate can be found, see if the member can attend via speaker phone or video conferencing utility.

Preparing for your proposal defense

You have met with peers to get oriented in the way this event will occur. You have prepared the formal written document. You have scheduled the defense. If your proposal defense includes your entire committee, then your adviser has also determined the document is at least ready for presentation to others. Most of the remaining organization needed prior to the big day is for you to do alone. But, there are two organizational tasks that involve others.

Meeting with your adviser

Schedule a short meeting with your adviser to make sure the two of you are in sync regarding the research you will propose and how you will propose it. This meeting may take place in any form convenient to your adviser: in person, on the phone, via a chat client, or even by online video conference through Skype™ (www.skype.com). You have already agreed on the final document, so your oral presentation should mirror that format. It never hurts to get a feel for how your adviser expects you to organize the information and which points he or she is most keen for you to highlight. It is also a good time to discover what concerns your adviser still has so you may prepare ways to address those concerns during the defense.

Submitting your proposal to your committee in advance

Ask your adviser how far in advance to give the final draft of your proposal to your committee members. To show you value them and are considerate of their time, this should be at least a week before the meeting. Print clean copies with a good-quality printer on paper at least 25-pound weight. Cotton-content paper might be a bit overboard, but it does allow for lots of handling without looking crumpled and dingy.

It is also a good idea to make a portable document format (PDF) version of your proposal. That way, if committee members lose the printed version, you can quickly e-mail another copy they can print. If you are using OpenOffice for your word processing, you may make a PDF by clicking on the red and white square that says “PDF.” If you are using Microsoft Word on a computer that also has Adobe Acrobat installed, you will be able to click on a similar PDF icon to generate one. If you are using Microsoft Word and you do not have PDF generating capabilities, you may install a free PDF generator called PrimoPDF®:

1. In your favorite Web browser, type in the URL www.primopdf.com.

2. Click on the “Free Download” button. Be aware that on the same page will be a button for “Free 14 Day Trial,” but that is for a fee-based product called NitroPDF Professional. Make sure you click on the button that will download PrimoPDF instead.

3. Clicking on the download button will take you to the CNET’s approved download site. Click the “Download Now” button, and follow the on-screen instructions, which will vary depending on the operating system you use.

Once you have PrimoPDF installed, you may make PDFs from Word documents by:

1. Choosing File > Print

2. From the dropdown box at the top of the printer settings, select “PrimoPDF.”

3. Click the “OK” button.

4. PrimoPDF will open up a dialog box. Across the top are some colored choices. Choose “Screen.”

5. There are two dropdown boxes. The first is labeled “Save As.” Choose “Ask when creating PDF.” This will allow you to choose the file name and folder your PDF will be saved in.

6. The second dropdown box is labeled “Post Process.” Choose “Open PDF.” This will open the finished PDF file after it is created so you may check for errors.

When you have completed these steps, the PDF version of your proposal is ready for distribution. You may now attach it to an e-mail and send it to any committee members who would like it. If any of your committee members use an e-book reader, ask if they would like a PDF copy in addition to the printed copy. They will be able to easily view a PDF on their e-book devices. Even if they have a first-generation Kindle™ and need to perform a small conversion process, they will appreciate the convenience and the thought.

Organization: Supporting the Proposal

Out of all the reading you have done, all the notes you have taken, and all the correspondence you have written up to now, how do you decide which information to bring to your proposal defense? You cannot possibly bring it all. And even if you could, you would not want to because struggling into the defense room with stacks of information would make for a less-than-graceful entrance. Instead, the first impression you want to make is of a professional, organized, and focused researcher-in-training who is confident in his or her ability to prepare a presentation. The less nervous you appear, the more relaxed the committee will be. But, nerves are natural with new experiences, so this section will help you organize your materials in a way that will prevent fumbling with and digging for supporting documents and visual aids.

Printed copy of proposal

Regardless of the binding type you used on the printed proposals you distributed, turn your single-sided copy into a three-hole punched document, and place it in a separate one-inch binder. This will allow you to quickly flip from one page to the next when the committee asks you questions. It will also prevent you from accidentally getting the pages out of order like a loose stack in a file folder would. A stapled version will require you to pick it up in order to manipulate it. A comb bound version would lie flat like one in a binder, but it would not allow you to instantly insert additional note sheets generated during the meeting into the pages for which they pertain. Consider marking the major sections of your proposal with removable sticky arrows/notes and bring extras to the meeting so you can flag sections your committee asks you to revise as they ask you to revise them.

Notes

Put together an outline of what you plan to say when you present your proposed research. You may organize your remarks like you organized your written proposal. However, the bulk of your time should be spent on laying the groundwork for your research problem and presenting your proposed methodology. You may present some of the sources from your literature review, but they should be mentioned in conjunction with the other two elements — research problem and methodology — rather than presented on their own.

Store this outline in the same binder that holds your copy of the proposal. It should either be tucked in a pocket built into the binder cover or stored in a three-hole punched folder on top of your proposal copy. This way you can pull out your presentation outline, set it on the table or lectern, and still be able to flip through the pages of your proposal as needed without losing your place in the outline.

If you know of areas in your written proposal in which you will have to justify your decisions, for instance if you have chosen a nonstandard research method, make notes that summarize everything that went into the decision. These decision notes should be written in an orderly fashion that shows a logical progression from conception to decision, including elements from meetings with your adviser, meetings with your consultants, and key sources you have read. Restrict the length of decision notes to one page using phrases and keywords rather than complete sentences. Three-hole punch the right side of these decision notes, and place them in your binder to the left of the pages to which they pertain.

Visual aids

At some point in your career during this electronic age, you will be expected to make a presentation rich in visual media. At the very least, you will be expected to include visuals in your final thesis/dissertation defense. Find out what kind of presentation technology you have access to, and learn how to use it now for your proposal so you are comfortable with it when it comes time for your final defense. Passing a photo/graph hard copy around the room will cause distractions, not to mention the visual aid will be seen out of sync with its associated oral information. The rest of this section will describe the devices you may have available and introduce you to their use.

Overhead projectors use a light bulb under a glass plate to shine light through a transparency (clear plastic sheet) to a head with a mirror that then bounces the image onto a projector screen. These projectors may be considered “old school,” but they are easier to use than computerized devices. To make transparencies, you will need a box of transparency sheets and a printer. Make sure the sheets you buy are the correct type for the printer you will use. Once you have your sheets:

1. Open up a new word-processing document. This document should be constructed in “portrait” mode instead of “landscape,” so it is taller than it is wide.

2. Type up any main points you want to project. Be sure to use a large font — 18 point and higher — and include no more than three ideas per page. Refrain from using fancy fonts, as they can be hard to read if the projector does not focus pin-sharp.

3. Insert any pictures or graphs you would like to share, one image per page. Pictures to share might be of your study site, a special apparatus, or any other photograph/sketch that will help your committee understand who/what you will be researching. Graphs to share might be flow charts, diagrams, or any other visual representation of information that will help your committee understand how the research will be done and why you want to do it.

4. Once the word-processing document contains all your visuals, load the transparency sheets into your printer. These sheets have a smooth side and a rough side. All printers are different, so be sure to follow the directions that come with your sheets for determining which side to face up in the paper tray.

5. In your word-processing software, click File > Print. Look for a “media type” or “paper type” dropdown box and choose “transparencies.” Click “OK.”

6. Print the transparencies. You will have the best luck if you print each page one at a time. This will cut down on sheets getting jammed or taking up multiple sheets at the same time.

7. Print a paper copy of your visuals as well. Lay each transparency on its matching paper; three-hole punch them, and place them in presentation order in your binder with your presentation notes.

Document cameras work with a computer and digital projector to display physical objects on a projector screen. The same kind of text and images as those listed for overheads can be assembled in a word-processing document, but you do not have to print these pages on transparency sheets. Instead, they may be printed directly onto paper. In addition, document cameras can project three-dimensional objects on the screen. They magnify and project anything that fits on the working surface and does not exceed the focal length for the camera, which is embedded in a suspended head much like an overhead projector. The directions for use will depend on the document camera, computer, and projector, so be sure to get instructions from the department’s audio-visual (AV) expert. If you plan to use a document camera, three-hole punch and file any papers you are going to project in your binder in presentation order. If you will be using three-dimensional objects as well, store them in a nice box, and jot a note to yourself such as “display ____ here,” and file it in the binder with your other presentation notes.

Digital slideshows are created in computer software, played on a computer, and displayed through a digital projector. Although preparing your visuals this way gives you the potential of producing a slick and media-rich presentation, it can also lure you into producing a visual nightmare. Multiple flying text effects, blinking icons, and gratuitous sound effects have absolutely no place in an academic presentation of this nature. If you have the desire and/or skills to produce a Microsoft PowerPoint or OpenOffice Impress slideshow, remember to present one visual message at a time. Think minimalism. An excellent resource for the design of your slides is Slide:ology: the Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations by Nancy Duarte. Although digital slideshows will let people see how technically savvy you are, they are vulnerable to technical glitches. Some of the potential scenarios include:

Technology is supposed to make life simpler. Make a plan to share visuals with the device you are comfortable using. The last thing you want is to spend so much time wrestling with your visuals that you do not have time to practice delivering your presentation. Also, find out if there is a departmental AV staff person who you must make arrangements with to deliver or unlock equipment. Some departments have AV team members who will run the equipment during the meeting. There may be fees or deposits required for these services, but they will be well worth it. Be sure to pack your visual aids, and set the container by your door the night before the meeting so you do not forget them.

Note-taking materials

After your presentation is finished, there will be discussion. By the time the discussion ends, you should have a proposal that has been either approved or approved pending revision. If it is approved pending revision, you will definitely need to take notes so you can accurately revise. If it is approved as written, you will still want to take some notes because your committee members will have brought up some good points that will need to be considered while writing the finished thesis/dissertation. The note-taking materials you choose will depend on the preferences you identified in the Organization section of Chapter 1. Some combinations to consider are:

No matter what kind of note-taking materials you choose to use, test them prior to the meeting. Test that your pens have ink. Sharpen your wooden pencils, or bring extra leads for your mechanical pencils. Practice inserting comments in your word-processing file. Make sure you have enough sticky-flags or sticky-notes to get you through an enthusiastic discussion. You might also consider a color-coding system for them. Above all, make sure your note-taking materials are packed in your bag the night before so they are not forgotten in a bout of last-minute nerves.

Final preparations for your defense

Now that you have your materials prepared for presenting your proposal, it is time to get yourself prepared. All the notes and visuals in the world will add up to nothing if you rush into the meeting with a chaotic mind. You will need enough focus to access all the presentation aids you have prepared and be able to track questions accurately. Do not skimp on this section. Give it as much attention as you gave the previous one.

Practicing your presentation

Different people have different presentation styles. Some like to memorize their presentations with precision, to the point of memorizing complete sentences. Others like to memorize the bones of their presentations but flesh them out with contemporaneous speaking. By now, you should know what your preferences are. Do not try to practice a style that goes against your natural preference; instead, play to your strengths. If you are the memorizing type, write up your presentation based on the notes you sketched in the previous section, and commit them to memory. If you are the contemporaneous type, practice connecting the phrases in your presentation notes orally several times to find your flow.

Either way, be sure to practice the final version of your presentation out loud at least twice. Use a timer or clock to see how long your presentation takes. Is it within the acceptable time range? If not, find areas to trim/expand so it fits. Be aware that you will most likely talk faster once you are in front of your audience because of adrenaline. If your practiced version comes in just at the lower end of your target time range, consider adding a bit more to account for this.

Getting yourself in the right frame of mind

Of course it would be marvelous if you could know the questions your committee members will ask you ahead of time, but that would defeat the purpose of evaluating your research readiness. Instead of stressing out about studying every source you have read so you can give all perfect answers, briefly review your key sources, and focus on your proposed research. Of all the people in the meeting room, you will be the one who will have spent the most time thinking about your research problem and working through a possible methodology. Although the faculty members on your committee are more experienced in the process of research than you are, you are more experienced than they are with your particular problem. Tell yourself this every time you start to worry, especially when facing your committee on that day. Focus on the portion of your defense you can control, and let the questions take care of themselves.

Relaxing and getting some sleep

Whatever you do, do not pull an all-nighter in order to prepare for your proposal defense. You need to be well rested in order to pack without forgetting anything, think without getting confused, and respond without reacting. Try not to cram during the morning before your defense if you can help it, either. Instead, take a bubble bath or a brisk walk or anything else that helps you relax. You have worked extremely hard already, so trust that all your previous effort has prepared you for the task at hand.

Final Tips on Defending Your Proposal

When you are actually defending your proposal, try not to rush your initial presentation. Take your time, and be sure to breathe. Have some water with you in case your throat gets dry or you begin to cough. If you are worried about what to do with your hands, keeping a pen (with a cap) on the lectern with your notes will give you a nondistracting object to fidget with if needed. It will also give you a way to mark your place in your notes if someone asks you a question during the initial presentation. Try to have fun with your presentation if you can. After all, you get to talk at length to a captive audience about a subject you love.

During the discussion period, listen carefully to the question asked. Keep your answers as short and specific as you can, and wait for any follow-up questions. If you do not know the answer to a question, do not try to make one up. Simply say, “That is an interesting question, and I will have to look into it.” Stay as calm as you can, even if a question feels threatening to your research and/or your degree. You are under a lot of pressure and your perceptions may not be accurate. Focus on responding to the academic question and not to any perceived intent of the question. The main purpose for this gathering is for you to explain what you would like to study, why you would like to study it, and how you would like to go about it. Focus on that purpose, and everyone else will, too.

Case Study: Make a Contribution

Prof. I. Hal Sudborough

Department of Computer Science

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science

University of Texas at Dallas

hal_sud@yahoo.com

Biography:

After earning his doctorate in Computer Science from Penn State University in 1971, Dr. Sudborough joined the faculty of the Electronic Engineering/Computer Science Department of Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, where he received tenure and was promoted through the ranks to the position of full professor. In 1985, he became a Founders Professor in the Computer Science Department at the University of Texas at Dallas, where he continues to serve.

Dissertation title and synopsis:

Computation by Multi-Head Writing Automata

This dissertation contained a characterization of the computing power of finite state machines with multiple one-way read/write heads on a single tape.

First-person account:

As an adviser/committee member for scores of students, the most common weakness of students’ research proposals is the lack of clarity in writing and the lack of adequate detail in definitions and proofs. In addition, there is often a lack of confidence in their self-perceived ability to solve open problems in the field. The most effective way to address the latter problem is to work closely with students and show them how progress can be made. To address the language difficulties, I usually ask the students to make presentations to the research group and give suggestions/corrections.

The typical writing problems of their dissertations are addressed by my reading the dissertations several times and making iterative suggestions and corrections. It is an exhausting procedure.

If I could give one tip to graduate students for writing a successful thesis/dissertation, it would be: Make a fundamental contribution to the field — a contribution noticed by researchers/colleagues all over the world. For my advisees, this requires me to provide a good deal of coaching and counseling, as most students I’ve mentored have little confidence in their ability to solve significant open problems. It seems to be an issue of low self-esteem, perhaps as a result of a long and often painful process
of competitive classes and mass education with too little time and opportunity to exhibit often dormant creative and intellectual ability.

I was in this state myself for the first few years during my doctoral work and continued on even afterward when I was a new assistant professor. I recall with great pleasure, however, making a breakthrough and being able to solve a problem of some interest to the broad community of researchers of which I wanted to be part. The boost to my confidence was electric. I had arrived! From that time on, I never doubted my capability to do scholarly work and make fundamental contributions.

I believe the capability is in all of us; it simply needs encouragement and, of course, hard work to manifest itself. I sometimes feel the need to “prime the pump” with graduate students who I mentor. That is, when they suggest a better solution to an open problem is too difficult or impossible, I work hard myself and find a way to make progress the student and I can share. As a particular example, I had a graduate student a few years ago to whom I suggested improving a result in a published paper. She spent some time looking at it and expressed her opinion that the published result was likely the best one possible. When I disagreed, she bet me $5 on the issue. I then wrote out an algorithm for the conjectured worst case of the problem, which gave a much-improved result. I suggested that she continue on the work by showing that the conjectured worst case was, in fact, the worst case. The result was a nice publication with a much-improved result and a $5 spider plant — which she gave me as payoff — that is still flourishing on the windowsill of my office.

Summary of Tasks

Phase 1

Phase 2

Table of Contents