Thesis proposal 写作指南及样本

Thesis proposal 写作指南及 样本proposal should make a convincing scholarly case that the project is rigorousand innovative in theory and conception, methodology and material content, and that it can produce new, relevant and independently verifiable insights.The proposal outline format also provides the main structure for the final thesis essay.Introduction: Win the Readers AttentionEvery proposal should provide clear, explicit answers to three questions:What are we going to learn from the proposed project that we currently do notknow?Why is it worth knowing?On what basis can we evaluate the validity of the conclusions?Say what you have to say directly, firmly and concisely. Grab the readers attention in the opening paragraphs. Here you should overstate, rather than understate, your question or position. You can introduce qualifications later.One approach is to begin with a clearly posed question: Has the discourse ofdevelopment achieved its ends? Is anthropology the agent of imperialism? What contributions has anthropology made in the quest for world peace? Do notpose rhetorical questions, but concrete issues whose answers can be determined, while they are not immediately apparent.Alternately, state your central point, hypothesis, or interpretation directly:Cultural differences do not kill people, only people kill people. Development has done wonders for the remaining food-foraging peoples of the planet. The study of popular music reveals the unspoken cultural precepts of the society that produces and consumes it.Of course, not every project is reducible to such brief propositions. It may be necessary to lay out a logical, sequential argument to define the core question. However, if yours is a more complex argument, be certain to project a clear and explicit message that will make yours stand out from other proposals.Writing Style: Strive for Clarity and GraceYour proposal should offer a clear exposition of anthropologys research frontiers, not a tedious litany of its duller dimensions. Avoid pretentious jargon, and if technical language is called for, use only those new words and technical terms that have no equivalents in everyday language. Likewise, focus on the ideas, not the details. Argue the concepts and tendencies in your area of concentration, not the descriptive fine points. Keep the main text as streamlined as possible.Poor writing kills the best of ideas. Use a style manual in all your writing.One excellent writing reference (available online) is Strunk and Whites The Elements of Style. This and other resources are accessible from the jump page,Anthropology Resources on the Internet, reached from a link on the Hartwick Anthropology Department Home Page.Theoretical Concerns: Establish the Proposal ContextYour proposal should not be a tired exercise in the obvious. It should state what new knowledge the project will produce. Summarize precisely and succinctlythe current state of knowledge, and provide a current, comprehensive bibliography. You do not need to provide a review of the literature, but offer a clearly focused view of the specific body of knowledge to which you will add. Thebibliography provides a measure of your seriousness, and its comprehensiveness will reflect upon your proposals evaluation. A good bibliography indicatesthorough preparation to ensure that your project will enhance the work of others, not duplicate it.Avoid excessive discussion, especially in the Abstract and Introduction, of the general theoretical problem. Concentrate more on discussing specifically howyou will carry out the research and analysis (see methodology discussion below).In the early stages of proposal writing, the Hartwick library professionals can help you identify and access the many print and electronic resources relevant to your project. Begin with the Library of Congress Subject Headings to identify the keywords that will be essential to efficient, effective bibliographicresearch. Consult such resource guides as Dissertation Abstracts International, the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Social Sciences Index, and the Social Science Periodical Index, and other online periodical search engines. The Annual Review of Anthropology is an important venue for state-of-the-art discussions and extensive bibliographies, as are such area-studies guides as theHandbook of Latin American Studies (available on line) and the International African Bibliography. Also consider online databases such as CARL and ERIC. Inthe early stages, I will ask that you identify the research resources you haveutilized. You will avoid frustration and save valuable research time by consulting such resources at the outset.What Is the Core Objective?The statement that it has not been studied may be a sufficient argument. Indeed, generally, the less known about ones chosen topic, the more compellingthe proposal. Whatever you choose, aim to convince the reader that your topicis not only timely, but also that its results will elucidate enduring human problems.Explicit theoretical interest is always important. Your theoretical frame should situate the question in terms of its relevance to controversial theoreticalarguments. How does your problem inform the main theoretical debates in anthropology? How does your approach test accepted ideas or offer new ones? To be effective, your proposal should demonstrate awareness of competing viewpoints and argue your position by addressing anthropological theory broadly, while noting alternative tendencies.Conceptual Issues: Develop an Innovative ApproachEnigmas and seeming contradictions can be powerfully persuasive. Beginning inthe 1950s, the Civil Rights Movement promised to remake racial relations in the Jim Crow south, but several decades later, identity politics is more controversial issue than ever in popular cultural discourse throughout the nation.After World War II, social scientists worried that widespread migration to urban centers would undermine rural life. Indeed, the effects can be seen in many parts of the country, but today, aided by modern computer and communicationstechnology, a new urban-to-rural migration trend is simultaneously underway.Cautionary note: Unless you have something original to add, you may want to avoid topics of central interest to anthropology. Usually these are subjects about which many are writing, in response to the definitive contribution of a true innovator. By the time you write your proposal, do the research, and sit down to write, you might wish you were working on something else. So if your interests lead you to a relatively unexplored problem, one not of current and central interest to anthropology, consider pursuing it.Outline Your MethodologyRegarding methodological efficacy, the proposal must specify your research strategy and how you will interpret the results vis-vis your central problem.Do not just state your goal; tell how you will go about it. A methodology goesbeyond simply listing research tasks to asserting why these tasks constitutethe best approach to the problem. A simple listing of tasks does not necessarily mean that they comprise the best or most expedient approach.Some common expressions do not specify tangible research strategies. For example, I will look at the relation between x and y is uninformative. Looking at a relation between variables can only be done indirectly, by digging through archives, interviewing, observing and taking standardized notes, collectingdata, analyzing patterns and the like. How will you highlight the relationshipof underlying forces intrinsic to the mass of data? You should outline the process of gathering data and interpreting it as specifically as you can. What activities will you pursue to collect data, what techniques will you use to analyze it, and how will you test the validity of your conclusions? Do not leavethe reader wondering what you actually will do. Specify the sources, the respondents, and the proposed techniques of data collection and analysis.Proposals that engage a powerful current issue (identity, gender, ethnicity, race, nationalism, hegemony, cultural resistance, relations of states and indigenous people) often follow a predictably weak line of reasoning. They begin bydiscussing various theoretical formulations of the issue. Then they offer a vague laundry list of research methods, hinting that the project will apply theappropriate methodology in the field. The proposal ends by asserting a rather slack and generalized connection between B and A. Try to avoid this dead end.In contrast, a comparative research design has particular appeal. In some waysall research is comparative because it must employ some implicit or explicitpoint of reference. Make the comparison explicit to enhance its value as an avenue of scientific inquiry. In comparative proposals, the evaluator asks whether the similarities and differences between the chosen cases elucidate the central question, and whether the author is capable of executing both sides of the comparison.Summary: Restate and Specify Your ObjectivesAn effective proposal usually ends by re-invoking the original thesis. How will research and its results finally illuminate the central question? How will you demonstrate the validity of your original idea? You must convince the reader that there is something clearly at stake in the study, that does not have apreconceived conclusion, and that your exploration of the unknown will yield engaging, systematic propositions.Proposals should normally describe the projects final product in terms of audience. If you have specific plans, spell them out, because specifying the kind of audience you intend to address will specify for the reader features of the proposal that may otherwise seem peculiar or serendipitous.Keep the preceding guidelines in mind throughout the preparation of your proposal, and be certain to specifically address the questions outlined in all of the preceding sections. To write a good proposal takes time. Start early. Beginexploring topic possibilities immediately. From the outset, collect references and enter them into a working bibliography as you work on other tasks. Writea first draft by the due date (see below), revise it, and show it to other anthropology faculty and your fellow students. Put it aside, collect others comments and revise it again. You also will have a chance to share it in a classpresentation at semesters end. The high level of classroom debate also should help to refine the proposal as you look ahead to the thesis itself. If possible, plan on writing the first draft of the thesis itself during January Term.Proposal Outline FormatAbstract:In one or two crisply written paragraphs, provide an engaging resumeof the proposal.Introduction:Set the context for your proposed project and capture the readers interest.Theoretical Issues & Literature Review:A statement of the general theoreticalproblem, with supporting bibliographic references indicating a grasp of the subject, and the conceptual ability to carry out the proposal.Key Question(s):These should be capable of being answered, with answers thatare not obvious.Methodology:A specific, detailed indication of how you will go about assessing the key questions, and why the proposed methodology constitutes the best wayto pursue the study objectives.size=-2size=-2size=-2Conclusions & Implications of Research:What new knowledge will the proposed project produce that we do not already know? Why is it worth knowing? How willyou evaluate and ensure the validity of the conclusions?Proposal Summary:A restatement and specification of your objectives.Bibliography:Follow the format of American Anthropologist or American Ethnologist.样本一Background:When designing and choosing a CBE, sales organization and customers use a SWEPdeveloped program (SSP) to choose the most efficient exchanger for their application. The thermodynamic and transport properties in this program for e.g. arefrigerant are calculated by mean of polynomial equation obtained by regression analysis as a function of the temperature. In the vapour region the equations are also corrected for some properties that depend strongly on the pressure. Even though this method works satisfactory below the critical pressure, ithas shown divergence when calculating over the critical point.Description of thesis work The thermodynamic and transport properties of a two-phase fluid that are calculated are: Viscosity Heat capacity Thermal conductivity Density Latent heat or enthalpyAlso the saturation curve is obtained by regression where the bubble- and dew-point temperatures are calculated as a function of the pressure (The pressureis calculated backwards in an iterative manner).The difficulties of calculating correct properties in the super- critical region is a general problem for most fluids in SSP but of immediate interest onlyfor some few fluids of Carbon dioxide (COis one of those.This thesis project can be divided into three parts:1. Understanding the existing algorithms and make a comparison of calculated properties from SSP with table values for some working media including CO. This should primary be preformed for saturated and superheated vapour belowand above the critical pressure.2. Literature study of other equation of state (EOS) and investigate how theycan be used in calculation algorithms. (Some known EOS are Modified Benedict-Webb- Rubin (MBWR) and the Peng- Robinson- Stryjek- Vera (PRSV), see e.g. NISTREFROP).3. Suggest new equations or algorithms for density, viscosity, thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity (CP), Which represent the data with accuracyand consistency through- out the entire range of temperature, pressure and density in the saturated and superheated vapor- region.Goal:The goal of this project is to verify the existing polynomial equations against known data for the thermodynamic and transport properties of refrigerants inthe critical region. Then, improve equations should be propose and verified for several refrigerants.Suitable student background:Good knowledge of thermodynamics and refrigerants engineering. Basic knowledgeof numerical methods.样本二Title:Application of combustion catalysts in gas turbines: An experimental investigation.Background:The division of Heat and Power Technology is one of the leading research institutes to work on catalytic combustion research leading to gas turbine applications. There are two catalytic combustion research projects currently in progress. Projects are in cooperation with the Division of Chemical Technology.Catalytic combustion has received a large attention in the past decades as analternative to conventional flame combustion for gas turbine applications. Itis possible to combust lean air/fuel mixtures and there by reduce peak temperature to about 1400 0C while maintaining complete combustion. The result is that almost no thermal-NOx are formed, as well as low level of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon can be achieved. Investigations of this combustion phenomenon, under realistic turbine operating conditions are an interesting and important effort towards eliminating harmful emissions from power generation. Pilot-scalescale test facility with flexibility on fuel and wide range of pressure has constructed at HPT lab to carryout investigations of catalytic combustion underdesired conditions.Division offers MSc thesis work within the project for a period of 6 8 months.Objective:Give an opportunity for a master student to work with catalytic combustion research, most probably tomorrows gas turbine combustion technology.Description:Work consists of a literature survey and experimental activity. Through a literature survey (open literature and current project reports of the project) student is expected to gather knowledge on the state of the art of the catalyticcombustion research. During the experimental activity, student will get the possibility to work with researches working on catalytic combustion in order togenerate experimental data on the emissions and catalytic behavior. Results should be published on master thesis.Pre requests:Educational background should be in the field of energy technology/mechanicalengineering or chemical engineering. Experience/knowledge on emission measuring instruments, data acquisition and monitoring systems would be an added advantage.样本三Title:Experimental investigation of the tar composition and concentration on emissions of small-scale gas turbines by combustion of biomass derived low calorificvalue gas.Background:The division of Heat and Power Technology conducts and cooperates with severalnational and international level research projects on gas turbine combustion.One of current research projects, coordinated within several European partners is to provide customized and cost competitive bioma