TITLE ALL IN CAPS
A Proposal by
Your Name
In Partial Fulfillment of a/an Thesis/Honors Thesis in Geology
Date
Committee Chair, Roger Heiley#
__________________________________________________
Committee Member, Samantha Stephens ________________________________________________
Committee Member, Thurston Howell III ________________________________________________
Outside Committee Member, Barnard Rubble* ___________________________________________
once found to be acceptable, each committee member signs next to their name
* for honors thesis proposals only
#
This is a single-spaced, 1-2 page document (be sure to include citations and
references). The first paragraph should set the stage, laying out the background to
the project and why it’s important.
The next couple of paragraphs discuss what is already known about the issue
and involves a discussion of any sources of uncertainty, conflicting hypotheses, etc.
The next paragraph lays out the specifics of the problem/research question.
Be sure to … Include the phrase “Here I propose to…” followed by a brief
description of what it is you intend to do and how you intend to do it (e.g., “test the
relationship between river flooding events and slackwater deposits on the Cedar
River by examining spatial and temporal distributions of sediment and organic
material deposited in the flood of 1993”).
The next paragraph includes a description of research methodology (don’t
forget the timing of your work) including sample collection, lab or field procedures,
and data analysis (e.g., Field sites will be established during June of 2013 with thesis
committee chair, Dr. X, and I will conduct detailed reconnaissance and sampling
from July – August 2013. Samples to be collected include x, y, and z, and laboratory
analysis of these materials will be conducted at Cornell College in the Fall of 2013.
Laboratory techniques follow those discussed in Smith et al. (2010) and will involve
X-ray analysis of bipedal clay fractions.
The next paragraph includes bulleted, specific research questions preceded
by the statement (or equivalent to) “I will address the following questions:”
References
Smith, A.B., Jones, C.F., and Brown, K.L. (2010) X-ray analysis techniques for bipedal
clay fractions. Journal of X-Ray Investigation, v. 41, pp. 119-132.