Some guidelines for Thesis Proposals

A thesis proposal is a very important step toward completing a thesis. If properly done it will provide the student and the supervisor with a ``contract'' specifying the research that is to be performed and the results that are expected from that research. It also serves to direct the student toward the goal of finishing a thesis. A good proposal will have the following components:

Introduction: In this section, you give the reader a clear idea of what research led up to this project. (This part will be a total of no more than 2 pages long, and probably will be only 1 page, including both purpose and problem statements.) It will contain the following components:

Purpose: Your introduction should include a statement of your general objectives in doing this project – what are you really trying to accomplish here? (Are you trying to apply a new technology? Are you trying to see if a new algorithm works? Or . . . what?)

Problem Statement: Your introduction should also include a statement of the specific problem or problems that the project addresses. (What is the underlying issue that led you to attempt this project? Is there a strong need for the application, or is there a gap in our knowledge of how to apply a given algorithm or methodology?). Obviously, this is closely tied to the statement of Purpose, and might be inseparable.

Background: In the background section, you will survey the published work (generally articles from refereed journals and textbooks/monographs) that apply to the current situation. This might include work in software engineering, database work, and published work, both general and specific, that relate to the problem and your solution to the problem. If you use web sites, be sure to use the University’s standards in citing them as references. In general, I prefer the method of referencing that uses a reference list that is ordered by author’s last name, and refers to each via the author’s last name, the year of publication (and, if there are multiple articles by the same researcher in the same year, a sequence letter), plus the page reference, if any, all enclosed in parentheses within the text. (This part will be at least 2 pages long

Solution Description: In this section, which can also be entitled “Method”, you will describe what you will do to address the problem and meet your objectives, while building on top of the work that you have cited in the background. (One page will do here, but it must be specific.)

Schedule: In the schedule, you will list the various parts of the project, including the writing of various portions of the final project report, and specify the dates that you intend to complete each.

Reference List: This lists, in alphabetical order of the researcher’s name, the sources that you have referenced throughout the proposal. This is a much smaller than a Bibliography, which is not required, but which you might wish to provide. A reference list is required.

Annotated Bibliography: The annotated bibliography is a list of all of the related research materials that you are aware of that relate to your general research area along with your comments as to why each is important. This list may be much larger and less specific than the reference list.

The purpose of a graduate project is to demonstrate that you have all of the qualities of Computer Science professional. This means that you must be able to integrate a great deal of information from many sources, plan a study, and prepare a formal research report summarizing your findings. The report must tie the specific of what you are doing in the project to the body of literature (articles, texts, etc.) that you studied as a student.

Format of the Proposal. I would like you to use the same formatting on the proposal as you will use on the Master’s project write-up itself. Please see http://www.csuchico.edu/gisp/gs/gguide/GradGuide.toc.html for additional information about Master’s projects.