Thesis proposal writing instructions – 2019

The Thesis proposal is an individual assignment. It should be handed in via CANVAS and will be checked
for plagiarism. There will be separate instructions for presentation and opposition posted on CANVAS.

Some words on the way

A suitable point of departure for this instruction is a reflection upon the fundamental idea behind
a thesis proposal. In its essence a thesis proposal is a document that is centered on the process
of choosing and getting approval for a research topic from a supervisor for a later course. That
is, however, something that takes place outside the scope of this course, why the instructions
below are to be followed regardless of your possible contacts with any potential supervisor.
Engaging in research entails making a multitude of choices. The first thing is the choice of an
academically interesting problem for your research. Other choices will include the kind of
material you will need in order to conduct the study, the way to collect this material, the
perspective employed and the possible ways of conducting your analysis. As a consequence of
this you will need to clearly justify your choices to yourself and others. This justification of
choices is what writing research is about and this is to be practiced in the Thesis proposal.
You are to follow the instructions below very strictly. Including number of pages, style of
references and the instruction to argue for your choices with the help of published articles and
other texts by other researchers.
The thesis proposal is to be handed in via CANVAS at the time requested. You are to present
your own paper and act as opponent on the work of one fellow student (one TP). You are to be
present at one full TP-presentation/opposition seminar in December. The date and time of that
seminar will be decided later and you will be able to make a choice through a web form.
If you do not follow the instructions below you can be given the task to rewrite your Thesis
proposal and hand it in again to get a Pass on this part of the course. Please spend time reading
and working on your reasoning and rhetoric so that you produce high level academic text. The
instructions on form are to be seen as basics. The content – your story on the problem chosen,
the ideas of others and on your academic choices – is what require a real study effort.

Thesis proposal – required content

The required length of the thesis proposal handed in on CANVAS is exactly TEN pages,
including a title page and a list of references starting on a page of its own. The following section
is devoted to a brief description covering the content of the topics that should be included in
your thesis proposal. Please do not put any other headlines than the instructed into the thesis
proposal.

Title page
The title page should include a preliminary thesis title, the full name of the student writing the
proposal, degree, department and date of submission. Although the title is, for obvious reasons,
preliminary, you should devote some time to finding a suitable one. The title should illustrate
the fundamental idea of your thesis, be concise and easy to understand. It should also closely
refer to your more general field of interest – to which you are to make a contribution with your
proposed research.

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Summary/Abstract (page 2)
Around - and not exceeding - 2000 characters (with spaces) in length. Here you describe the
content of your TP in a few sentences. The research area, problem, aim and idea on what kind
of data and planned method should be found here.

Introduction (page 3 – full page)

Present the relevance of the research problem and for whom it is of importance. You end this
section with your more specific research problem found as a gap in earlier research (What
answers will your thesis look for?) and your research aim.
The introduction should be thought of as a funnel. You start with a general description of the
subject field/area. Starting out this way should include showing that there is something relevant
and interesting for you to make a contribution to in earlier research. After the first sentences on
the broader subject field/area you narrow down the scope to specify your own research interest
and the main problem that your thesis will be addressing as there is a described gap in research
concerning this topic. At the end of the introduction you state the aim of the thesis (to be) and
this (one or two sentences) should indicate how you will be contributing to existing knowledge
/ to research.

Literature review (pages 4-5 – full pages)

Deepen the reasoning on the subject area utilized in the introduction. A literature review
structured in accordance with any of the types of review mentioned in the course book (without
spelling the type out). This part will show how well you know the research area, the work of
other scholars, the research problem and how you have identified a research gap worth filling
with the expected new information from your study. It is like the introduction but involves more
reading of the work of others and does not end with your aim (as that is already stated in the
introduction). It is a description of the area of research and the existing body of knowledge. It
shows that you have done the necessary reading to know if your research idea is already tested
by others and how you can contribute to push the limits of knowledge even further. Please
observe that you should not just list authors and their work but produce a fluent text of your
own (a story), telling about the field of knowledge that is of importance for your future work.
Take some time to reflect on the best way of presenting this knowledge. The literature review
should strengthen your idea of a research gap and a need for a new study. The literature review
should consist of 20-25 articles.

Theoretical framework (page 6 – full page)

Present the most important theoretical concepts – or full theories - that you are planning to use
in the forthcoming thesis work. These concepts or theories are to be looked upon as the glasses
you are wearing to help you see the problem clearer. They are also glasses shared with others
within the academic community, so that using them makes it easier to communicate your work
to your peers. Use known theories and/or concepts and anchor them with academic references.
Describe the theory/concept and how you are going to use it to get a better understanding of
your research problem. To find a theoretical lens to use as a tool in your research you can get
inspired by other researchers within your field. A recommendation is to take a look at the
researchers referenced in the literature review and maybe “borrow” a tool for analysis.

Methods (page 7- full page)

Describe how you will find answers to your research question. What kind of data / field material
is needed and how will you collect and analyze it? Your choice of method needs to be anchored
in academic references (at least 3-5 methods references beside the course literature are needed).

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A discussion including a justification of the choice of method in relation to the aim of the study.
How will doing XXXX help you to get more knowledge on YYYY and do what was intended?
Expected findings and implications (page 8)
This should be a short mentioning on what sort of findings you expect to get from your study
and how they will affect what we already know (earlier research as described in the introduction
and literature review). You can of course not know anything about your forthcoming findings
but here you should inform the reader on your expectations. This shows how well you have
thought through your study. These ideas on your results should be calibrated with your choices
on methods for data collections.

Limitations (page 8)
A short discussion on the possible limitations of your study. Ex: In what way might it not give
full answer to your question? In what way is the knowledge that it will produce not of more
general interest? How can the methods chosen possibly impact negatively on your findings?
Etc. Try to reason shortly on possible shortcomings of the future study.

Ethical considerations (page 8)

A short discussion on possible ethical considerations that your planned study will entail.

Work schedule (page 8)

An outline of the expected amounts of time that need to be devoted to various phases of the
thesis work. Use days from January to June 2020 and try to plan your work briefly. Maximum
1/4 of the page used for this.

List of references (page 9-10)

In accordance with Harvard style and nothing else. If research articles in academic journals: do
not state the internet address. If material from webpages: state the internet address (there should
not be so many such references). Only references actively used in the Thesis proposal should
be mentioned. Focus on academic references and avoid company web pages.

FORMAT
The thesis proposal should be written in 12 p Times New Roman with 1,15 line spacing.
Please number the pages 2-10 (front page without number).

REMEMBER
The text you produce in your thesis proposal should be influenced by the course literature of
this course. That is, the reasoning should include the core concepts from the field of theory of
science and research methods. Any statement made should be backed up with references to the
scholars whose work you are using as a part of your arguments. They have created knowledge
that makes it possible for you to test your ideas and find evidence to further what we know
about things. Use their findings and arguments to make up your own. You should read research
articles to find out how the research rhetoric is constructed. You should not just tell about your
own ideas. They need to be grounded in earlier research!

GOOD LUCK!