The proposal is a one- to two-page summary of what the  student plans to do for the thesis. Far more than just an administrative  obstacle, the proposal is an important part of the thesis process and must  convince the first reader that the student has a clear idea of the question  that is going to be addressed and a reasonable sense of how to do so. It is not  expected that the student will have the answer to the question at  this text point. 

The proposal must contain the following elements:

Title: A working  title that adequately describes the purpose of the paper or project.

Guiding research  question: A statement of the question that the student will attempt to  answer or of the problem the student hopes to solve with his or her  research. 

Significance: A  description of the intended audience and how it will benefit from the project  or paper. 

Methodology:  Students must describe:

(1) The information and resources needed to develop their  argument and complete their project

(2) How they plan to collect the relevant data

(3) Their plan for analysis

(4) How the analysis relates  to start writing.