Dissertation Proposal Instructions with Page Templates

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Dissertation Proposal Instructions With Page Templates

Proposal

The proposal is where you make the case for the research you will present in your dissertation. Audience for proposalsis your faculty members—your committee chair and committee members.These people will make a critical reading of your proposal. In many cases, many pages of your proposal—after edits are made for voice and tense—will be incorporated into your complete dissertation.

ProposalLength

Proposals contain as many pages as neededas judged by your chair and committee.Proposals often include these chapters and sections:

First Chapter: An introductory section conveying the context of the problem and your approach. For the time being you can name it “Introduction” but remember to change it to a real title when you commence writing the full dissertation.

Second Chapter: A Review of the Literature[or Literature Review or other committee approved heading]

Third Chapter: Discussion of Methodology [or Methodology]

References

Proposal Formatting: Follow ETD Style Manual and APA 6th Edition

Although you will not submit the proposal for format review to the dissertation coordinator in the graduate office, the writing, formatting, and citations must follow the same high standards as the final written dissertation.Format the proposal to follow UIW guidelines for dissertations. [ETD Style Manual available here.] Initial adherence to UIW standards allow a more seamless reworking of your proposal into your dissertation.

Elements of a Dissertation Proposalinclude the following sections:

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Title Page

Abstract

Table of Contents

List of Tables (if used in proposal)

List of Figures(if used in proposal)

Introductory Section: Statement of Problem

Literature Review

Methodology

References

Brief Formatting Rules

Margins

1” margins all four sides, all pages.

Page numbering

Number introductory pages with lowercase Roman numerals (ii, iii, iv, and so on).Title page is counted,but do not put a number on the title page. The first page in the proposal after the title pageshould be the first page to receive a Roman numeral.

At the end of the section of introductory pages, place a section break—next page and restart the page numbering from 1 using Arabic numbers.Number all pages through to the final page of references.

Location of Page Number

Upper right corner of page.

Headers

Make sure page headers and footers are set to 1/2 inch (.5”). Page number is the only text to appear in page header. No text is placed in the page footer.

Running Head

Do not use.

Typeface

Any easy-to-read office font, 12 pt. (e.g. Times New-Roman, Arial, Garamond)

Page Templates

The following pages are page templates. Except for minor changes in wording,these are the same as dissertation template pages.

Page Templates (following pages)—Templates for many of the introductory pages are included. These are built as Word files on a PC platform. Download and use as any template; do not alter the position of the text, especially on the introductory pages.

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TITLE BEGINS ON THIS LINE, 1.75” BELOW TOP OF PAGE,AND IF THE TITLE IS LONGER THAN ONE LINE ARRANGE THE LINES IN

AN INVERTED PYRAMID SHAPE

by

YOUR NAME

A PROPOSAL

Presented to the Faculty of the University of the Incarnate Word

in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of

DOCTOR OF [PHILOSOPHY] [BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION]

UNIVERSITY OF THE INCARNATE WORD

Month Year

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TITLE BEGINS ON THIS LINE, 1.75” BELOW TOP OF PAGE, AND IF THE TITLE IS LONGER THAN ONE LINE ARRANGE THE LINES IN

AN INVERTED PYRAMID SHAPE

Your Name

University of the Incarnate Word, year

Text area begins on margin flush left.Abstracts are typically one solid block of text, not subdivided by paragraphs. If subsequent paragraphs are used, they are tab indented.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS (heading begins 1.75” below top of page)

Chapter Page

LIST OF TABLES (if used)...... xx

LIST OF FIGURES (if used)...... xx

TITLE OF FIRST CHAPTER...... xx

Context of Topic (or Background of the Problem)...... xx

Statement of Problem...... xx

History of the problem...... xx

Problem in its current context...... xx

Personal Background...... xx

Purpose of the Study...... xx

Research Question...... xx

Summary of Appropriate Methodology...... xx

Theoretical Framework...... xx

Significance of the Study...... xx

Definition of Terms...... xx

Limitations and Delimitations...... xx

TITLE OF SECOND CHAPTER (e.g. LITERATURE REVIEW)...... xx

Major Areas of the Review...... xx

Theories...... xx

Related research...... xx

Methodological Approach...... xx

Table of Contents—Continued (1.25” below top of page)

TITLE OF THIRD CHAPTER [Repeat heading if chapter or appendix divided by page break]xx

Overall Approach and Rationale...... xx

Specific Methodology...... xx

Site or Population Selection...... xx

Setting...... xx

Participants...... xx

Research Instruments...... xx

Specific strategies to be used...... xx

Observation of participants...... xx

Interview protocols and procedures...... xx

Protection of Human Subjects: Ethical Considerations...... xx

Data Collection...... xx

Data Analysis...... xx

Role of Researcher...... xx

Trustworthiness...... xx

REFERENCES...... xx

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Name of First Chapter is Entered Here [APA level 1 heading]

Text of this first, introductory chapter begins with paragraph indent. In contrast to the preliminary pages presented on the previous pages, APA guidelines will direct how you format most of these chapter pages and the references. However, for dissertations, we require several exceptions to the APA guidelines. These are listed in the ETD manual, and presented again here:

• Block quotes. Single space all block quotes, which are quotes of 40 words or more than three lines.
• Table titles. Single space when more than one line.
• Figure captions. Single space when more than one line.
• Table notes. Single space when more than one line, but double space between notes.
• References. Single space within reference entries, but double space between entries.

HeadingUsage and Format Within the Chapter Pages[APA level 2 heading]

Use the headings style as presented in the APA publication manual. Note that while the APA format guidelines for headings are detailed specifically for writers of short form articles (papers intended for journal submission) that do not include chapter separation, we adapt those guidelines for the long form dissertation proposal and later for the dissertation itself. You will see, then, that we use the APA heading format shown in Figure 1 in this way:

• Level one, centered, is used only as achapter heading. Thus, in a typical proposal, there will be no more than three places where you will use the level one heading.
• Level two, aligned left, will be used as often as needed to indicate major sections.
• Levels three, four, and five will be used as needed to title subdivisions. These headings begin the indented paragraphs in the appropriate locations of use. Note how font treatments differentiate these heading levels.

Figure 1. APA levels of heading. From Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.) (pp. 62–63), by the American Psychological Association, 2010, Washington, DC: Author.

Heading Usage, Table of Contents, and Other Preliminary Lists

Table of contents.[APA level 3 heading]Reproduce heading levels one and two, and sometimes three, in your table of contents. Do not include headings level four and five in the TOC. Note that although you retain the exact wording of each heading when it is brought into the TOC, you must change the formatting. Remove the bolding and, for level one, change the case to all uppercase. (You’ll have the best luck if you follow exactly the examples shown in the TOC template.)

Note the formatting in the TOC of the headings for the major sections outside the chapter pages (list of tables, etc., references)—in the TOC they are formatted all uppercase, the same as chapter level one headings. But, do apply APA heading formatting to section headings outside of the chapter pages. These section headings are, centered, in title case, but receive no font treatment.

Other list pages.[APA level 3 heading]If you include illustrations in your proposal, these must be identified in prepared lists at the beginning of your document, after the table of contents. If you include only tables, create a list of tables page. If you have figures, you will need a separate list of figures pages. Other list pages can be created as needed (list of photos, list of definitions, etc.). Regardless, each category of illustration is presented on its own list page. All list pages must have an entry in the TOC.

Name of Second Chapter is Entered Here

Text.

Name of Third Chapter is Entered Here

Text.

References

All citations used in narrative chapters must be entered into a reference list. Each in-text citation must have a corresponding reference entry; each reference entry must have a corresponding in-text citation. Be exact with spacing and formatting of all elements; follow guidelines presented in APA 6th ed., chapters 6 and 7. UIW reference pages use a hanging indent, double line space between entries, and single line space within entries.

The basic reference entry has four elements:

Author. (Date). Title of Work. Publisher information.

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Frost, N., Nolas, S. M., Brooks-Gordon, B., Esen, C., Holt, A., Mehdizadeh, L., Shinebourne, P. (2010). Pluralismin qualitativeresearch:Theimpactof differentresearchersandqualitativeapproachesontheanalysisof qualitativedata.Qualitative Research 10(4), 441-460.

Patton, M. Q. (2001). Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Reference. (n.d.) In Merriam Webster’s online dictionary. Retrieved from