Psychology theses typically differ from theses in other social science disciplines. This document is intended to supplement—not replace—the general MA Thesis and Proposal Guidelines document and provide additional guidance regarding discipline-specific norms.

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Note: Individual research advisors (including psychology faculty advisors and MAPSS preceptors) may have differences in expectations for proposals and theses, based on their own background and the subfields their students primarily work in. These differences are typically minor (e.g., slightly longer or shorter page lengths) or stylistic (e.g., subsection titles).

This document reflects Dr. Dowling’s baseline expectations. It includes slightly higher maximum/average page counts and directs to writing resources rather than embedding them in this document. It is otherwise identical to what is posted on the MAPSS-Psych Canvas page.

Always defer to the guidance of your preceptor and advisor.

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Proposal

One of the primary areas in which psychology differs from other disciplines is the thesis proposal. In psychology, research proposals typically take the same format as a research report except that the method section is written in future (versus past) tense. Because there are not yet results, there is no Results section, but Expected Results may be presented in your Discussion section. Your thesis proposal should be approximately 5-7 pages, double-spaced not including references and written in APA 7th Edition Professional Paper format. The proposal does not require an abstract.

Psychology M.A. proposals should include the following sections addressing these groups of questions:

1. Introduction
   1. What is the general research question/problem you are exploring?
   2. Literature review
      1. What is the current state of research on this topic? What are the strengths and weaknesses of recent studies?
   3. Current study
      1. What is(/are) your specific research question(/s)? How would you briefly contextualize your question(s) within the background you just presented? What gap in the literature will this research question help to fill? What are your hypothesized results for each of your specific research questions and what is your reasoning?
2. Method
   1. How will you execute this project? What general methodological approach will you use (e.g., experimental eye-tracking paradigm, secondary analysis of survey data, behavioral elicitation)?
   2. What specific plans for collecting and analyzing are already decided upon? Which aspects have already been completed? What remains?
3. Discussion
   1. May contain subsections as needed, e.g., “Expected Results”, “Implications.”
   2. Why should we care about this research problem? What is important? What will be its contribution to the field? What are the potential practical and/or theoretical implications of your hypotheses?
   3. Basically – so what? Leave your reader with an overview of the most essential points of your proposal. If this was the only section of the proposal they read thoroughly, would they approve your project as worthwhile and attainable?
4. References
   1. You should have several relevant references at this point, but you should also expect to add more as you expand upon your introduction and write the full thesis

Consider that you have about 7 pages to address all the questions above. It is essential to keep your writing clear and concise. Tell your reader precisely what they need to know and nothing more.

There is some room for variation in how you choose to organize these questions to best answer them clearly and concisely. For example, you may find it easier to articulate your research questions and hypotheses in the same section. Or you may find that you are answering the “so what?” questions within your literature review and having a separate Implications section is redundant. It is more important to present clear, concise answers to each of these questions than to organize your proposal precisely as suggested above. However, if you are not confident in how to best structure your proposal, this organization scheme is a good template.

How to Approach the Questions

Introduction

1. What is the general research question/problem you are exploring?
2. Literature review
   1. What is the current state of research on this topic? What are the strengths and weaknesses of recent studies?
3. Current study
   1. What is(/are) your specific research question(/s)? How would you briefly contextualize your question(s) within the background you just presented? What gap in the literature will this research question help to fill? What are your hypothesized results for each of your specific research questions and what is your reasoning?

A research problem in psychology should be strongly grounded in current research. Because answering these questions requires first sufficiently contextualizing your work, it is typical to present a thorough discussion of relevant literature before articulating your specific research questions. The introduction will be the longest section of your proposal (typically 2-3 pages).

In the first paragraph of your introduction, you should communicate the general theoretical premise of your project and summarize the most essential current work in the area (1-3 references). You may choose to frame this as a medium-scope “how” or “why” question.

Beginning in your second paragraph, you should aim to “tell a story” with important research on your topic. One important goal of this story is to illustrate a “gap” in the literature. The gap is some piece of knowledge on a topic that is necessary but missing; the answers to your research questions will build a bridge across this gap.

The final 1-2 paragraphs of your introduction should use the gap you have identified to present the narrow-scope research questions you will answer with your study and your hypothesis for each. In a psychology proposal, your research questions will often break your medium-scope how/why question into 1-3 yes/no or how much questions.