ABSTRACT
Research proposals are an example of what Swales (1996) calls ‘occluded’ genres; that is, genres which are difficult for students to have to access to, but play an important part in the students’ lives. In his book Successful Dissertations and Theses, Madsen (1992: 51) writes that ‘the research proposal is often the key element to the successful thesis and, as such, the most important step in the whole process’. Meloy (1994: 31) presents a similar view, saying that ‘proposal writing does not appear to be something that comes naturally’ and that we learn not only by example but also by the reactions and suggestions of our supervisors and our thesis committee members. The process of writing a research proposal will, therefore, be examined in some detail in this chapter. Topics covered will include choosing and focusing a research topic, developing a research proposal, the structure and purpose of research proposals, details to include in a research proposal, differences between a master’s and a doctoral thesis, and different expectations across different areas of study.
