PROJECT PROPOSAL FORMAT

This format has been established by the scientific community because of its clarity and organization. Each section must be clearly labeled using the headings in bold below. See Sample Proposal.

TITLE

Your Name

RESEARCH QUESTION

State your research question in one sentence with a question mark at the end.

BIOLOGICAL INTEREST

Why is your study biologically interesting?

HYPOTHESES/DEDUCTIONS

• State your null hypothesis (H0), your alternative hypotheses (H1, H2, etc.), and their deductions (D0, D1, etc.).
• The null hypothesis is the one that states there is no significant difference.

CONSIDERATIONS

Adequate Sample Size: Convince the reader that you will have a large enough sample size.
Consider conducting a pilot study (collect data for a short time) to make sure your methods work well and that you will have a large enough sample size (many a student has started a bird-feeder study just to have no birds come). Will date or time of day affect your sample size (example: flowers come and go and birds are more active in the early morning)?
Controlled Variables: Convince the reader that the most important variables will be controlled so that differences can be attributed to the variable you are testing. List variables you must control (keep the same between experimental groups)? Examples: same type of feeder, same time of day.

METHODS

Date(s) and Times: include the date(s) you will collect your data (give the year too); also include the times you will be collecting data (if relevant -- for example, time will be relevant for birds but usually not for plant abundance studies). Must show at least 8 hours of data collection.
Location(s): include study site location (and description if relevant).
Sample: include placement and size of transects/observation areas, etc.). Also include total sample area size.
Data Collection: specifically, what data will you collect, and how will you collect the data. Must show at least 8 hours of data collection.
Data Analysis: specifiy how all data are to be summarized (totals, averages, etc.) and analyzed (state which statistics you will use).

Refer to your table(s)/graph(s) [for example, See Table 1]
Tables and Graphs: Each table/graph/map should be named (i.e., Table 1, Table 2, ... Graph 1, Graph 2, ... etc.). Each table/graph/map should contain a caption that includes enough information to allow the table/graph/map to stand alone so that someone would understand the data without reading the rest of the report (e.g., include data units, dates, times, locations, sample size, etc.). Note: For graphs, put in fake data (for example, 1, 2, 3, etc) for now so that you and I can see what the data will look like. You will replace the fake data with the real data for the report.

Pechenik, J. A. 1993. A short guide to writing about biology, 2^nd ed. Harper Collins, New York.
McMillan, V. E. 1997. Writing papers in the biological sciences, 2^nd ed. Bedford Books, Boston.

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