Draft: Introduction (15 points)
Procedure
For this assignment, you
will prepare the first draft of your proposal introduction. This text will
be written using the outlines you prepared, feedback from your fellow students,
and your most recent thinking about your project. You will later revise your
introduction so that it meshes completely with your methods section (which
is now being developed), and to incorporate additional feedback from your
fellow students. Make sure that you refer to The
Research Proposal to ensure that your introduction has all of the
required elements.
How long should the introduction be? Like a good book, the introduction should be long enough to tell the whole story, but not so long that the main points are lost and you bore the reader. Research proposals that lack a large educational or outreach component are typically 15 pages or less. The format approval form that was filled out by your major professor should indicate whether they want a proposal that is substantially different from this norm. When I begin a proposal, I usually assume that the introduction and experimental plan will be about 7.5 pages each, and they are rarely much shorter or longer than this. Typically, two or three pages would not be enough for your introduction, whereas ten or eleven pages does not leave enough room to adequately describe the experimental plan.
Your introduction should now include all of your key citations in the proper format. Although the references section will not be due until you submit the final proposal, please include a list of references if you already have one (i.e., using whatever format is convenient). Later, a consistent, accepted format is required, so it's good to begin assembling them in the proper format now. See the references assignment for a description of how to cite the literature in your text and references section.
Submit 2 copies of your introduction on or before the due date. One copy will be distributed to another student to critique.
If you do not complete the assignment by the due date, a late penalty will be assigned using the penalties listed in the late assignment policy.