The Office of Research and Development

Criteria for Evaluation of the Thesis Proposal

The thesis proposal must be approved by the faculty sponsor, the Research and Development Committee and the Scholastic Evaluation Committee. 

The faculty sponsor's approval is stated in the supporting letter that accompanies the proposal.  Formal approval by the department is not required.  The medical student submits the proposal to the Senior Associate Dean for Research Development who requests that the Office of Academic Affairs assure that the student meets the academic prerequisites. 

Review of the proposal will be the responsibility of the Research and Development Committee, who may approve the proposal, recommend revision and resubmission, or reject it.  The evaluation will include the following criteria: 

  • Is the proposal scientifically sound?
     
  • Will the study be the student's own work?
     
  • Is the study question or research hypothesis clearly stated and testable by the proposed methods?
     
  • Is the research plan realistic; is it likely to be successful; have problems been anticipated?
     
  • Is the schedule for completion reasonable?
     
  • Will the project be of educational value to the student?
     
  • Will there be adequate faculty guidance?
     
  • Will the student learn about research methods and theory as opposed to learning only technical skills, data collection or literature retrieval?

If you have further questions about preparation of a proposal, please contact the Office of Research and Development at 559-8242.