| Research Design Element | Research Design | Thesis | Paper |
| Title | Title - make it descriptive | Title - watch the length | Title - keep it short |
| Project Summary | Written for a layperson | Abstract - written to attract interest in your thesis, must approved by your major professor | Abstract, written to attract readers to your article, include key words |
| Acknowledgment | Partnerships are important. Try to get letters of commitment. Acknowledgments are usually not included. | Acknowledgments - credit those who helped you accomplish the research, might include informants who were particularly helpful | Acknowledgments - be sure to credit your funding source |
| Statement of Problem | an academic & a practical objective for doing the research | 1. Statement of Problem - your committee is the primary audience | Problem - direct to audience for paper, generally more focused, could be part of thesis |
| Theoretical Background | show you know the literature | 2. Literature Review - more comprehensive than proposal, ties research to literature | Theoretical Background - limited to topic of paper |
| Methodology | The methods that you think will work on the problem | 3. Methods - more comprehensive than proposal. What actually was done. | Methods - those methods appropriate to research being reported |
| Analysis | The techniques you think will be useful in analyzing the data. | 4. Results - comprehensive discussion of findings | Results - findings relevant to the paper |
| Discussion | If you have data, discuss results and how the new research will advance knowledge. | 5. Discussion - What was learned from the research? Link back to theory. | Discussion - What was learned about the problem stated at the outset? Review strengths and weaknesses. Link back to theory. |
| Justification/Conclusions | What you think the research will accomplish for academia, the affected population, the public at-large. How you foresee these results being achieved. | 6. Conclusions - What are the major conclusions? What would you have done differently? What are the next steps? | Conclusions - Implications for the intended audience. |
| References Cited | show you know the literature | References Cited - list of literature used. Most citations come from the theoretical background. Methods provide the next largest contribution. | References cited in paper |
| Budget & Time Plan | What it is likely to cost to do the project with justification of expenditures? Consider OSU allowable travel expenditures | Use the research design budget approach to figure your actual costs. | Save money for graphics and page charges. |
| Other | Be sure to follow the guidelines of the granting agency. Your research design is useful for discussions with your major professor and committee, completing Human Subjects approval, and describing your research | Appendices might include data,
survey instruments,
descriptions of artifacts.
Be sure to follow guidelines of the Graduate School |
Be sure to follow the guidelines of the journal. These are usually identified in the instructions to authors. |