social anthropology research proposal

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Tips for Writing a Research Proposal for Anthropology Departmental Honors

Every research project needs to begin with an original research proposal. Any good proposal does at least two things: it articulates an interesting question or goal, and it lays out a plan for answering that question or achieving that goal.

A good proposal will tell a varied reviewer audience why your project is novel, describe its significance to your discipline, present a detailed methodology or course of action, detail the preparation and resources that you have lined up to date, and commit to a final product that will contribute to the academic community’s understanding of your topic.

The ideal format and language for such a proposal will vary with the audience at hand and the project in question. Different departments, programs and agencies have different requirements in terms of the size and scope of the proposal. Regardless of format, length, or organization, a good proposal will address the following topics.

Aim and Scope 

What is the goal of your project? What question do you want to answer? What hypothesis do you wish to test? What themes do you want to explore?

Background & Context

Provide the reader with enough information to understand the nature of the project.

Significance 

Why are your questions intellectually important? What does the academic community in your chosen field (as represented in peer-reviewed literature) already understand about your topic? How will your project contribute to this literature? How will your objectives and methods challenge the discipline? What form will your final product take, and how will it be evaluated?

Methodology

What, precisely, will you do to answer the question you are posing? How is the data, analysis, or interpretation provided by your methodology logically linked to your stated goal? When and how will you take each of the steps towards achieving these goals? What logistical hurdles will you encounter? A timeline can give reviewers a clear picture of how you project will unfurl. When will you start your project, and when will you finish it? What milestones will help you gauge your progress? How will you coordinate your core research activities with your preliminary work (such as directed reading) and your post-project analysis (such as writing)?

How will you draw on the expertise of your faculty mentor? Are there other contact people who will be instrumental in your project? Are you seeking, or have you received, any other sources of funding? Are there additional datasets or pieces of equipment that you will rely on?

Preparation & Qualifications

What specific steps have you taken to prepare for this project? Have you taken courses in the methods or statistics that directly relate to the project design you described above? If you will conduct research off campus, how do you plan to train (in the classroom or otherwise) for the cultural, ethical, and safety challenges associated with research travel? Have you initiated contact with people (at field sites or other institutions) who will be critical to your project’s success?

Include a table specifying a timeline for project design, data collection, data analysis, and write up.

You may find that you need to present a separate budget — a line-item description of the funding that you need to cover your expenses. How much money do you need, and what will it be used for? How do each of these expenses contribute to the logistical demands of your methodology? A well-conceived budget provides reviewers with insight into the state of your logistical planning.

A Good Research Proposal

A good research proposal is not written at the last minute! A compelling account of the project you wish to pursue will take shape only with repeated revision, drawing on feedback from your faculty mentor, other advisers, and your fellow researchers. By involving your mentor in your proposal from the start, you stand to benefit even more from his or her expertise in your field. Similarly, faculty members who have seen early drafts of your proposal can direct you to the most appropriate grant programs, offer you the best advice on project design, and refer your to other useful resources on campus.

A good research proposal is concise! Reviewers are often faced with hundreds of proposals at a time, and a clear writing style will help move your proposal to the "short stack." You should give your proposal a descriptive title and make your main objectives and motives explicit in an opening summary that is easily understood by non-specialists. Long proposals are rarely read thoroughly, and short proposals that are well written will contain as much information.

Anthropology Department

Writing a thesis proposal in anthropology.

Look at model thesis proposals (below)!

Every research project should begin with an original research proposal. Any good proposal does at least two things: it articulates an interesting question or goal, and it lays out a plan for answering that question or achieving that goal.

A good thesis proposal will tell varied readers why your project is novel, describe its significance to anthropology, present a detailed methodology or course of action, detail the preparation and resources that you have lined up to date, and commit to a final product that will contribute to broader understandings of your topic and research problem.

Thesis proposals also work for you, the researcher. They are an important way to begin the process of making your thesis project real, of committing to a particular anthropological problem and approach, and of demarcating a feasible topic and methodology. Thesis proposals can also jumpstart your planning for how you will manage your thesis research and writing. How will you proceed? What are the likely primary and secondary sources you will use? Within what theoretical discourses will you situate yourself? What useful methodological strategies might you identify?

To prepare for this, go back to your course notes and look at anthropological theory and other adjacent social theory writings that particularly intrigued or inspired you, then look at ethnographic books and articles and consider the authors' research methods and their primary sources or data. Are there theories, methodologies and forms of data you would like to draw on and/or emulate? 

Consider as well what you are most curious and passionate about. You will be living and  breathing this research project over your senior year! Still, your project should challenge you , it should take you outside of your current knowledge, past experience, and immediate environment. 

The Proposal

There are multiple ways to organize a thesis proposal. To cover the most important information, yours should include the following sections in this order (each section should be be set off with a subtitled heading).

1) Title: get the readers' attention

Your title should be descriptive and concise. It can be divided into two sections before and after a colon (:). You should aim to include all or most of the key words that pertain to your proposed research, but there's an art to good titling!

2) Problem: provide a succinct statement (one paragraph)

Research is not a summary of what is available on a given topic but an original analysis of a specific problem. A research problem is distinct from a topic in that it is more specific and orients research toward an analysis or solution; your research problem should generate research questions.

Research questions should be complex. If you already know the answer to the question, or if it can be answered through a few simple inquiries, it is not addressing an adequate research problem. Your research problem should be a conundrum, a lacuna, or a multi-faceted issue you want to illuminate and better understand. It should also require you to look at multiple sources. In introducing your research problem in your thesis proposal, you should provide a succinct statement which will help you to remain focused on the issue that you are addressing and how the information you will be discussing is related to that issue. This should not just be a list of questions !

3) Background: create a common ground of understanding and enter into the scholarly conversation

In order for the reader to understand the issue you are presenting, it is necessary to provide a context. In a thesis proposal, that section provides a brief overview of the larger issues and ideas of your topic, and how this specific research problem relates to these larger issues. Whatever you choose to highlight, the reader should be convinced that your research will contribute to understandings of broader social, historical or cultural issues.  

Provide a brief literature review. A research project should be original, rather than reproducing existing literature on the topic. Yet it is helpful to consider any current research as part of a scholarly conversation. This is an opportunity to begin that conversation by reviewing the anthropological (and adjacent) research to date, indicating what aspects of it your project will build upon and the ways that your proposed research differs from what has already been done. You should be able to identify themes that emerge from the existing research as well as its shortcomings. Or, you may find that what exists on the topic is truly excellent, but that it doesn’t account for the specific problem you have identified. I n this section, you should also clarify the anthropological (and adjacent) theories you will use to conceptualize your project and identify specific sources you will draw on for those theories.  

4) Methodology: Explain how you will do the thesis research

What, precisely, will you do to answer the question you are posing? With your main research problem and questions in mind, this section should answer the questions of where, who, how, and whe n. Will you conduct ethnographic fieldwork or will you be doing an archival project? What will be your primary sources of data? (e.g., a particular archive online or in a specific institution, social media communities or posts, participant observation, interviews, online media and advertisements, specific texts).

Here you need to convince the reader that your proposed methodology, your primary data, and modes of analysis or interpretation are logically linked to your stated questions or goals. You also need to convince the reader that this approach will be feasible (in the relatively short time period of the senior thesis) and credible (e.g., you have the specific language/course training, relevant work or travel experience and/or contacts to carry out the work). 

Optionally, you could provide a rough timeline or work plan for the thesis project here. This can help you begin the planning process and give readers a clear picture of how your project will unfurl. When and how will you take each of the steps towards achieving your goals? What logistical hurdles might you encounter? 

5) Significance and Style: Why does this matter? (one paragraph)

This should be a very brief summation of the importance of your thesis project. What contribution do you hope your project will make to anthropological debates and ideas? How might it challenge or expand on previous work?

Optionally, you could state here what kind of final product you plan to produce: a historical analysis? a new theory? a life history, a problem-oriented ethnography, a comparative study, a personal narrative, etc.? Will the project be multimodal? How? Is the style of the ethnography important for the work you hope to do?

6) Bibliography: Cite your sources!

This should include the sources you have to date or think you should consult, which link up with your stated research problem, methodology and literature review. In addition, all references cited in earlier sections of the proposal should be included here. You should use the Chicago Manual of style author-date system for citations and references.

Model Anthropology Thesis Proposals

These thesis proposals model the format and kind of project plans the Department is looking for in a strong thesis proposal. They demonstrate effort in preliminary research into potential primary and secondary sources, and first stab thoughts about both the topic and the research problem and questions that will organize the project. Note that the thesis did not necessarily turn out to be this project exactly, but they did get the authors off to a great start.

• Arianna Aguirre Thesis Proposal 2023
• Eva Gallardo Thesis Proposal 2023
• Sienna Otero Thesis Proposal 2023
• Anna Romo Thesis Proposal 2023

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WRITING A RESEARCH PROPOSAL in ANTHROPOLOGY

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School of Social Sciences

How to write a research proposal

You will need to submit a research proposal with your PhD application. This is crucial in the assessment of your application and it warrants plenty of time and energy.

Your proposal should outline your project and be around 1,500 words.

Your research proposal should include a working title for your project.

Overview of the research

In this section, you should provide a short overview of your research. You should also state how your research fits into the research priorities of your particular subject area.

Here you can refer to the research areas and priorities of a particular research grouping or supervisor.

You must also state precisely why you have chosen to apply to the discipline area and how your research links into our overall profile.

Positioning of the research

This should reference the most important texts related to the research, demonstrate your understanding of the research issues, and identify existing gaps (both theoretical and practical) that the research is intended to address.

Research design and methodology

This section should identify the information that is necessary to carry out the analysis and the possible research techniques that could deliver the information.

Ethical considerations

You should identify and address any potential ethical considerations in relation to your proposed research. Please discuss your research with your proposed supervisor to see how best to progress your ideas in line with University of Manchester ethics guidance, and ensure that your proposed supervisor is happy for you to proceed with your application.

Your research proposal will be used to assess the quality and originality of your ideas, whether you are able to think critically and whether you have a grasp of the relevant literature. It also gives us important information about the perspectives you intend to take on your research area, and how you fit into the department's research profile overall. This is helpful when assigning a supervisor.

If you are applying to study an Economics postgraduate research programme, our advice and requirements are slightly different:

• How to write an economics proposal

Supervisors

We encourage you to discuss your proposal informally with a potential supervisor before making a formal application to ensure it is of mutual interest.

Please note that we cannot guarantee that we will be able to allocate you to the supervisor you initially contact and that we may allocate you to another expert in the area.

• Find a supervisor

Flexibility

You will not be forced to follow the proposal exactly once you have started to study. It is normal for students to refine their original proposal, in light of detailed literature review, further consideration of research approaches and comments received from your supervisors (and other academic staff).

Pitfalls to avoid

We sometimes have to reject students who meet the academic requirements but have not produced a satisfactory research proposal, therefore:

• Make sure that your research idea, question or problem is very clearly stated and well-grounded in academic research.
• Make sure that your proposal is well focused and conforms exactly to the submission requirements described here.
• Poorly specified, jargon-filled or rambling proposals will not convince us that you have a clear idea of what you want to do.

The University uses electronic systems to detect plagiarism and other forms of academic malpractice and for assessment. All Humanities PhD programmes require the submission of a research proposal as part of the application process. The Doctoral Academy upholds the principle that where a candidate approaches the University with a project of study, this should be original. While it is understandable that research may arise out of previous studies, it is vital that your research proposal is not the subject of plagiarism.

Example proposals

• Philosophy - Example 1
• Philosophy - Example 2
• Politics - Example 1
• Politics - Example 2
• Social Anthropology - Example 1
• Social Anthropology - Example 2
• Social Statistics - Example 1
• Social Statistics - Example 2
• Sociology - Example 1
• Sociology - Example 2

Further help

The following books may help you to prepare your research proposal (as well as in doing your research degree).

• Bell, J. (1999):  Doing Your Research Project: A Guide for First-time Researchers in Education & Social Science , (Oxford University Press, Oxford).
• Baxter, L, Hughes, C. and Tight, M. (2001):  How to Research , (Open University Press, Milton Keynes).
• Cryer, P. (2000):  The Research Student's Guide to Success , (Open University, Milton Keynes).
• Delamont, S., Atkinson, P. and Parry, O. (1997):  Supervising the PhD , (Open University Press, Milton Keynes).
• Philips, E. and Pugh, D. (2005):  How to get a PhD: A Handbook for Students and their Supervisors , (Open University Press, Milton Keynes).

If you need help and advice about your application, contact the Postgraduate Admissions Team.

Admissions contacts

University guidelines

You may also find it useful to read the advice and guidance on the University website about writing a proposal for your research degree application.

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• Dissertation Prospectus - Social Anthropology

All candidates must, in consultation with their advisors, select a dissertation topic and describe their proposed doctoral research in a prospectus. The prospectus should:

• Give a concise statement of the problem to be addressed in the dissertation or of the hypotheses it proposes to test. 
• Provide a literature review that draws on their reading lists and field essays.
• Provide a clear research design.
• Address the project with appropriate research methods.

The prospectus will normally be written in the G3 year after the general examination and in tandem with the Research Design/Proposal Writing course.

The candidate will discuss and defend the prospectus before his or her dissertation committee. The prospectus defense should take place prior to the beginning of dissertation fieldwork. Completion of the Human Subjects compliance forms and approval of them by Harvard’s Institutional Review Board must be completed before dissertation field work can begin (see the IRB website ).

No more than 25-30 double-spaced pages, exclusive of the bibliography and any figures.

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Proposal Writing for Social Science Research (Spring 2023)

• Getting Started on Proposal Writing

About This Guide

Getting started, additional resources on the literature review, research/grant proposal writing, and dissertation writing.

• Social Science Databases
• Research Methods
• Writing Literature Reviews & Annotated Bibliographies

Related Research & How-to Guides

• Citing Your Sources

Create Bibliographies

...and Manage Citations

• Archaeology by BU Libraries Last Updated Apr 3, 2024 105 views this year
• Biological Anthropology by BU Libraries Last Updated Apr 3, 2024 58 views this year
• Social Anthropology by BU Libraries Last Updated Apr 3, 2024 50 views this year
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• Sociology by BU Libraries Last Updated Apr 8, 2024 74 views this year
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This guide was originally created for AN510 / AR510: Proposal Writing for Social Science Research. Advanced undergraduate and graduate students in other social science and humanities fields may also find this guide helpful as they prepare to write grant proposals, theses or dissertations.

Writing the Grant & Research / Dissertation Proposal

• Writing a Research Proposal in Cultural Anthropology
• Strategies in Minimizing the Labor Intensive Process of Dissertation Research Proposal Writing and Some Tips on What to Keep in Mind (Anthrodendum blog post)
• "The Dissertation Proposal," in Destination Dissertation
• How to Write Your Research Proposal (SOAS)
• On the Art of Writing Proposals (Social Science Research Council)
• Proposal & Grant Writing Guides, BU Wheelock College of Education & Human Development
• Writing Successful Grant Proposals from the Top Down and Bottom Up

Literature Reviews

• Six Steps to Writing a Literature Review
• Literature Review Tutorial [PPT], BU Alumni Medical Library
• The Literature Review (University of Toronto)
• "The Literature Review," in Destination Dissertation
• Literature Review (UConn Libraries)

Dissertation Writing

This guide was originally authored by Chris Smith, April, 2023. 

• Next: Social Science Databases >>
• Last Updated: Apr 8, 2024 8:17 AM
• URL: https://library.bu.edu/proposalsocialsci

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Project proposal

As an attachment to the application, all applicants must submit a project proposal (max 1 page).

Supervisors will be assigned based on the project proposal.

The proposal should provide detailed information on:

• research question
• and field for fieldwork
• how your background and education relates to your proposed project (such as language skills, contacts, experience or other coursework outside the requirements etc)

The title should reflect the proposed project's topic and field selection . The Project proposal supports the application, but is not part of the ranking of applicants.

See also guidelines for the motivation letter

Before deciding on a project we recommend the applicant become familiar with the research carried out at our department.

For further information see research expertise and overview of employees at the Department of Social Anthropology .

Preference will be given to master's projects that to some extent aligns with the research expertise at the Department or to the research interest of the faculty, thereby continuing our anthropological tradition and academic priorities. At the same time, we encourage students to raise new research questions that address contemporary issues.

More relevant supervision

An overlap of students interests and the competence at our department will improve the outcome of student projects as it enables us to provide more relevant supervision. The Department reserves the right to discuss individual project proposals with the applicant if the project may be too difficult to complete within the timeframe provided. We will then assist you to find a different project or to narrow your project's focus.

See also, inspiration for master projects

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The fieldwork proposal distills your research training to date and is at the core of your own plans. It sets out the problem you intend to investigate and how you propose to go about it. Your description of the research problem should include a discussion of relevant literature in the field, and explain why your own research will be a contribution to the discipline. You should then explain why it makes sense to address your research questions through fieldwork in the specific place(s) in which you plan to work.

After submitting your fieldwork proposal and accompanying risk assessment form, you will attend a fieldwork clearance interview with the PhD Committee.

On this page:

Fieldwork proposal

Research ethics and integrity approval


Risk assessment


Timetable 


Budget and checklist


Bibliography 


Submission arrangements

Registration

Fieldwork proposal .

The fieldwork proposal enables the Department to assess your progress in the acquisition of generic research skills, and to satisfy itself that you are adequately prepared for the research you plan to undertake.

The proposal should be a single continuous and complete prose document of up to 7,000 words. This word count includes footnotes but does not include the bibliography. Do not attach separate documents to the proposal. It should contain the following components:

• A review of the literature, both theoretical and ethnographic, with discussion of selected themes/ issues in the ethnography, and of relevant aspects of the history, economy, and languages of the region/ field where the study will be conducted
• An outline of the questions to be addressed and the expected contribution of the study to anthropological understanding
• A methodological discussion, in which theoretical questions and general issues are translated into researchable empirical questions and the methods to be employed are justified and described
• A discussion of the practical, political, and ethical issues affecting conduct of the research
• A detailed timetable for the research
• A detailed estimated budget

Bibliography

The fieldwork proposal should also include:

• Evidence of any local permissions/ visas required for fieldwork
• Contact address/ telephone/ email for the period before you leave; and/or in the field, as known

Your fieldwork proposal should address, briefly or in detail as appropriate, all of the following five issues:

• History: Consider the sources and historiographical issues relating to the area, people and/or institutions you intend to work on. How much is known of the history? How much is contested, by whom, and in what ways?
• Language: Specify the languages with which you will have to work. Are different languages used by different people or for different purposes? How and why might an attention to language be relevant to your research? How will you negotiate the use of different languages in your research?
• Global relations: Set out how you would locate the people or problem you are working on in terms of global political economy, trans-national institutions, national and regional governments, etc. What other large-scale frameworks are relevant, eg cultural areas, traditions, movements, processes, or trends?
• Theory: Discuss the relations between the theory/theories you wish to work with and concrete research topics you will have to address in fieldwork or archival research.
• Methods, techniques and ethics: Discuss the principle methods and techniques you expect to use in your research, together with practical and ethical issues relating to these.

The proposal should not contain substantial ‘recycled’ portions of your RTPs. 

For those doing the MRes prior to the PhD, it is assumed that extended attention will be paid to issues germane to your proposal (in your dissertation), and that topics similar to those specified for the RTPs will have been considered.

A number of sample fieldwork proposals produced by previous PhD and MRes students are available for reference on your Moodle Course. It is important to read these with care for illustrations of effectively drafted research statements, budgets and other key elements of the proposal. Every proposal will be different, of course, but careful drafting in close consultation with your supervisor is essential for all students.

Research ethics and integrity approval

In terms of formal approval procedures, the PhD Committee, consisting of three or four UTOs in the Department, acts as Ethics Committee for doctoral students, and ethical clearance is an intrinsic part of the Fieldwork Clearance procedure all PhD students must clear before they begin fieldwork.

The University of Cambridge Research Integrity website provides extensive ethics and integrity guidelines to support staff and students. The Association of Social Anthropologists also provides extensive ASA ethics guidelines . Please consult these carefully in advance of applying for research clearance from the Department. Also see ESRC framework for research ethics and AAA ethical guidelines .  As the statement from the ASA Chair usefully points out, the guidelines are not intended to provide ready-made answers or to absolve researchers from ethical responsibilities, but should be a starting point for a concrete reflection on the specific ethical issues which may have to be borne in mind in the case of your specific research:  

“Codes of practice and guidelines are of necessity succinct documents, couched in abstract and general terms. They serve as a baseline for starting to think about ethical issues, but cannot of their nature encompass the complexities of concrete situations and the dilemmas of choice and positioning that anthropologists routinely face as they navigate through a variety of intersecting fields of power and responsibility and start to consider how their own work both reflects and affects power relations. If ethics is seen simply as a question of avoiding a lawsuit and our codes are simply a list of restrictions on conduct designed to protect us from interference, our ethical purpose will simply be a matter of self-serving professional interest.” (Statement from the Chair, ASA) 

Researchers should also be aware of data protection issues that arise as a result of conducting research. In particular, you should keep in mind that when using cloud-based storage, or programmes such as Evernote, data will be crossing international borders even if your research does not. This means you should be aware of any issues raised concerning not only the security of your own research data, but also the legal issues surrounding data protection of all personal data. Further information on data protection can be found at the following places: The University of Cambridge Staff and Student Information Research data Q&A from Jisc Legal SOAS information on personal data in research which covers some issues of particular interest to anthropologists in more depth.

If, having read these guidelines, you have any questions or would like any advice relating to research ethics, please consult the Department’s research ethics officer. 

Risk assessment

Students should research the area(s) they are going to and complete a risk assessment form, spelling out all anticipated risks to health and safety. Specify what steps have been agreed between you and your supervisor for minimising risk and dealing with contingencies. Seek advice, where appropriate, from bodies such as the Occupational Health Service and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The completed Fieldwork Risk Assessment and Ethical Statement Form should be submitted separately from the fieldwork proposal. When submitting electronic copies to Moodle, please upload the Risk Assessment form as a separate document. A High Risk Areas Additional Section form should completed by those traveling to high risk areas.  Blank forms can be found on your Moodle Course. 

Indicate, month by month, when you anticipate undertaking the main tasks described in your proposal. The timetable may be subject to revision, of course, during fieldwork, as agreed with your supervisor, but this is a first step to imagining the concrete situation. 

Your budget, as complete and detailed as possible, should be in clear tabular form. You will need a budget to apply for funding and the Department can only support applications that are accompanied by a credible budget. The Department also needs to be kept informed of the sources of fieldwork funding you obtain.

Circumstances (and exchange rates) change and some expenses are unpredictable. The more detailed and accurate your budget, the easier it will be to make a specific case for additional funds if you find you incur unexpected expenses in the field.

Ideally, your budget should include both a detailed classified list of anticipated expenditure and a month-by-month time-chart showing what you expect to spend when. For some items, you will have a fairly accurate idea of what the cost will be. Others will necessarily be estimates. Indicate clearly which is which and, where appropriate, what the information about costing is based on. If you can, it is a good idea to list items in the first instance in the currency in which you expect the money to be spent, and then to convert these figures to pounds sterling at the current exchange rate. This may be difficult but it lends credibility to your figures and helps strengthen your case if exchange rates move against you. 

Budget checklist

Note: not all funding bodies will support all kinds of expenses. If you apply for funds for any purpose that is explicitly excluded by the funding body this may prejudice your chances of obtaining any funding at all.

• International flight

• Travel to/ from airport

• Internal travel (plane, train, bus, car etc) – itemise/ justify in relation to time schedule

• Local transport (specify as appropriate per diem cost/ monthly rental/ cost of purchase/ resale)

• Luggage costs
• Vaccinations


Living costs


• Accommodation in major centres

• Accommodation in fieldwork site(s) (per calendar month)
• Subsistence (per diem)

• Consider also ‘start-up costs’, the cost of setting up a household, for each major field location (lodging for the first few days, agent’s fees, non-refundable deposits, extra supplies, etc)

Research costs


• Research assistance (justify)

• Language tuition in field

• Communications (post, email access, etc – justify)

• Books, maps, etc (justify)

• Photocopying (justify)
• Stationery

• Audio-visual equipment (itemise and justify)

• Other research equipment (itemise and justify)

• Consumables (film and processing, tape, batteries etc (itemise and justify)

• Specialist clothing (itemise and justify)

Other costs


• Itemise and justify 

Income (funding)

Set against expenses, you should give details of projected income: grants obtained and grants applied for to show how you propose to fund the fieldwork. See the Funding Fieldwork page for more information. 

Your fieldwork proposal must include references giving details of all works referred to. It is also good practice to include a working bibliography covering all the important published work in your field, with notes on content, interest and importance. Your supplementary annotated bibliography should distinguish between works you have/ have not yet read and should indicate briefly the ways in which the works listed relate to your research.

All first-year PhD students are admitted on a probationary basis. Successful completion of your fieldwork proposal and clearance to proceed to fieldwork from the PhD Committee are necessary for the Degree Committee to consider recommending to the Board that you be registered for the PhD degree. Alternatively, students are sometimes registered for the MLitt degree, the requirements for which are less exacting than those for the PhD. In either event the date of registration will be backdated to the date on which you started your pre-fieldwork training. You cannot initiate the registration procedure yourself.  

Course Resources

For additional teaching materials and assignment upload please see the MRes/PhD1 Moodle Course .

Please note teaching staff and students enrolled on the PhD First Year will automatically be enrolled on the MRes/PhD1 Moodle course and you will find a link to the course in the ‘My Home’ section of Moodle.

Department of Social Anthropology Free School Lane Cambridge CB2 3RF Tel: 01223 334 599

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Anthropology

Thesis Proposals

Students wishing to write a thesis (fieldwork- or library-based) must submit a proposal to the department, due on the Friday before spring break of their junior year.  Essay writers do not need to submit a research proposal.   

Your proposal should include all of the following elements. Be sure to include your name, and save the file as a word document titled "YourName.ThesisProposal." Proposals should be no more than 5 double-spaced pages, excluding the bibliography. The thesis proposal is due the Friday before Spring Break . All documents should be uploaded to the  Thesis (and Ethics) Proposal Moodle . 

How to write a thesis proposal

A proposal should set out what you want to do, how you hope to do it, and why it’s worth doing. It should also make clear that you have done the necessary preliminary research (literature review, understanding of the topic, and, where relevant, the history of your particular geographical area) to embark on a successful independent research project. Thus, consider how your project builds on and contributes to anthropological knowledge in your chosen area. Your proposal should also include an estimation of expenses, in time and money. This will allow you to compete for departmental funding, and also demonstrate that you have thought through the practicality and feasibility of your project plan.    

Anthropologists often deviate from what we initially plan to do. Fieldwork is an interactive process that depends on other people and is largely aimed at understanding what is important to others. So, a proposal is read only in part as a statement of what you will do; in part it is read as evidence of how well you can formulate a problem, think of ways to investigate it, and link it to other issues.

Your proposal should include all of the following elements: 

1. Introduction

In one paragraph, explain what do you want to do, how, and why. Why does this research matter?

2. Background

A. Research Location(s) : Identify the research site and describe the historical and contemporary factors relating to this site that are relevant to your research. What will your research add to our knowledge of this part of the world?

B. Literature Review: What have others (especially anthropologists!) written about your topic and/or area? Given what has already been written on the topic, why is your research important? What will it contribute to our knowledge, within the discipline of anthropology or within another field of scholarly interest? Are there debates in the literature to which your research will contribute? Does your research test out old assumptions and/or take ideas in a new direction? Discuss comparable studies and explain how your research is similar to or different from them. If there is limited work in your chosen area, consider whether there are similar processes going on in other parts of the world. How will your research scale up from a local site/problem to broader analytical or theoretical questions or problems? In short, explain how your research will expand on existing anthropological ideas and how it promises to advance our understanding of the world or a particular problematic. This is also the place to state the main research questions guiding your work.

A. What methods will you use? To get what sort of information? How will your methodology produce information that you can link into an argument or description? Will your methods provide cross-checks on one another, or multiple ways to understand your research site or topic? If your methods are a signal improvement on existing ones in the field, offering the promise of more precise, more reliable, more abundant or more complete results, say so, and say why.

B. Analysis: Be sure you indicate not only what you want to find out and how you will go about it, but also how you plan to make sense of what you discover. How are you going to organize the material you learn? What tools will you use to analyze the information gathered in participant observation, or interview (for example)? Also, make sure to explain how you will gather the contextual information (background, regional history, other necessary social or political context) needed to support the more specific argument you hope to make.

4. Timetable and budget

Include key dates and all estimated expenses, as well as a budget for what you want the department to support.

5. Significance and Style

What contribution do you hope your project will make to anthropological literature and ideas? What kind of ethnography do you plan to produce: a life history, a problem-oriented ethnography, a comparative survey, a personal narrative, etc.? Is the style of the ethnography important for the work you hope to do?

6. Preliminary Bibliography

Make sure to provide a thorough list of sources you have consulted for your project: this will demonstrate that you have undertaken the necessary preparation for a project of this scale and magnitude.

Other guides to writing research proposals that might be helpful to explore:

* Sydel Silverman, “Writing Grant Proposals for Anthropological Research” for Wenner-Gren available here

* Michael Watts, "The Holy Grail: In Pursuit of the Dissertation Proposal" at UC Berkeley available here

The Anthropology Department's Ethics and Thesis Proposal Review Committee, composed of all faculty members in residence in any given spring semester, will review the Ethics Questionnaire and Thesis Research Proposals. Details regarding the review process can be found  here .   

--> see the Guidelines for the Ethics Questionnaire

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Anthropology Research Topics And Writing Ideas For Students

Writing an anthropology research paper is in a lot of ways similar to writing an argumentative essay in other disciplines. Usually, the significant difference between these essays is how you support your idea. While you may use only literature to prove your point in an argumentative essay, you may need to employ textual proofs from artifacts, ethnographies, etc., in an anthropology essay.

Research in anthropology could be thrilling, particularly if you have many anthropology project ideas. Anthropology studies the evolution of human culture and therefore provides a wide range of anthropology essay topics that spill into history, biology, sociology, etc. Many anthropological research projects borrow from other social sciences. It is easy to feel that overwhelming grip on your chest if you’re unable to choose an anthropology research topic.

How to Write an Anthropology Research Paper

Guide how to write an anthropology research paper, the excellent list of 110 anthropology research paper topics, physical anthropology research paper topics, medical anthropology research paper topics, cultural anthropology research paper ideas, best cultural anthropology essay topics, biological anthropology research paper topics.

• Forensic Anthropology Research Paper Topics

Are you worried because you don’t know how to write an anthropology paper? Writing an anthropology paper could be so much fun if you can nail the basics. It is not as bad as people paint it to be, especially if you get writing help from our professional writers . With the right anthropology paper format, anthropology research topics, and anthropology research paper examples, you’re set to go!

If you’re a big fan of doing lots of things in a short time and with fewer efforts, then you’re in the right place. This guide is full of the tips and skills you need to arrange your ideas properly. It also contains anthropology paper examples, anthropology paper topics, and other life-saving tips you may need. Ready to know how to start an anthropology research paper? Let’s delve right in!

How do you get started on an anthropology research paper? Below is the most comprehensive list on the internet to get you home and dry in record time!

• Review the Assignment Guidelines
• Develop a Topic
• Outline your Paper
• Do some Library Research
• Write a Rough Draft
• Write the Paper
• Edit the Paper

We shall shortly expound on this list to help you better understand them.

• Review the Assignment Guidelines: your professor may give you some guidelines to follow. To avoid deviating from the instructor’s expectations, spend some time reviewing your assignment guidelines so that you know the exact things you need to accomplish. For example, confirm if there are any stated anthropology research methods and the likes. It is beneficial to have a writing schedule. If you have a lot of time in your hands before the submission time, spreading out the workload will help to ease some of the stress. If you’re naturally a binge writer, sit at your computer early and bleed!
• Develop a Topic:  search for some anthropology research paper ideas and choose from the vast array of anthropology research topics available. Select a topic that revolves around a guiding question. This topic should connect on a deeper level to the theme of the course. The length requirement for the paper will help you know if your topic is too big, too small, or just good enough. For a short paper, you may want to focus on a particular culture or event in the context of a broader topic. Ensure that your thesis focuses on anthropology and that it draws from anthropological theories or ideas. Now, do a quick search to confirm if there are scholarly materials available for this topic. It is easier to write a paper with some available references.
• Introduction/Abstract
• Library Research: now, start the research on your topic, preferably from course materials. A bibliography at the end of a relevant course reading is also a great way to get other related materials. Depending on the requirement of the assignment, feel free to search for other books or articles.
• Write a Rough Draft: during your research, endeavor to make proper jottings and references, which will form the rough draft of your essay. A rough draft will help you create dots that you will be able to connect later on.
• Title: Usually on a separate page and contains the abstract.
• Introduction/Abstract : A short paragraph showing the road map of your thesis.
• Body: Leverages your thesis and presenting your research in a detailed and logical structure.
• Conclusion: The conclusion is a short paragraph that summarizes your fundamental theme and substantiates your thesis.
• References: A citation of the resources you used in your paper. Follow the referencing style which your instructor chooses.
• Edit the Paper:  you may engage any of your friends to help you go through your essay. Make some final checks such as the length requirement, the format and citation style, spelling and grammatical errors, logical flow of ideas and clarity, substantial support of the claim, etc. Once you edit your paper, turn it in and accept an A+!

Without further ado, here are 110 anthropology research paper topics for free! With 18 topics each from the six main subcategories of anthropology, you can’t get it wrong!

• Eugenics — its merits and demerits in the 21st-century world.
• Human Origin: Comparing the creationist versus evolutionist views on the origin of man.
• Ancient Egypt: The preservation of their dead and underlying beliefs.
• Homo habilis: Investigating Contemporary facts supporting their past existence.
• Drowning: Clarifying the cause of drowning by examining the physical and anatomical evidence.
• Smoking and its effects on the physical appearance of humans over decades of indulgence.
• Physical labor: Exploring its long-term impact on the physical appearance of humans.
• The relationship of Kyphosis with human senescence.
• Aging in Western Culture.
• Skin color: Exploring the influence of the environment on human skin color across continents.
• Species and language: Focus on ways species evolve across the world and ways language acquisition affects and influences culture.
• Abiogenesis: Research about abiogenesis and how it affects human development
• Animal stability: How captive animals are different from those that live in the wild.
• Henry Walter: The ways Henry Walter contributed to the field of physical anthropology.
• Cephalization: The process of cephalization and what it entails.
• Genotype: The environment correlation study.
• Genetics: What does genetic hijacking mean?
• Altruism: Do people learn altruism or it is an acquired state.
• Applying the Concepts of Ethnozoology in medicine.
• Critically Assessing the fundamental posits of critical medical anthropology (CMA).
• The 2014 Ebola virus outbreak in Africa: Evaluating the success of control interventions.
• Exploring the applications of Ethnobotany in medicine.
• Nuclear disaster: A research into the life of survivors of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986.
• HIV/AIDS: The reasons for prevalent societal infamy and the way forward.
• HIV/AIDS epidemic in Europe: Exploring the roles of commercial sex workers in the spread of the disease.
• Alternative medicine in China: A comparative review of its weaknesses and possible strengths in the light of Orthodox medicine.
• HIV/AIDS in Africa: A critical assessment of extensively troubled nations and populations.
• Depression in South-East Asia: Sheer social noise or severe threat?
• Adult’s onset diabetes: Research on how diabetes is a major health issue in aboriginal populations in The U.S and Canada.
• ARV rollout: The role of the ARV rollout and campaigns in Africa.
• Sexual diversity in Africa: Research on whether sexual diversity in Africa is being taken into account to help fight against AIDS.
• Chemicals and radiation waste: How the radiation waste and chemicals in the air are affecting people.
• Mercury poisoning: The effects of Mercury poisoning in Minamata, Japan, and the measures to help put the situation under control.
• Health: The health ramifications of adapting to ecology and maladaptation.
• Health: Domestic healthcare and health culture practices
• Clinic: Clinical interactions in social organizations.
• Growth: Difference between growth and development.
• Engineering: Genetic engineering and what it entails.
• Marriage: Marriage rituals in different cultures.
• Magic: Belief in magic and the supernatural.
• Mythologies: The effects it has on modern culture.
• Anthropology: How to use anthropology as forensic science.
• Heroes: Studies of heroes in different societies.
• Education: How education differs around the world.

Cultural anthropology discusses human societies and their cultural origin, vacation, history, and development. Here is a look at cultural Anthropology topics:

• Women in Africa: The various challenging roles that women in Modern Africa play and how they handle it.
• Homelessness: How homelessness affects and influences the culture and social landscapes.
• India: Methods and measures that India is taking to deal with the issue of homelessness and measures they have put in place to deal with social landscapers.
• Political science: Highlight and discuss the link between cultural anthropology and political science.
• Superstition: Research ways that superstition affects the way of life.
• Sexual discrimination: The evolution of sexual discrimination and its effects in modern times.
• African cultures: Investigating how different religions and beliefs impact African culture.
• Northern Nigeria: How the basic religious beliefs that influence forced nuptials among the children in North Nigeria.
• Gay marriage: The background on gay marriage and how it influences the cultural and social backgrounds.
• Racism: Explain racism and its existence in modern times.
• Religious practices: Ways how religious practices and beliefs affect culture.
• Culture shock: What it is and ways that people can work through it.
• Ethnocentrism: Ways that you can use to minimize it.
• Ancestors: A view of ancestors in African culture.
• Religion: Religious practices in a particular society.
• Culture: About the Rabari culture in India
• Definition of culture
• How culture anthropology links to political science
• Alcoholism: Looking into the socio-economic and cultural history in Eastern Europe.
• Assessing the effects of radioactivity on populations affected by the nuclear disaster of 2011 in Fukushima Daiichi.
• Gay marriage: Exploring the biological aspects of same-sex weddings in North America.
• Minamata disease: A critical look into the origin, populations affected, and transgenerational impact of this disease on Japan.
• Asthma disease in Yokkaichi: A critical look into the cause, people affected, and transgenerational effect on Japan.
• Itai-Itai disease: A critical look into the cause, populations affected, and transgenerational effect on Japan.
• Nuclear bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki: An investigation of the transgenerational effects on the health of affected victims to this present time.
• Cocaine use in America: A critical look into the health impact on American cocaine users.
• Making Marijuana use legal in America: Possible woes and beneficial outcomes.
• Cystic fibrosis: Justifications for its preponderance in white populations in America.
• Biological Anthropology: Research on the meaning and definition of biological Anthropology and how it influences different fields.
• Paleoanthropology: Explore ways Paleoanthropology uses fossil records to draw biological anthropology compassion and conclusions regarding human evolution.
• Human social structures: Explain the development of human social structures using biological anthropology.
• Biological anthropologies: Research on some primary geographical locations where biological anthropologies used to research their work.
• Human language: Research how biological anthropology helped in the development of human language and communication.
• Body projects: The changes and the valued attributes.
• Political ecology: The Vector-borne and infectious disease.
• Clinical Interactions: What are clinical interaction and social organization?

Forensic Anthropology Research Paper Ideas

• Radioactive Carbon dating: A critical assessment of the accuracy of this dating technique.
• Human Origin: Pieces of evidential support for Creationist and Evolutionist views on the origin of man.
• Assessing the accuracy of DNA evidence testing and matching on criminology.
• Neanderthals: Exploring environmental influences and migratory paths on their survival and appearance.
• Dating Techniques: A critical review of current archaeological dating techniques.
• Ancient Egypt Mummification: A critical look at the effectiveness of the methods used.
• Nuclear disaster: A research into the impact of radioactivity on life forms due to the atomic catastrophe Chernobyl in 1986.
• A critical look into recent evidence supporting the existence of Homo habilis in the past.
• Crime Scene Forensics: Recent advances in the detection of crime.
• Postmortem Changes: Investigating the primary agents responsible for biological changes in humans.
• Criminal procedure: Research a case with a confession scenario and highlight unique features of the case.
• Criminal procedure: Do your research on the criminal proceedings in a given area and what makes them effective.
• Computer forensic: Ways that the computer forensic help in preserving electronic evidence.
• Digital forensic: Research about the history and features of digital forensic.
• History: Ways that Israel presents itself as a leader in computer forensics.
• Oncology: The latest archaeological dating methods.
• DNA: How accurate is DNA evidence in the matching and testing criminology?
• Crime detention: The recent improvements of crime detection.

So here we are! Fifty juicy topics that are all eager to wear some flesh! Ready to have an A+? Let’s do it!

Are you stuck with writing your thesis? Just enter promo “ mythesis ” – that’s all you need to get a 20% discount for any anthropology writing assignment you might have!

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Sample Proposals

The migrant trail – volunteer voices on the us-mexico border.

The Migrant Trail-Volunteer Voices on the U.S.-Mexico Border

Research at Gotland Field School

Forensics Field School

Forensics Field School-Summer 2019

The Community of Silence

Ethnographic Field School in Isla Mujers

Ethnographic Field School in Isla Mujeres

Young Adult Perspectives on Mental Illness in Dublin, Ireland

Vitiligo-Race and Gender in the US

Shinto Religion in New York

• View Shinto Religion application as a PDF
• View Shinto Religion application as a Word Doc

Policy Research on Minority Issues & Disability

View Minority Issues and Disability application

Meet the 2024 Cleantech Challenge Teams

by Richie Vera February 6th 2024 Share

Get ready for the annual PSU Cleantech Challenge! This year's Cleantech Competition unveils phenomenal student innovators and pioneers who are pushing the boundaries of sustainability and environmental conservation. Be the first to witness their bright ideas live on stage, March 29th!

Plastic is not fantastic:

Eric Sliter and Evan Eichlberger, two Bioengineering graduates from Portland State, and the founders of Plastic is not Fantastic. With a primary mission to mitigate plastic waste and enhance efficiency in waste degradation and valorization, their comprehensive approach encompasses education, advocacy, value chain optimization, as well as the development of efficient degradation and valorization processes with a focus on scalability.

EarthGuard Filters:

Michael Van Sant, an MBA candidate at Portland State University, came up with a solution to help prevent the most commonly littered item in the USA, cigarette butts. The new solution involves removing plastic from the filters and creating a biodegradable alternative which would help prevent environmental pollution and contribute to a more sustainable future for our planet.

Adaptable clothing for special needs:

Meet Asha Keck, MBA student with a background in environmental science and stability. Asha is ready to change the fashion world by providing sustainably crafted clothing that is accessible to all and supports communities. She hopes to provide a comfortable clothing option for young individuals with disabilities.

Carbon Negative Greenhouse - Intermodal Container Kit:

Andrew Harp, an esteemed military veteran with 9 years of service in the USMC specializing in supply and logistics, weapons training, and small unit leadership, later pursued his passion in marketing and advertising at Portland State, where he earned his undergraduate degree.His inventive project centers around a greenhouse that cleverly utilizes an intermodal container powered by alternative energy sources. The ultimate goal is to establish a self-sufficient environment, ensuring durability while providing the necessary water and electricity to nurture the plants inside.

Vertical Self Sustainable Farming Facilities:

Mona Pearson nearing the completion of her undergraduate education, pursuing double Bachelor's degrees in Anthropology and Social Science. Her prototype idea hopes to create a Vertical Self-sustainable facility for dairy, meat, and vegetable farming using innovative technologies. She hopes to help communities struggling in producing fresh and affordable products.

Bantuponics:

Bantuponics led by two MSF majors Kevin A. Cyusa and Djibril Rushingabigwi both borned and raised in Rwanda. Their idea is to solve the problem of increasingly inconsistent weather patterns, and shrinking arable land, which is making it harder to put food on the table. Their main goal is to combine two technologies: greenhouse and hydraulics. Greenhouses provide a controlled environment that helps with pest management, growing conditions optimization and the practice of growing plants without soil using nutrient rich water, and it completes our solution in several ways.

The annual PSU Cleantech Challenge is a showcase of the innovative spirit fostered at PSU. Our Cleantech Challenge students are supported through their journey with prototyping funds, mentorship, and  coaching where after 10 weeks their prototypes are gonna be on display for the public to view and they will also be taking the stage pitching their idea to live judges on March 29th at the PSU NASCC building starting at noon. The top two Cleantech teams will also be invited to further their prototype during the Invent Oregon competitions.

Related Links:

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