This webinar focuses on preparing for a proposal defense/presentation. Topics include, helpful tips and tricks for presenting, and how to set up the powerpoint slides.

1. DEFENDING
YOUR
PROPOSAL
Celia Whisman
Statistical Consultant

2. GENERAL TIPS
• Your proposal defense should last about 15-20 minutes
• The following 20-30 minutes will be used for questions
• Use your slides as a refence but do not read from them
• Your bullet points should be short and sweet
• You should be only discussing the main points of your study

3. Title of Paper
(Proposal Defense)
Name
School
Date of defense

4. OVERVIEW
• Brief bullet points on what will be discussed
• For example:
• Background
• Current study- Purpose of study/ research questions
• Methodology
• Proposed analysis
• Questions

5. BACKGROUND/ PREVIOUS LITERATURE
Tell a story!
• Define basic terms
• Summarize relevant research on the topic
• Explain how previous research has led you to your research question
• Discuss inconsistencies in research or any gaps in the literature
• Why is it important that you study this topic?

6. CURRENT STUDY
• State the purpose of your research

7. RESEARCH QUESTIONS/HYPOTHESES
• Research Question One:
• Ho: Null hypothesis
• Ha: alternate hypothesis
• Each research question should have a separate slide
• Maybe add a figure/ graph to help visualize the hypothesis

8. METHODOLOGY
• The proposed research will be a… (qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods
design)
• This method allows the researcher to…
• Discuss why this is the best option for your research

9. METHODOLOGY CONT…
• Operationalize your variables
• What are the independent and dependent variables in this study?
• How will they be measured?
• Describe any instruments/ surveys you plan to use
• Treat your methodology like a recipe so that anyone could replicate your design
after your presentation

10. METHODOLOGY CONT…
• Describe the procedure each participant will go through as a part of your study
• A figure or graph could be added here for visualization

11. PARTICIPANTS AND SAMPLE SIZE
• Where will your population be pooled from?
• Are you looking at a specific subsection of people (ex: older adults, children)?
• Will you be using a data collection site such as quartics or survey monkey?
• What will your sample size be?
• How was this determined? (ex. A power analysis)

12. PROPOSED ANALYSIS
• How do you plan to analyze the data?
• Why is this the appropriate way to analyze your data?

13. QUESTIONS?

14. REFERENCES
• Add key references/citations used throughout presentation

15. THANK YOU SLIDE
• Take the time to thank your mentor and other committee members for their
assistance and time

16. ADDITIONAL TIPS TO PREPARE
• Practice! Practice! Practice!
• Practice in the mirror to watch body language
• Present to friends/family or cohort members and practice answering their questions
• Re-read some of your foundational articles again
• Get a good night sleep beforehand!