2. Dr. Michael Gazzaniga

3. Your Research Proposal Project A research proposal attempts to persuade the reader that: – The underlying question is highly important – The proposed methodology and experimental design is the best available approach – That you have the knowledge and talent to do the proposed research – That you have a research program worth funding L

4. Your Research Proposal Project A research proposal is therefore similar to many other situations in which you will try to persuade someone of something – The skill is portable L

5. Your Research Proposal Project As in other situations, your reader should be assumed to be unconvinced and thus unwilling to spend much time and energy entertaining your argument! You must make your argument easy and fast The key to that is organization L

6. Research Proposals Should be “Theory Driven” Most proposals are organized around a specific theory What is the difference between a theory and a question? L

7. The Parts of a Research Proposal Background Statement of the theory Prediction(s) that follow from the theory Experimental Method and Design Timeline Budget References L

8. The Parts of a Research Proposal Background Statement of the theory Prediction(s) that follow from the theory Experimental Method and Design Timeline Budget References L These aren’t necessary for your project

9. Assignment Rules: – Must be human Cognitive Neuroscience – Experimental approach may involve animal research only if this is the best way to test your theory Studying humans is preferable to studying animals when you have a specific theory about human cognition One moves to animal research because it tells you something that human research cannot If this applies to your theory, you will make this constraint explicit in your proposal L