Help! How do I write a good AERA proposal?

Ring, ring! —  It is a hot Sunday afternoon.

It is the first day of my journey to visit family over a holiday break. Looking down at my phone I realize I have a missed call from…a professor…what? The education faculty never call me.

“Hello. Sorry I missed your call…” After a few seconds my mentor asks, “What are you doing on June __? Will you be in town?” I hesitantly answer with a negative, then affirmative. Turns out I am recruited, alongside a couple of other doctoral students, to do a presentation/workshop on how to submit successful AERA proposals.

As I crawl back into my car, it hits me – I have never had a conference proposal rejected. Why? Surely in my oh so very short journey as an alt-academic I must have had at least one, right?

Then I am struck with another, larger dilemma. I have no idea what I did right. I can’t even begin to describe to my mentees what I did “right” to get nearly two dozen peer-reviewed proposals accepted. If I have no clue, how can I explain it others.

Writing conference proposals had become so ingrained into my writing schedule that I hardly noticed when I take the time to compose them. I needed to shed this second skin, and think about my overall process (and the struggles I faced while writing AERA proposals the first time around).

Please remember that these notes are based on my experiences and preferences. Your faculty and friends are certain to have contradictory ideas.

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Here is the list I came up with; Justin Whiting and Verily Tan from IU’s Creativity Labs also helped, and were present for the “Writing an AERA Proposal” Workshop. Please note that most of the links direct to specific 2017 AERA content.

Writing a successful proposal

General info

• Don’t wait until the night before. This is not a 1-page proposal. Also log into the AERA submission system days before you start writing. This will help you structure sections on a word processor.
  • You can revise and upload a newer version of the proposal before the deadline.
  • If you are submitting a research project for presentation you will need IRB approval. If you don’t have it, be prepared to justify why!
• Make sure your proposal follows APA guidelines, is spell checked and grammar proofed. Duh, right? But when you are pulling an all-nighter to write an AERA proposal you will be surprised what slipped through the cracks. Get someone to proof-read for you.
• Work smart, not hard. If you have preexisting work, you can adapt it and build your AERA proposal off that.
• Look over some example proposals.You can always ask your peers, faculty, and even family members look it over.
• Figure out what kind of presentation (Paper, Poster, or Roundtable) you want to do before you start writing and tailor your proposal. More info here.
• If you select the option of submitting a Paper.  Think about also letting your proposal be considered for a Poster or Roundtable that way at least you have a chance at presenting something.
  • Don’t be stuck on only wanting to do a Paper presentation. Posters and Roundtables can be more productive, especially for students as they give you a chance to interact more with audience. Posters are great for getting feedback, especially if you have some flexibility/are in the early states of your research project.
  • Also figure out what division and section, or SIG you want to send it to. That way you can tailor the proposal to better align with their call.
  • If you are confused about which section/SIG to submit to, read over their Call for Proposals. You can find individual SIG/Section calls in the submission portal too!
    • Link to Division descriptions
    • Link to Special Interest Group (SIG) descriptions
• Remember that AERA likes completed studies. Write in the past or present tense. Also you should present some data…even if they are preliminary findings.
  • Methods section is particularly important – i.e., research question, data sources, analysis methods
  • Preliminary findings may suffice. If accepted the expectation will be to report more detailed findings and insights.
• Review all of the detailed guidelines. Did you include all the parts that you needed to? If you are missing even one element, such as a discussion, it hurts your chances greatly.
• Here are the sections you need to include:
  • Objectives or purposes
  • Perspectives(s) or theoretical framework
  • Methods, techniques, or modes of inquiry
  • Data sources, evidence, objects or materials
  • Results and/or substantiated conclusions or warrants for arguments/point of view
  • Scientific or scholarly significance of the study of the work
• Make sure you meet the word count limit criteria!
  • Title (15 words)
  • Abstract (120 words)
  • Paper (no more than 2,000 words)
• You do not have to incorporate the annual theme into your paper, but it does help if you can. You shouldn’t try to completely change your research, presentation, or writing style just to fit the theme, but it will help if your research is in line with others. Again, an important part of this is submitting to the correct SIG with similar research.
• Omit author identification information from your proposal. That includes your writing, in text citations and references.
  • Confused? Here is how to do it: According to APA, in-text cite would be (Author, YEAR). References: Author. (YEAR).
  • Also you may have to change the order of authors on your proposal. AERA only allows a certain number of first author entries per person.

Specific to the proposal

• Make your proposal stand out from the start! The abstract and introduction are very important. Remember most reviewers end up reading 10 or more proposals, make yours memorable.
• Be descriptive (yet concise) in your methods section. Let your reader know what you did during your study! A good test for this is calling up a parent/sibling and having them read then explain the section to you. If they can accurately describe your methods after reading the section, then you win!
  • This is a hard skill to master, and it takes time – So, don’t expect your first proposal to be perfect even when you submit it. Just focus on getting it done to the best of your ability.
• Explain why your research is important. Yes we know it furthers the knowledge base…but really, why should someone care. What is the impetus?
• Your research doesn’t need to be perfect. Do your best and get feedback, but don’t get stuck on trying to change the world or have the perfect paper. Remember that you will have more than one reviewer, so don’t be discouraged! Proposal scores are averaged out between 3+ reviewers, so you get feedback from different perspectives too!

 

Questions? Shoot me a line at nsabir@indiana.edu

Please add anything I missed in the comments below.

You can view the hour long workshop on YouTube: https://youtu.be/gT73BwAvFxQ

 

 

Support, Acknowledge & Respond

In writing researcher papers the authors should “make a claim, back it with reasons, support them with evidence, acknowledge and respond to other views, and sometimes explain your principles of reasoning” (Booth, Colomb & Williams, 2003, p. 108).  These four criterion need to be shaped by the literature and the existing conversations about your topic of interest.  I think the key to having a convincing argument is an informed description and discussion of current research.

During graduate school students spend a majority of their time writing, and often rewriting pieces.  During a recent classroom discussion, it was brought to my attention that a majority of students either write expository bits or persuasive morsels – hardly ever in the same space. Expository writing conveys discourse that explains, describes and informs the audience (Ball, 1999). Unlike persuasive writing, the primary goal of exposition is to simply deliver information about a subject, method, theory or issue. In persuasive writing the author makes a case and encourages the readers to follow a specific course of action or thought (Frost, 2013).

Often we have big ideas that we want to convey to our readers, and sometimes we have to build off limited literature in up-and-coming themes…but more often than not as writers we end up describing what others have said and then expanding their notions to fit our models of thought.  A great way of conveying your point is to have well structured key sentences.

 

 

References

Ball, A. (1999, June). Information about expository writing. Retrieved from http://www.stanford.edu/~arnetha/expowrite/info.html

Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., & Williams, J. M. (2003). The craft of research. (3rd ed.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Frost, J. (2013, November 3). Ten important triggers for persuasive writing. Retrieved from http://www.grammarcheck.net/ten-important-triggers-for-persuasive-writing/