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How to Write a Research Synopsis: Template, Examples, & More

Last Updated: October 24, 2024 Fact Checked

• Organizing & Formatting
• Writing Your Synopsis
• Reviewing & Editing

Research Synopsis Template

This article was reviewed by Gerald Posner and by wikiHow staff writer, Raven Minyard, BA . Gerald Posner is an Author & Journalist based in Miami, Florida. With over 35 years of experience, he specializes in investigative journalism, nonfiction books, and editorials. He holds a law degree from UC College of the Law, San Francisco, and a BA in Political Science from the University of California-Berkeley. He’s the author of thirteen books, including several New York Times bestsellers, the winner of the Florida Book Award for General Nonfiction, and has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History. He was also shortlisted for the Best Business Book of 2020 by the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 296,751 times.

A research synopsis describes the plan for your research project and is typically submitted to professors or department heads so they can approve your project. Most synopses are between 3,000 and 4,000 words and provide your research objectives and methods. While the specific types of information you need to include in your synopsis may vary depending on your department guidelines, most synopses include the same basic sections. In this article, we’ll walk you step-by-step through everything you need to know to write a synopsis for research.

Things You Should Know

• Begin your research synopsis by introducing the question your research will answer and its importance to your field.
• List 2 or 3 specific objectives you hope to achieve and how they will advance your field.
• Discuss your methodology to demonstrate why the study design you chose is appropriate for your research question.

Organizing Your Research Synopsis

• Find out what citation format you’re supposed to use, as well as whether you’re expected to use parenthetical references or footnotes in the body of your synopsis.
• If you have questions about anything in your guidelines, ask your instructor or advisor to ensure you follow them correctly.

• Title: the title of your study
• Abstract: a summary of your research synopsis
• Introduction: identifies and describes your research question
• Literature Review: a review of existing relevant research
• Objectives: goals you hope to accomplish through your study
• Hypotheses: results you expect to find through your research
• Methodology and methods: explains the methods you’ll use to complete your study
• References: a list of any references used in citations

Tip: Your synopsis might have additional sections, depending on your discipline and the type of research you're conducting. Talk to your instructor or advisor about which sections are required for your department.

• Keep in mind that you might not end up using all the sources you initially found. After you've finished your synopsis, go back and delete the ones you didn't use.

Writing Your Research Synopsis

• Your title should be a brief and specific reflection of the main objectives of your study. In general, it should be under 50 words and should avoid unneeded phrases like “an investigation into.”
• On the other hand, avoid a title that’s too short, as well. For example, a title like “A Study of Urban Heating” is too short and doesn’t provide any insight into the specifics of your research.

• The introduction allows you to explain to your reader exactly why the question you’re trying to answer is vital and how your knowledge and experience make you the best researcher to tackle it.
• Support most of the statements in your introduction with other studies in the area that support the importance of your question. For example, you might cite a previous study that mentions your problem as an area where further research needs to be done.
• The length of your introduction will vary depending on the overall length of your synopsis as well as the ultimate length of your eventual paper after you’ve finished your research. Generally, it will cover the first page or two of your synopsis.

• For example, try finding relevant literature through educational journals or bulletins from organizations like WHO and CDC.
• Typically, a thorough literature review discusses 8 to 10 previous studies related to your research problem.
• As with the introduction, the length of your literature review will vary depending on the overall length of your synopsis. Generally, it will be about the same length as your introduction.
• Try to use the most current research available and avoid sources over 5 years old.

• For example, an objective for research on urban heating could be “to compare urban heat modification caused by vegetation of mixed species considering the 5 most common urban trees in an area.”
• Generally, the overall objective doesn’t relate to solving a specific problem or answering a specific question. Rather, it describes how your particular project will advance your field.
• For specific objectives, think in terms of action verbs like “quantify” or “compare.” Here, you’re hoping to gain a better understanding of associations between particular variables.

• Specify the sources you used and the reasons you have arrived at your hypotheses. Typically, these will come from prior studies that have shown similar relationships.
• For example, suppose a prior study showed that children who were home-schooled were less likely to be in fraternities or sororities in college. You might use that study to back up a hypothesis that home-schooled children are more independent and less likely to need strong friendship support networks.

• Expect your methodology to be at least as long as either your introduction or your literature review, if not longer. Include enough detail that your reader can fully understand how you’re going to carry out your study.
• This section of your synopsis may include information about how you plan to collect and analyze your data, the overall design of your study, and your sampling methods, if necessary. Include information about the study setting, like the facilities and equipment that are available to you to carry out your study.
• For example, your research work may take place in a hospital, and you may use cluster sampling to gather data.

• Use between 100 and 200 words to give your readers a basic understanding of your research project.
• Include a clear statement of the problem, the main goals or objectives of your study, the theories or conceptual framework your research relies upon, and the methods you’ll use to reach your goals or objectives.

Tip: Note down a few notes as you draft your other sections that you can compile for your abstract to keep your writing more efficient.

Reviewing and Editing Your Research Synopsis

• If you don’t have that kind of time because you’re up against a deadline, at least take a few hours away from your synopsis before you go back to edit it. Do something entirely unrelated to your research, like taking a walk or going to a movie.

• Eliminate sentences that don’t add any new information. Even the longest synopsis is a brief document—make sure every word needs to be there and counts for something.
• Get rid of jargon and terms of art in your field that could be better explained in plain language. Even though your likely readers are people who are well-versed in your field, providing plain language descriptions shows you know what you’re talking about. Using jargon can seem like you’re trying to sound like you know more than you actually do.

Tip: Free apps, such as Grammarly and Hemingway App, can help you identify grammatical errors as well as areas where your writing could be clearer. However, you shouldn't rely solely on apps since they can miss things.

• Reference list formatting is very particular. Read your references out loud, with the punctuation and spacing, to pick up on errors you wouldn’t have noticed if you’d just read over them.
• Compare your format to the one in the stylebook you’re using and make sure all of your entries are correct.

• Read your synopsis backward by starting on the last word and reading each word separately from the last to the first. This helps isolate spelling errors. Reading backward sentence by sentence helps you isolate grammatical errors without being distracted by the content.
• Print your synopsis and circle every punctuation mark with a red pen. Then, go through them and focus on whether they’re correct.
• Read your synopsis out loud, including the punctuation, as though you were dictating the synopsis.

• Have at least one person who isn’t familiar with your area of study look over your synopsis. If they can understand your project, you know your writing is clear. If any parts confuse them, then that’s an area where you can improve the clarity of your writing.

Expert Q&A

• If you make significant changes to your synopsis after your first or second round of editing, you may need to proofread it again to make sure you didn’t introduce any new errors. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://admin.umt.edu.pk/Media/Site/iib1/FileManager/FORMAT%20OF%20SYNOPSIS%2012-10-2018.pdf
• ↑ https://www.scientificstyleandformat.org/Tools/SSF-Citation-Quick-Guide.html
• ↑ https://numspak.edu.pk/upload/media/Guidelines%20for%20Synopsis%20Writing1531455748.pdf
• ↑ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279917593_Research_synopsis_guidelines
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/editing-and-proofreading/
• ↑ https://www.cornerstone.edu/blog-post/six-steps-to-really-edit-your-paper/

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HOW TO WRITE AN OUTSTANDING SYNOPSIS FOR THESIS PROJECT

Welcome dear researchers; I want to use this opportunity to bring to your notice on how to write a good synopsis for thesis project. Well the idea of synopsis presentation before the main research work by most of the universities in Nigeria and the world at large was to ensure that a research student has a good background knowledge concerning his/her research project topic.

Before we go into the main topic proper, let us first of all define the term synopsis

SYNOPSIS: synopsis can simply be defined as a brief discussion or summary or a general survey carried out about a particular project topic; be it a thesis, dissertation, or an undergraduate project topic.

        An MSc/MBA research student goes online and pick one or two project topics for thesis; on reaching his/her supervisor, the supervisor demanded for the synopsis for each of the topic he/she has chosen for project or thesis.

Writing a synopsis is nothing so big that a post graduate student cannot do during thesis writing. I will simply break it down with some examples so as to throw more light on the how to write a synopsis for thesis project.

When a MBA/Msc. Research project student wishes to write a synopsis for his/her project topic, he or she must have in mind the following sub-headings.

• The title of the project topic or thesis project topic
• The abstract for the research thesis topic for project
• The need for the project
• The review of related literature concerning your research topic
• The materials and method to be adopted

If a research student has the following headings in mind when writing his/her synopsis, then I think the research student is on the right track.

Let us illustrate with the research topic: THE EFFECT OF BUDGET PADDING IN THE NIGERIAN ECONOMY, A TOOL FOR INFLATION

The synopsis for the above topic will follow this format:

The Effect of Budget Padding in the Nigerian Economy, A Tool For Inflation

The abstract should be written in one paragraph. For example:

The study on the Effect of Budget Padding in the Nigerian Economy, a Tool for Inflation came up with the aim to examine the relationship between budget padding and the rate of inflation in Nigeria; other specific objectives of the study include; investigating on the factors affecting the growth of inflation in Nigeria. The study adopted the method of primary data to seek responses from the respondents. The Pearson correlation method was used to validate the hypothesis. Proper recommendations were made to solve any other existing problem in future.

THE NEED FOR THE PROJECT

Here you discuss the importance of this research work. What will the research work achieve at the end?

For example, the research project will be of immense benefit to the federal government of Nigeria and her citizens as it will discuss the relationship between budget padding and the Nigeria economy. The study will also investigate and proffer solution to the factors affecting the economy of Nigeria and the effect of budget padding on the Nigeria economy.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Here you discuss on the previous research done relating to your research project topic.

For example:

(Uniprojectmaterials, 2017) used the method of Pearson correlation to examine the relationship between budget padding and the Nigeria economy. He made some useful recommendations on how to resolve the issue of inflation in Nigeria.

MATERIALS AND METHOD

Here a project student discusses his/her methodology in the following format.

This chapter is designed to describe the procedures adopted in this research. The procedures involve the following: research design, population of the study, sample and sampling techniques, instrumentation, validation of the instrument, administration of the instrument and data analysis techniques.

3.1   Research Design

This study will be employ survey research design to examine the effect of budget padding on the Nigeria economy: a tool for inflation. According to Nworgu (2006), survey research design insurance that a group of people or items is studied by collecting analyzing data from only a few people or items considered to be representative of the entire group. It uses a questionnaire to determine the opinions, preferences, attitudes and perceptions of people about issues that concern them. A survey design is suitable for this research because it is going to make use of a questionnaire to elicit information from the respondents.

3.2   Population of the Study

The population of the study consists of   about 100 respondents were selected based on their knowledge the effect of budget padding on the Nigeria economy: a tool for inflation.

3.3   Sample and Sampling Techniques

A sample of 40 was selected out of the population of 100 as stated above for the purpose of the study.

3.4   Instrumentation

The instrument for this study is questionnaire constructed by the researcher which was drawn from the research questions. The questionnaire was coded.

3.6   Validation of the Instrument

The validation was determined by the expert judgment of the supervisor. The judgment were sought to guarantee that each of the items in the instrument measured what it was supposed to measure. The final draft was adjudged valid by project supervisor.

3.7   Administration of the Instrument

A total of 100 copies of the questionnaire will be administered to the respondents by hand but 45 were returned after the exercise.

3.8   Data Analysis Techniques

Data collectedwill be analyzed using frequency table, percentage and mean score analysis while the Pearson correlation method was used to test the formulated hypothesis using SPSS (statistical package for social sciences)

(Uniprojectmaterials, 2017). Cambridge University, budget padding and the economy of Nigeria.

I believe this will help research project students in writing their synopsis.

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Lesson 4: Synopsis

In order to clarify your thoughts about the purpose of your thesis and how you plan to reach your research goals, you should prepare a synopsis. A synopsis is a short, systematic outline of your proposed thesis, made in preparation for your first meeting with your supervisor. It serves to ensure that your supervisor gets a clear picture of your proposed project and allows him or her to spot whether there are gaps or things that you have not taken into account.

Your synopsis will work as a kind of protocol for the further steps you need to take to ensure that your thesis reaches the required academic level – and that you finish on time.

Although there are no rigid rules for how a synopsis should look, it must contain:

• Rationale – should address the gaps/problems/issues observed as part of the background section and thus present the argument/justification for completing the study – as described in the lesson of the same name.
• Problem  formulation – the problem you aim to address in your thesis,as described in the lesson of the same name.
• Overall and specific objectives – the actions to be taken in order to address the problem, as described in the lesson of the same name.
• Method outline: What type of study is best suited to support the actions stated in the specific objectives? What kind of data (qualitative, quantitative) will your study require? What is your geographical study area and who is your target group(s)? Are there ethical considerations you have to make? Etc.
• Time plan: In the beginning, a rough timeline showing a plan on how your work will be divided over time. When is your deadline for e.g. literature search, potential fieldwork (e.g. interviews and/or questionnaire administration), data analysis, writing and layout? Once your problem formulation and objectives are approved by your supervisor, all details should be added to your time plan.
• References : Create a short list of the major references on which your rationale is based. Make sure that your in-text citations and reference list are completed correctly, both in support of your subsequent work, but also to demonstrate that you have a serious, scientific and methodical approach to your work. See how to use references correctly in the lesson of the same name in the module: Writing process.

At the beginning of your thesis period, your synopsis will be limited in scope and detail, but as you work your way deeper into your topic and you get a clearer picture of your objectives, methods and references, the more complete and detailed your synopsis will become.

A rule of thumb is that the length of your synopsis can vary from two to five pages, but the precise length and exact requirements of your synopsis can vary from institute to institute and from supervisor to supervisor.

Most study programmes will require that you present a final synopsis before starting data collection. However, the first version of your synopsis for discussion with your supervisor should not be an informal draft. Carefully performed work creates respect and motivation and saves a lot of you and your supervisor’s time.

A good approach from the very beginning is to establish a practice of how to write headings, references, names of species, etc. And be consistent. This will help you save time and importantly, lead to a better overall assessment of your final work.

Do you now know how to write a synopsis. Test yourself in the following.

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