Evaluation Guidelines for MDSC 508 Thesis Research Proposal

The following guidelines are intended to assist in grading the proposal (10% of the final MDSC 508 grade). Please submit this table with
feedback for the student and a mark out of 100 (in the last table row) to TA name and email by October 30, 2020.

Component Weight Criteria Comments

• The proposal is clearly and concisely written
• Well organized, including, subheadings, diagrams,
tables, and / or figures, as appropriate
• Free of grammatical and spelling errors
Overall Style and • Maximum of 10 pages, double-spaced, font size 12
18% (not including figures, tables, appendices &
Writing
references)
• Citation and referencing style as preferred by the
supervisor. If no preference, Biomedical and
Bioinformatics students use Vancouver / MLA; Health
& Society students use APA.
• The ‘big picture’ piece that situates interests within a
context
Significance and / or • Clearly stated significance of the problem
Rationale for Study 20% • A well-supported rationale for the study
(Background) • Strong rationale for how the project aligns with major of
study (Bioinformatics, Biomedical Sciences or Health &
Society)
• A brief statement how sex (biological variable) and / or
gender (socio-cultural determinant of health)
Sex and / or gender as
2% considerations integrate into the research proposal OR
a variable
explain why sex and / or gender are not applicable to
your research proposal
• A review of the literature relevant to the research
problem and the specific question/s to be asked
Literature Review 20% • A synthesis (not just a summary) to provide the
reader with a sense of the state of research in the
topic / area
• The purpose of the study is clearly stated
Purpose Statement, • A specific research question, stated as a question
Research Questions 10% • Clear and specific objectives to address the research
and / or Objectives question
• If appropriate, a clear hypothesis is stated

Page 1 of 2
 Component Weight Criteria Comments
• The research approach and / or research design is
described
• A justification is provided for the conceptual
framework, animal model or cell line to be used, as
appropriate
• Clearly details how data will be collected / experiments
will be conducted
Research Design and As appropriate:
20%
Methods • justification for numbers to be used is provided
• sampling procedure, participant recruitment is
described, and sample size justified
• data collection tools and their validity are
described
• development of any questionnaire, interview protocol
or chart review protocol is described
• statistical analysis is detailed
Knowledge • Where appropriate, how the research findings will
Translation - Possible be shared with participants and other stakeholders.
5%
benefits of the • Potential benefits of the findings are realistically
research outlined
Project timeline • Provides a realistic timeline (by month) of tasks to be
5% completed
(Appendix)

TOTAL ( / 100)

Grading Scheme:
Letter Grade Description Percentage
A+ Outstanding performance 97-100
A Excellent performance 90-96
A- Approaching excellent performance 85-89
B+ Exceeding good performance 80-84
B Good performance 75-79
B- Approaching good performance 70-74
C+ Exceeding satisfactory performance 65-69
C Satisfactory performance 60-64
C- Approaching satisfactory performance 57-59
D+ Marginal pass 54-56
D Minimal pass 50-53
F Did not meet course requirements 0-49

Page 2 of 2