Writing the Goals and Importance Section

Good proposals stimulate my curiosity. As I read a proposal, 

I begin to think up new questions about the project and its science. The best proposals answer those questions before I m done reading. I have a lot of respect for writers who can anticipate the questions that a reader will have and provide answers. 

This chapter focuses on writing the first section of the Project Description. The central purposes of this section are to identify project goals and objectives, highlight the importance of the research, provide relevant background information, and introduce the proposed research. By the end of this chapter, you should be able to do the following  

This chapter covers what normally is presented in the first major section of the Project Description. 

Common level 1 headings in this section are GOALS AND OBJECTIVES PROJECT SIGNIFICANCE 

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Revise and edit the entire section, paying careful attention to audience (e.g., level of detail, word choice), organization, writing conventions (e.g., verb tenses, voice, personal pronouns, formatting of lists, and citations), and grammar and mechanics (e.g., parallelism, punctuation). Revise the Goals and Importance section so that the individual parts work... 

Draft move 2 of your Goals and Importance section. In the first sentence, Identify the research area In general terms. (Do not Introduce your specific research project.) Develop the research story In the next few paragraphs. Explain fundamental concepts and provide essential background Information, using the notes that you prepared In Writing on Your Own task 12A. Share what you learned from your literature review, and Its Importance, with your readers. 

Combine the three moves of your Goals and Importance section (from the previous Writing on Your Own tasks). 

This is the most important section of your write-up, because it answers the questions, Did you achieve your proposed goals and objectives and What is the significance of the data Any conclusion that you make must be supported by experimental results. It is often possible to compare your data with known values and results from the literature. If this is feasible, calculate percentage error and explain any differences. If problems were encountered in the experiment, these should be outlined with possible remedies for future experiments. 

The main goal of this chapter is to help you master electron and molecular geometry and hybridization. This will lead to information on the polarity of molecules. You might want to review Section 7-5 on electron configuration. Section 9-7 on writing Lewis structures is also important. Don t Forget —Practice, Practice, Practice. 

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