Research Proposal Guidelines (5-6 pages)

Due 8/15/2021

Introduction (around 1 page)

· Think about your introduction as a narrative written in one to two paragraphs that answers the following questions (do not copy and paste these questions to your proposal):

1. Topic area – What exactly do you want to study?

2. Research question(s) – What is the central research question?

3. Methods – briefly describe what methods should be used to analyze the research problem?

4. Significance to knowledge – Why is this research important, and why should someone reading the proposal care about the outcomes from the study?

· Your introduction should help your readers to have an understanding of what you want to do. A good introduction will also make readers feel excited about the possible outcomes of your study.

Literature review (around 1-2 page)

· A literature review summarizes and places the problem in the context of related theory and research. What have others said about this topic? What theories address it, and what do they say? What previous research exists? Are there consistent findings, or do past studies disagree? Does the body of existing research have flaws that you think you can remedy?

Research Design and Methods (around 1-2 page)

· Subjects for Study

· Whom or what will you study in order to collect data? Identify who you will study and how you’ll reach them (e.g., your sampling techniques).

· Measurement

· What are the key variables in your study? How will you define and measure them? If you have already developed your measurement device (e.g., a questionnaire) or will be using something previously developed by others, please include a copy in the end of your proposal.

· Data-Collection Methods

· Data needs – How will you actually collect the data for your study? Will you conduct an experiment or a survey? Will you undertake field research or will you focus on the reanalysis of statistics already created by others? Perhaps you’ll use more than one method.

· Analysis

· Indicate the kind of analysis you plan to conduct

· Plan for interpreting results

· Interpretation

· In this section you should indicate how the anticipated outcomes will be interpreted to answer the research question.

Expected Results and Implications (around 1 page)

· Describe what you expect to get out of the research. It should join the data analysis and possible outcomes to the theory and questions that you have raised.

· Depending on the aims and objectives of your study, you can describe how the anticipated results of your study will impact future scholarly research, theory, practice, forms of interventions, or policy. This section is a good place to summarize the significance of your study.

Bibliography (or References) (Not included in the 5-6 pages length)

*Please use ASA or APA style bibliography (and citations in your proposal).

Evaluations will be based on: The proposal adheres to the guidelines; it is well organized, concise, and clearly written.

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