Research Proposal Guidelines
HDEV 302
due 5/5 by 11:59p
Please submit your Research Proposal using the Assignment link in the Final Proposal module (due 5/5), by the due date indicated on Canvas.
VERY IMPORTANT: You are NOT collecting data for this project. You are simply providing the theoretical background/justification for the study to be conducted and the methodological approach you plan to use. If your paper indicates you have collected data, I will deduct points
The purpose of this assignment is to integrate everything you have learned throughout this course by preparing a plan for a research project. As you write up your PROPOSAL, I encourage you to follow the Methodological Guidelines for HDEV 499w. Try to plan something that would be feasible for HDEV 499w. Ideally, you can use this research plan as a foundation for a project you can realistically conduct in HDEV 499w, the capstone experience for the major. However, you don’t have to use what you write here for the Senior Research Seminar. Please let me know if you have any questions.
For this assignment I encourage an outline formatbecause it makes it easier for me to review and grade. Additional formatting requirements are listed further down. Remember that your submission should be submitted as a pdf or docx file, and double-spaced. Keep in mind that there are no strict requirements on length, as long as you provide the information requested. I give some estimates of the length below.
Your Research Proposal should include the following components:
Introduction, Literature Review and Synthesis (55% of final grade)
Introduction (about 1 paragraph). Introductory paragraph should include (a) the research question, (b) the purpose or goal of your research project, (c) mention whether the design/approach is quantitative or qualitative, and (d) why the topic is important. Try to grab the reader’s attention as you introduce your topic and explain why it is important.
Definitions of major concepts and terms.
Literature Review: In the literature review you want to make some main points about the topic you are studying, given the studies that have been conducted in the past. This should include summaries from at least 12 articles. For each article, you will provide a brief summary (~1 to 2 paragraphs). Summaries should include the main point/purpose of the study, the methodology employed to answer the research question, and summarize the most important results and the authors’ conclusions. These articles must be from peer-reviewed, scholarly journals. Use APA style when citing articles. Avoid using titles of articles in your writing, as that does not follow APA style. For the Literature Review, remember to provide in-text citationseach time you make claims or statements about your topic. In other words, you cannot state facts about your topic without providing evidence, and your evidence is based on your citations. You are showing the reader that you are knowledgeable about the literature that exists on this topic. Research proposals are based on empirical evidence and well-established sources. There is virtually no reason you should rely on direct quotes. Academic writing should be in your own words and use paraphrasing.
Synthesis (or critique) of Literature(about 1 or 2 paragraphs). In a synthesis you either compare or contrast the articles, or you talk about conclusions that can be derived from two or more of the articles you have included. What do we know about this topic, based on the studies or articles you have? Do some of them have similar findings from which you can draw broad conclusions about the topic? How do the findings in these articles compare and contrast? Here is an example of contrasting/comparing two studies:
Guzzardo (2019) provides information on older immigrants’ lack of service use, while Mendoza (2020) extends on that idea and provides information on why these services are not culturally competent.
Doing this goes beyond just summarizing and helps you work on evaluation and synthesis skills. When you make conclusions about several articles, taken together, make statements that include several in-text citations within the same set of parentheses (Freeman & Couchonnal, 2006; Anderson, 2003; Walker & Dickson, 2004; Smith et al., 2020).
Remember, the synthesis is the bridge or link that is connecting your articles and should answer the question “Why are you including them as a cluster or group for this proposal”
Method (35% of grade): In this section, you must clearly describe your design and how you plan to collect and analyze your data. The proposed research method must be a good way to study your topic, and must correspond with your research question (your data collection method should make sense given your research question). The research method should also be practical and feasible. You should have sections on Participants, Data Collection and Data Analysis. Below you will find the subsections that should be included in your Method section. Again, while you are not bound to this instruction and any viable method we covered is acceptable for this assignment, I encourage you to follow the Methodological Guidelines for HDEV 499 when selecting your approach.
Participants (about one paragraph):
Describe the sampling technique and recruitment strategies. You should be able to name the sampling technique, and provide specific strategies for obtaining participants (recruitment).
Discuss any inclusion or exclusion criteria. For example, if you plan to study the experience of becoming a new mom, state that you will include women who have recently become mothers for the first time. Consider whether there are other characteristics you will use to limit your sample (e.g., specific age range, education, socioeconomic status).
For content analysis, use the subtitle “Materials” rather than “Participants,” and include a description of the sources of material you will use. Explain your inclusion criteria for choosing this particular set of materials, for the purpose of your study. For example, if planning on using certain episodes from a couple television shows, explain what criteria you are using to include those specific episodes (what factors/characteristics do these episodes/TV shows require to be included in your study?).
Data Collection (about 1-2 paragraph):
Provide a general description of your measure of data collection (i.e., interview guide, survey/questionnaire, observation protocol, or content analysis plan). If it is an interview guide, simply mention here in this section that you will be using a semi-structured interview guide that asks questions about … (and describe it in a general way). Do something similar for a survey. If doing observations, discuss what you plan to focus on for your observation protocol, and if doing a content analysis, explain what you will focus on with your content analysis plan.
Then, you will provide an appendix with the specific list of questions or items (i.e., copy of the survey, the list of interview questions, observation protocol, or content analysis plan) and refer to it within the text here, such as the following: See the Appendix for the interview guide. Please don’t repeat the list of questions here in the body of the paper and in the Appendix. The Appendix should have the heading “Appendix,” and it should be located at the end of your paper, after the references.
Include a discussion of the concepts of internal or external validity and/or reliability (for quantitative studies), or trustworthiness (for qualitative studies). Explain how you will attempt to establish validity or trustworthiness of your data. If there are problems with the validity or trustworthiness of your data, please discuss it here, to show that you understand these concepts
In this section, please provide some comments on how you will maintain ethical standards including any of the following that applies to your research project:
Explain that the data will be stored in a secure location where only you have access.
That you will obtain informed consent;
That you will make sure that participants understand that their participation is voluntary;
That you will protect the confidentiality or anonymity of your research participants (Remember that you cannot guarantee both anonymity and confidentiality because they aren’t the same.);
That participants will not be harmed as a result of participating in this study;
That you will be comprehensive and thorough in your analysis;
That you will do everything possible to avoid bias, and that your research will be impartial and independent (this applies to all types of research);
That you will uphold the standards of quality and integrity for research, as delineated by the Institutional Review Board of California State University, East Bay, when you implement the research and report the findings. (this applies to all types of research);
Data Analysis (about one paragraph): Describe the steps you will take when analyzing the data. How are you going to draw conclusions from your data?
If conducting a quantitative study, you should mention what statistical analyses you will use, such as descriptive statistics (looking at descriptive information about your survey items, such as frequencies, means, or standard deviations). The analyses depend on the level of data (ordinal, nominal, or ratio), which is based on the questions you ask in your survey. What are the variables that you plan to measure, how and how will they be analyzed? If studying a relationship, what are the independent (or predictor) and dependent variables (or outcome)? In this section you will reiterate your hypothesis/ hypotheses as you explain how you measured the variables and what analysis you will use to test the hypothesis.
For qualitative studies you explain that you used thematic analysis. Your textbook describes this type of analysis for qualitative data. I have also provided many resources for thematic analysis on Blackboard. Explain that you will record the interviews, and transcribe them. Then, the transcriptions will be coded, and a code list will be created. Codes will be grouped into categories and that based on those grouped codes, you will identify themes to answer your research question. In other words, provide the steps to thematic analysis.
Significance of the Study (1 or 2 paragraphs). Finalize the Research Plan with a discussion of the significance of your study. Think of this as the conclusion to your paper. This is a very short section. It may feel repetitive of statements you made in the introduction, and that’s okay, but try to state your ideas and claims in different words. Just as the introduction gives the reader a first impression of your paper, the conclusion leaves the lasting impression. For instance, discuss how your study may address gaps in the literature, or how you may be studying the topic in a different way, or how your study simply adds to the literature on this important topic. Are you adding to the research that has been done? Are you using a different method of data collection than what has been done in the past? Are you studying a different group that hasn’t been included as much in past research? In this final and short section, you want to reiterate the value of the research project you are proposing.
References (on a separate page with the word “References” at the top, centered, not bolded). It should include all articles mentioned in the paper, so you should have the minimum of 5 articles that were discussed in the Literature Review. Again, these articles must be from peer-reviewed, scholarly journals. You can use past textbooks from classes to provide general information on the topic, but you must cite those textbooks and include the reference in the list of references. Each reference listed in this section of the paper, must be cited in the text of the paper.Please do not focus on trying to add more references just to make your reference list longer, without including them in the text of your paper. Please follow APA stylewhen typing up references. I have included an example of a reference list at the end of this document.
Appendix: You should have an appendix with the information regarding your method of data collection (e.g. questions for participants). It should appear on a separate page with the word “Appendix” at the top, centered and not bolded. Remember to mention the appendix in the text of the paper, within the Method section. For example: “The questions of the interview guide can be found in the Appendix.” In this appendix, include the actual questions.
Note on writing: The quality of writing throughout assignment should be college-level, which means you: (1) do not plagiarize (effectively use own words to discuss concepts), (2) employ good sentence and paragraph structure, (3) create efficient organization and flow in writing (transitions between sentences and between paragraphs), and (4) use good grammar and syntax, while also avoiding typographical errors.
Writing support: I recommend taking advantage of the free assistance with writing on campus by visiting the Student Center for Academic Achievement (SCAA), by calling 885-3674 or emailing *******************. You can sign up for appointments with writing tutors or find out when drop-in hours are for getting help with writing. You now have the option of submitting your essay draft online, and receiving written feedback within 48 hours (note that tutors only work weekdays). The SCAA office at CSUEB has prepared a document to help with APA style: https://library.csueastbay.edu/ld.php?content_id=19174423
Formatting (10% of final grade):
Page numbers
Font style Time New Roman or Arial
Font size 12
Text should be double spaced, and you should have 1 inch margin.
There is no word minimum for this assignment. Provide the necessary information requested.
Please avoid typos and grammatical errors. Write clearly, in complete sentences, and use correct syntax.
Please present the report in the form of an outline (essentially follow the layout of th instructions as your template).
Standard APA title page :
Final Research Proposal for Research Methods in Human Development – HDEV 302: Any subtitle you wish to provide
Your name
Your institute
