Complete Introduction for Research Proposal. Full assignment listed below to refer to.
Now is the time to submit a rough draft of your Introduction Section of your research proposal.
The significance of your project should be highlighted in this section. Why did you pick this topic? Why is it important in social work? Make sure all the following is addressed. What are you exploring? Why? Give me a preview of what is to come! You are giving your reader a broad overview of your proposal.
Be sure to include: The statement of the problem
The purpose of the study
The significance of the study
Research Proposal-Full Assignment Instructions
Competencies 3,4, 5, 7 and 8; Dimensions: K, S, V, C/A
Complete a research proposal on a social work topic of your choice that relates to your area of
interest, based on program or population need.
Include a comprehensive and balanced review of the available literature on your research topic.
Summarize the articles and use critical thinking to evaluate their arguments and evidence, tying
the findings to your research question. Additional instructions for this activity will be provided.
You will also complete a research design in which you discuss your methods of gathering data
and your plans for dealing with potential obstacles that could come up. These assignments are
intended to evaluate student competence of CSWE Competency #4: Research Informed Practice
and Practice Informed Research.
Initial Question/Topic Area
What topic or research area(s) are you interested in exploring?
What questions do you have about the topic?
You may decide to hone or refine this idea after you have moved forward with some of
the other pieces, and that’s fine!
Literature Review (See full assignment for more specific details)
You will need at least 7 peer-reviewed, scholarly articles exploring your topic, and you
can use these to explore what research questions do not seem to have been addressed.
Often, you can find these suggestions for further research in the final section of research
articles. Find articles that are relevant, but that you can understand. You may need to
read them several times (Even I frequently read articles more than once…).
You will write a literature review as a separate assignment that will be part of your final
proposal. You will work on incorporating and integrating sources that relate to your
research topic and research questions. Your literature review should inform your research
questions, so don’t leave this one until it is due! Start it early in the semester. Your
literature review should lead you to a refined topic, method, your research questions,
etc.
Research Questions and Hypothesis
What is your research question? Justify your study using a theoretical foundation, prior
empirical research, and practical value. You may use the articles you found for the
literature review, and can certainly add to them.
Include the following: A problem statement, a research question, a statement that
identifies the type of study you are proposing (exploratory, descriiptive, explanatory, etc.),
a hypothesis (is it directional? One – tailed? Two – tailed?), and a null hypothesis.
Variables and Operationalization
What are your variables (as appropriate)? Identify your dependent and independent
variables.
How will you operationalize your variables?
How will you define the variable?
What is the level of measurement?
What other variables might you need to consider?
How will you measure each variable?
What instruments (specifically) would you use? Are they reliable and valid?
How will you minimize measurement errors?
Sampling
What is the sample you have chosen for your study?
What type of sampling technique will you use?
Do you need to be concerned about bias in your sample? Why or why not?
How many participants do you hope to reach?
Is this a reasonable number? Why or why not?
Data Collection
What methods will you use to gather the data?
Will you develop an instrument, or did you identify instruments that have already been
used?
If you are developing an instrument, then include some sample questions; if you are using
an instrument already developed, then give a rationale for picking this one.
Is there a possibility you could use existing data? From where? Why would this be
appropriate?
Plan for Data Analysis
How will the data be prepared for analysis?
Will you need a codebook? What will it look like?
What statistical procedures will you use? Why are these appropriate?
What descriiptive statistics will you use?
Will you use inferential statistics?
How will your data be displayed?
Implications for Practice
What conclusions might you draw if you were to actually conduct this research?
How might the research be used to make changes in your practice?
What relevance might the conclusions have for policy and practice?
Where and how would the results be applied?
Design Issues
What are the limitations of your design?
What are the strengths and weaknesses?
Are there threats to internal and external validity that you need to be concerned about? Is
there any way to mitigate or minimize those threats?
Using the following headings, write a research proposal that incorporates everything you
have learned.
Title & Title Page:
You may have a “working title” and a “final title” based on the refining of your topic. Your final
title should make sense standing alone – I should be able to read your title and instantly know
what your proposal addresses. Your title should be no more than 20 words, should be very
descriiptive, and should include the variables you will address. Look at journal articles – lots of
them – to get an idea of how to title your paper.
Abstract:
A short abstract (200 – 250 words) that clearly and concisely states the purpose of your study,
the method, the anticipated results, the significance of your proposed study, and potential
implications.
Introduction (2 – 3 pages):
What are you exploring? Why? Give me a preview of what is to come! You are giving your
reader a broad overview of your proposal.
You should include:
The statement of the problem
The purpose of the study
The significance of the study
Literature Review (5 – 7 pages):
You must have a minimum of seven scholarly articles that relate directly to your topic. You are
demonstrating your information-seeking skills, and your critical-thinking skills. Can you identify
relevant materials? Can you incorporate these materials into something that lays the foundation
for, and supports, your topic? Are you able to critique previous studies? You will use the
literature review you submitted previously, incorporating suggested changes and edits – it should
provide a strong foundation for this section.
Problem Statement (1 – 3 paragraphs):
Ask yourself what you would like to study, and why….
It is derived directly from your literature review.
It should provide an overall context for your study.
It should include all of the variables in your study.
You will place your problem within a theoretical framework.
Research Questions/Hypotheses (1 – 2 paragraphs):
These derive directly from the problem statement, which derived from the literature review.
What specific question are you going to answer, or what hypotheses are you testing?
Start here: The purpose of this study is….
If you have dependent and independent variables (not all studies do), be certain they are
connected and they are clear to your reader.
Method (3 – 5 pages):
This section tells me exactly what you will do. How are you going to answer your research
question(s)?
The Methods section will contain subheadings for:
Research Design (1 – 2 paragraphs)
o See the charts I have uploaded to the Course Materials folder on one-
group and two- (or more) group designs.
o What are your variables (dependent and independent, as appropriate)
o What are the threats to internal and external validity? How will you
control for those?
Sample & Sampling (1 – 2 paragraphs)
o Probability? Non-probability?
o Who? How will you find your participants? What is your project N (size
of sample)? Does your sampling methodology fit the research question? Could
you realistically recruit these participants, if you had to actually do this
research? Will it be representative of your population?
Instrumentation (1 paragraph for each variable measured)
o Surveys? Validated instruments? You will include the actual instruments
in your appendices.
o Make clear which instrument is measuring what.
o Address reliability and validity.
Data Collection (1 – 2 paragraphs for each method)
o Will you collect new data?
o Use existing data?
o Include a data collection plan – can be a narrative with an accompanying
table for clarity.
Data Analysis (1 – 2 paragraphs for each method)
o How will you analyze the data?
o What statistics will you use? Why?
o Descriiptive, inferential, etc.
Limitations (1 – 3 sentences for each important point):
Could relate to sample size, instruments, self-report, low reliability of an instrument, etc.
Implications for Practice (1 – 3 sentences for each important point):
Why is it significant? Who will care and why? How will it help clients, the agency, the
profession, etc.? What new information may result?
Conclusion (2 – 4 paragraphs):
Discuss the reciprocal relationship of research to social work practice. Talk about the importance
of career-long learning, and the importance of relying on current literature in practice to analyze,
monitor, and evaluate interventions.
You will be required to submit your paper to Turnitin.
No quotes are allowed in this paper.
