Length: 8-12 pages (not including title page, abstract or references).
Assignment: Write a research proposal about how you will study a topic of your choice. You will write a proposal for how you plan to conduct this research, using information learned in class to determine which methods and sampling procedures you will use.
Formatting: All parts of your manuscript should be double-spaced with standard margins. You also need to use the header option on your word processor to give your manuscript a running head and page numbers. Please refer to the APA style guide template to ensure your paper is APA format. You will be primarily graded on the clarity of your writing, the quality of your literature review and arguments for pursuing your topic, and your adherence to APA style.
Your paper should consist of the following parts:
Title Page: Please observe APA style with appropriate Running head and Title.
Abstract: Please see the APA style guide for information about the abstract. Remember, it should summarize your research proposal
Introduction: This section will contain your introduction to the topic, and will also include your literature review and hypotheses. This section will be approximately 4-5 pages long. You may include the following sections:
1. Introduce the research topic: First, you must introduce the research topic, which you can think of as the problem you are trying to solve. Why is this an important topic to study? What makes it something people should be interested in? (~ 2 paragraphs)
2. Literature Review: Review the relevant literature on the topic. Feel free to cut the literature review into sections as needed, and title them according to which section of the literature they review. (2-3 pages)
3. Perform a brief sum up of the literature review and concisely make the arguments for your research questions: Highlight any gaps in the literature, and describe why your literature review led you to your research question. List your research question (s). (~ 2 paragraphs)
Method: In this section you will be responsible for describing the methodology you will use to study your research question. We have discussed using a survey in class, and you may use a survey if you so choose. You may also use other methods such as qualitative interviewing, secondary data analysis, etc. (2-3 pages)
1. Design: Clearly lay out the design for your study. What are the independent variables? What are the dependent variables? What is your operational definition of the variables?
2. Sample: Who are your participants? Why are you using that population? How did you decide on your sample? What sampling procedures will you be using? How are you recruiting your sample (describe your recruitment method in detail)?
3. Materials: What instruments will you be using during your study? Will you be using a survey? If so, what types of questions do you anticipate asking during your study?
4. Procedures: Clearly describe the procedures you will be using in order to conduct your study. In this section, think of your participants and what they are going through when you describe what your procedure is.
5. Dependent measures: Clearly define your dependent measures, and be specific about how you will measure them.
Predicted Results/Hypotheses: Clearly outline your hypotheses and predictions for the results of this study. Based on your hypotheses and your literature review, provide your predictions for your results. You will want to connect these results with your hypotheses, and also with your definition of your variables.
Discussion (2-3 pages): In this section you will discuss the implications for your study. If you find your predicted results, what will that mean for the field in general? How will your findings fit in with the prior literature on this topic? You may include separate headers for each of the following topics:
1. Fit your study in with the prior literature: describe how this paper (if you obtain your predicted results) will fit in with research already done on this topic. How will your study expand on research that has already been performed?
2. Discuss any limitations to the study you have proposed: Of course you have proposed the ideal study, but no study is perfect. What are the limitations to the work you have proposed?
3. Describe the broader implications: What effect will your research have on the world more generally? How will your research proposal help solve some broader problem in the world?
4. Discuss future directions: What should the next line of research should researchers focus on? Where should researchers go next?
