RESEARCH PROPOSAL

THIS RESEARCH PROPOSAL MUST ALIGN WITH THE SAME CONCEPTS DEVELOPED IN MY LITERATURE REVIEW POSTED BELOW! 

PLEASE REVIEW THE LITERATURE REVIEW BEFORE STARTING THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL!

Proposal (Rough Outline Peer Review)o All of the formatting & professional writing details from above

Total of 8 double spaced-pages, when combined with the Literature Review paper (see above).

Any survey materials, interview questions, or experimental materials necessary to carry out your study (the ideal is to be clear enough that someone can replicate your research without you being there)

Include 4 additional sources,

Phase 2:  Research Proposal

9. OVERVIEW:  This Research Proposal paper is meant to be a continuation of your previous Literature Review paper.  With the literature review you were able to explore your communication idea within the given academic knowledge (reflected by searching the databases and reading articles).   You then developed a question (or hypothesis) that explores some issue of significance that the literature didnt answer (or didnt answer well).  This Research Proposal is your attempt to answer the question or confirm or reject the hypothesis.

10. SELECT A METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH:  For this proposal, I want you to develop your familiarity with methods that have practical utility and acceptance in todays professional world.   Different methods should work better with whatever you are studying.  They also may be useful to you in your thesis.  You may propose one (or two combined, if appropriate) of these three different methods:a. Survey:  Usually a packet of questionnaires that listquestions or statements that require ratings of agreement, that ultimately address your IV & DV.b. Interview & Content Analysis:  Develop a list of questions that youll ask participants about, and then recruit another coder to help you interpret the answers by amount and types.c. Experiment:  Most common form would be to look at your DV and say Does the IV make a difference?  Have at least one situation or group where you include the IV, and one you dont.  If you make the two situations or groups of people similar, and control (limit the influence of)outside factors, the IV should explain any differences in the DV.

11. THE STRUCTURE:  To start I recommend just creating an outline with the following labeled sub-sections represented: Participants, Procedures (& Measures), Analysis Strategy, Discussion of Expected Results, Limitations of the Study, and Conclusion.  Use the articles weve been reading all semester to get a sense of what details are supposed to be in each sub-section.   Most articles will feature a similar or derivative structure.  Since you are doing a proposal, obviously you will have slightly different section labels than a full, completed article.

12. MULTIPLE DRAFTS:  Once again, you will have a peer review day to receive feedback about your draft.   On that day you are expected to have your paper 75% completed.  You should also have your own internal draft process. Use the Final Checklist on the next page as a helpful reminder of what to look for on when completing your last or final draft.   Papers that look and read like half, partial, or hurried efforts will be graded accordingly. 

13. FAIR WARNING:  Just because you received a nice grade on your Literature Review paper doesnt entitle you to similar Research Proposal grade.  The research proposal half may be poorly conceived, half done, or incomplete, resulting in a low grade on that portion, and thus a lower overall grade.