ntroduction to Assignment:
The purpose of this project is the creation of a research proposal. A research proposal is one of the initial steps toward conducting research. Even though the research proposal is due in Week 10, the nature of this type of assignment requires you to work on the proposal throughout the course. Each week, you will be reminded where you should be in the proposal development. It is also important to communicate with your course instructor each step of the way to get feedback. He or she will be able to answer your questions.
Week 1: Final Project: Selecting a Topic
Developing a research proposal is a good way to experience research aspects firsthand without conducting an actual research study.
In this assignment, you need to develop a research proposal. Your research proposal must be a 10–12-page document and include the following sections:
- Introduction
- Literature Review
- Methodology
- Discussion and Conclusion
- References
Each week, you will concentrate on creating a section of the research proposal. The Methodology section will be based on either of the two major research designs, quantitative and qualitative. You will develop the final project as the course progresses by collating all the sections and incorporating them into a final proposal due for submission in Week 10.
This Week
Create the Introduction section of the research proposal. Include the following:
- Select a topic for your research project.
- Explain why this topic is of interest to you.
- Explain the topic and describe the potential research areas in the topic.
Choosing your topic:
The best way to choose a topic is to research the topic before you choose it.
One of the biggest challenges in finding articles for your topic is that your topic may not have much in the way of research. The remedy for this is, when you first have an idea for a topic, to go to the online library and do a quick search on current research for your topic. If you can find several articles on your topic, then you’re good to go. If you can’t, then it would be good to modify your topic a bit or even change it until you find one that will generate the needed articles for your reviews.
When searching for articles, scan first and read later:
You can speed up your article search if you focus mainly on three things.
- Look at the journal name—it may provide some insight into access to other articles. Many journals are specific to a certain discipline or area of study.
- Review the abstract first—the abstract will provide valuable information on what the article may hold. Remember though it doesn’t contain all the information. It is still imperative to read the entire article if you choose it as one of the ones you will use.
