PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS AND STRUCTURE The proposal should be 1200 words maximum in length and submitted via a Microsoft Word document. Your proposal should also have a well thought-out title for your research project i.e. not Assignment 2! In your assignment, you should have the following sub-sections: 1. Title Page (see above for format) 2. Introduction a. Background b. Research Purpose c. Research Hypothesis 3. Methods and Design a. Participants b. Design c. Procedure 4. Statistical Analysis 5. Significance and Conclusion 6. Reference Page (APA format) DESCRIPTION OF SUBSECTIONS 1. Section 1: Introduction Explain the research topic you have chosen to investigate, and why it is significant. Often people will start with a statistic or problem ( see Research Proposal Examples). In the introduction you can summarize what is already known about the field, and point out certain gaps, and rationale for your study design this is your background. Ensure in this section you provide a) Background information; b) Why this area is important to the chosen population; c) Gaps in current literature; d) Provide a clear and concise purpose statement for chosen topic (As outlined in Lecture 2); e) Following your research purpose, you must provide a hypothesis statement in what YOU think will happen in your research design; f) Cite research throughout the introduction to support your research topic etc. 2. Section 2: Methods and Design In this section you will provide information about the research methods and design. You will provide information about your participants, data collection methods etc. You are not responsible to come up with an original method, you can consult journal articles to help guide your research design (but you must cite these, and write in your own words!). In the methods section consider: Participants a) General methodology you have selected for your study in order to test your hypothesis b) Explain why the selected methods have been chosen. c) How will your recruit participants d) Participant population/sample size – rationale for this. e) Participants: age range, sex, any certain characteristics such as, ethnicity, socio-economic background etc. f) Are there any participants you would exclude, why or why not? g) Protection of human rights – are there certain ethics you need to consider? i.e. CONSENT Design: a) Identify your independent, and dependent variables and other variables you may need to consider b) What are you going to control for in your study (think: internal validity, external validity) c) What type of study design have you selected? Quasi, non-experiment, pre-experiment, RCT. d) Will you randomize groups or conditions? e) Within-subject design, between subjects design, repeated measures design f) Measurements obtained: pre- and posttest design, posttest only, baseline measure, followups? g) What outcome measures are you going to use in your study? Why? Procedure: a) What are the participants going to do? b) How are you going to carry out your study and interventions? c) When will your outcome measures be recorded? d) You can add a figure to refer to as well. 3. Section 3: Statistical Analysis Identify the appropriate statistical method you are going to use to analyze your data and why. Lecture 5 will be important to help identify your selected statistical methods, alpha, p-value etc. Identify the variables in your study for full marks. Specifically: a) how will you analyze your data? B) what kind of results will confirm your hypothesis? C) Choose the correct statistical analysis for your study design D) What is the independent and dependent variable, main effects, interactions, etc. 4. Section 4: Significance and Conclusion In your conclusion, provide how your proposed research would lead to impact in the population of interest. Identify the “why” your research project is important. This can be a short paragraph to summarize your hopes for the study. 5. Section 5 – References You are required to have a reference page and in-text citations. This must follow APA format (which is attached in your assignment drop box, and you also have a lecture on this). FURTHER DIRECTION At a minimum, there needs to be content for each of the five sections listed above. You will be marked on each of the five sections, as well as grammar, punctuation and formatting (see rubric). Think of your proposal this way: if you were writing a research grant for $10,000, how would you convince your readers that they should fund your project? Do not forget the power of visual presentation! Bold your subheadings to make it easier for the reader, ensure sentences flow, and your thoughts are coherent and concise. Want to add a figure? That’s awesome! Do not forget to format your sources correctly in APA format!
