Research

Instructions

Research proposal. The Capstone research proposal is outlined in the APUS End of Program Manual Chapter 2. Below it is stated for you:

"Thesis Proposal:

A formal thesis proposal is required and shall be prepared in accordance with the standards of the academic discipline. The formal proposal must provide a clear and lucid description of a question or problem and a proposed method for answering it. Capstone thesis faculty must approve the proposal before students move on to the next stage of the process. The proposal should explain the question or problem to be investigated and convince the thesis professor that the question or problem merits investigation. It should show that the student has read the relevant and recent literature on the subject, and it should contain a list of academically appropriate resources consulted during the preliminary stages of research. In general, the thesis proposal should include background information related to the research topic, purpose of the research, methodology, and analytic procedures to be used. Proposal drafting is considered a learning process and helps students avoid oversights and possible mistakes. The formal proposal should not exceed ten pages (title page not included)."

Please include the following sections in your proposal (in APA formatting):

1. Introduction

       a. Background

       b. Rationale and purpose

       c. research question(s), objectives, and hypothesis

2. Literature review (minimum of 3 studies - should be peer-reviewed and primary studies) 

3. Methods

       a. Discuss theory and/or model used for research design

          b. Select your methods as quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods. For qualitative research, describe the Who, What, How, Why, and When of your research question. Which sampling method you will use, along with describing which research methods you will use and how you will collect data?  For quantitative research, what data will you be collecting and how? What is the scale of measurement for your data and the units?  Discuss how you will select the sample including size and composition. How will you accept or reject your hypothesis? For mixed methods research, you must choose a mixed methods design for how you will integrate qualitative and quantitative data to answer the research question.                                                                               

       c. Data collection procedures (must be detailed). What is the source of your data (primary or secondary)?

       d. Data analysis procedures. If quantitative, provide the statistical program and tests you will run. If qualitative, discuss how you will code and identify themes. 

       e. Study design validation and ethics

4. Study Limitations - include potential bias, validity, confounding variables, ethical considerations and sample size issues.

5. Conclusions

       a. How your results will be presented (think about tables and charts you can create)

       b. How your results will be disseminated - would you like to publish? If so, where would be a good place?

        c. What the impact of your study may be (policy, practice)

6. References

7. Appendices including an appendix with your timeline for the project. Develop Gantt Chart.

NOTE: You may add extra sections if it will help to format your paper.

Format: Follow APA format for proposal. 

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