CAPSTONE (This is a REWRITE) (Behavior and Perceptions to High HIV rate among African Americans) 7 PAGES
Title Page The recommended title length is 12 words or fewer to include the topic, the variables and relationship between them, and the critical keywords. Double-space the title if over one line of type and center it under the word “Prospectus.” Please note that your dissertation title will likely change as the project evolves. Include your name, your program of study (and specialization, if applicable), and Student ID number—double-spaced and centered under the title.
Title
Start with “Prospectus” and a colon, and then include the title as it appears on the title page. Double-space if over one line of type and center it at the top of the page.
Problem Statement
Provide a one- to two-paragraph statement that is the result of a review of research findings and current practice and that contains the following information:
1. A logical argument for the need to address an identified gap in the research literature that has current relevance to the discipline and area of practice. Keep in mind that a gap in the research is not, in and of itself, a reason to conduct research. Make sure to clarify the problem that led you to the gap. The situation being experienced in a societal population or discipline is described within the problem statement.
2. Preliminary evidence that provides justification that this problem is meaningful to the discipline or professional field. Provide three to five key citations that support the relevance and currency of the problem. These references need not all be from peer reviewed journals but should be from reputable sources, such as national agency
3. Assure that the problem is framed within and primarily focused on the discipline (program of study).
Note: A social problem involves an issue that affects a specific population/discipline. It is the issue that students see “on the ground” so to speak. The social problem is often what prompts students to think about a topic of interest drives their dissertation topic. Usually such a topic is one that students identify with, sometimes having personally experienced some aspect of the problem as it exists in the world. All too often, students want to solve a specific social, organizational, clinical, or practical problem rather than explore a research problem. A research problem is a focused topic of concern, a condition to be improved upon, or troubling question that is supported in scholarly literature or theory that you study to understand in more detail, and that can lead to recommendations for resolutions. It is the research problem that drives the rest of the dissertation: the purpose, the research questions, and the methodology. It is the research problem that is identified in the Problem Statement of the prospectus. Dissertation Prospectus Guide Page 5 databases or scholarly books, and should ideally be from the past 5 years.
Purpose
Present a concise, one-paragraph statement on the overall purpose or intention of the study, which serves as the connection between the problem being addressed and the focus of the study. • In quantitative studies, state what needs be studied by describing two or more factors (variables) and a conjectured relationship among them related to the identified gap or problem. • In qualitative studies, describe the need for increased understanding about the issue to be studied, based on the identified gap or problem. • In mixed-methods studies, with both quantitative and qualitative aspects, clarify how the two approaches will be used together to inform the study. Significance
Provide one or two paragraphs, informed by the topic in the problem statement, that describe the following:
1. How this study will contribute to filling the gap identified in the problem statement: What original contribution will this study make?
2. How this research will support professional practice or allow practical application: Answer the So what? question.
3. How the claim aligns with the problem statement to reflect the potential relevance ofthis study to society: How might the potential findings lead to positive social change?
Background
Provide (a) the keywords or phrases that you searched and the databases used; and (b) a representative list of scholarship and findings, or an annotated bibliography, that support and clarify the main assertions in the problem statement, highlighting their relationship to the topic, for example, “this variable was studied with a similar sample by Smith (2013) and Johnson (2014)” or “Jones’s (2012) examination of industry leaders showed similar trends in the same key segments.” Some of these resources may have already been mentioned in the first sections of the prospectus and can be included here, also. Provide 5 to 10 peer-reviewed articles most of which should have been published within the last 5 years and/or represent current information on topic.
Framework (Conceptual or Theoretical)
In one paragraph, describe the framework that demonstrates an understanding of the theories and concepts relevant to your topic. Align the framework with the problem, purpose, research questions, and background of your study. This theoretical or conceptual framework is Dissertation Prospectus Guide Page 6 the basis for understanding, designing, and analyzing ways to investigate your research problem (data collection and analysis). Provide the original scholarly literature on the theory or concepts even if it is more than 5 years old. Please do not cite secondary sources.
Research Question(s) and Hypotheses (if applicable)
List the question or a series of related questions that are informed by the study purpose, which will lead to the development of what needs to be done in this study and how it will be accomplished. A research question informs the research design by providing a foundation for • generation of hypotheses in quantitative studies, • questions necessary to build the design structure for qualitative studies, and • a process by which different methods will work together in mixed-methods studies.
Nature of the Study
Provide a concise paragraph that (a) presents the approach that will be used to address the research question(s) and (b) discusses how this approach aligns with the problem statement. The examples of study design are as follows:
• Quantitative—for experimental, quasi experimental, or nonexperimental designs; treatment-control; repeated measures; causal-comparative; single-subject; predictive studies; or other quantitative approaches
• Qualitative—for ethnography, case study, grounded theory, narrative inquiry, phenomenological research, policy analysis, or other qualitative traditions • Mixed methods, primarily quantitative—for sequential, concurrent, or transformative studies, with the main focus on quantitative methods
• Mixed methods, primarily qualitative—for sequential, concurrent, or transformative studies, with the main focus on qualitative methods
• Other—for another design, to be specified with a justification provided for its use
Possible Types and Sources of Data
Secondary data include public or existing data that are collected by others. Primary data are collected by the researcher. Provide a list of possible types and sources of data that could be used to address the proposed research question(s), such as test scores from college students, employee surveys, observations of a phenomenon, interviews with practitioners, historical documents from state records, de-identified medical records, or information from a federal database. For secondary, or preexisting data, identify the data source, how the data will be accessed, and the data points that will be used to address the research questions. For primary data, explain the data points, how the data will be obtained, and potential participants who will be accessed to address the research questions. Possible secondary data sources, by program, are available on the Center for Research Quality website. Sources of information that support and clarify the problem belong in the Background section. If you are thinking about collecting data on a sensitive.
Limitations, Challenges, and/or Barriers
Provide information on limitations, challenges, and/or barriers that may need to be addressed when conducting this study. These may include access to participants, access to data, separation of roles (researcher versus employee), instrumentation fees, etc.
On a new page, list your references formatted in the correct style (sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, modeled at the end of this guide) for all citations within the Dissertation Prospectus.