A4

Assignment 4: Health Services Research Proposal Synopsis This assignment details your Health Services Research Proposal Synopsis. ALL proposals for any type of scholarly work must cover the 5 bold points in the key elements below:

Section/Chapter1 contains:

1. Background and need for the work 2. Problem statement 3. Scholarly Objective, Research question (and hypotheses if needed)

Section/Chapter 2 contains 4. Study-relevant information obtained from a review of the literature

Section/Chapter 3 contains 5. Approach (method/design) and some information on 6-13 below

a. Study design used b. Sample, population, participants c. Data source, data collection instruments and procedures d. Definitions of study variables or study dimensions of interest e. Data analysis procedures or procedures for organizing findings of

qualitative studies f. Limitations g. Results, expected findings h. Potential significance of findings, expected conclusions, importance of

research In 5-6 pages using APA format, write a Research Proposal Synopsis. Utilizing your work from assignments 2 and 3, write a proposal synopsis which includes all of the bold elements above and conclude your proposal with a brief paragraph (3-4 sentences) describing what you learned from this assignment. Students will give a presentation on their proposals. When structuring your Methods section of the Research Proposal Synopsis, use part of the formal outline of a methods section as listed below. The section headings for exploratory/descriptive, case studies, and best practices papers are in parentheses when they differ from headings used in hypothesis testing studies.

METHODS Study Objective(s) Hypotheses (or Research Questions) Approach or Study Design Data Sources (or Population) Specification of Variables (or Specification of Questions [Opinions or Insights] to be Elicited) Data Collection or Data Set Construction (for archival data sets) Data Analysis In addition to the 5-6 pages, include a bibliography and separately upload a Word document containing all 10 of the required annotated bibliographies. As a guide to writing your proposal synopsis, go through the process of answering the questions posed below. DO NOT INCLUDE THESE IN YOUR ASSIGNMENT, this is just a process to assist you. Use the text to help you through this process. Make notes or write drafts as you proceed.

1. Restate or revise/clarify the project question you identified in Assignment 2. Based on what you have learned, using your Problem Description and your Literature Review, what objective (or research questions) do you NOW want your study to meet? (It may have changed after your initial research).

2. What type of scholarly inquiry is your study (they each have different formats for writing)?

a. Is this a project aimed at informing professional practice by integrating what is known into a “best practices” or “new insights” document?

b. Is it an organizational case study or a consulting report? c. Is this a prospective study where you collect qualitative data? d. Is this a survey using a previously validated instrument? e. Are you developing and pilot testing a survey instrument? f. Are you analyzing archival data to describe a problem or issues in current

practice? g. Is your study and analysis of archival (previously collected) data that tests a

hypotheses using inferential statistics? h. Will you collect data prospectively and use these data to test a hypothesis?

3. Where or from whom and how can you get the data or information you need? 4. How will you collect those data or the information of interest? 5. How will you measure/record the evidence? 6. Which factors may affect your findings? Can you measure/and or control many of these

irrelevant factors? 7. For quantitative evidence, what statistical approaches will you use to analyze your data?

For qualitative approaches, how will you organize your responses? 8. What do you expect to find? How will you report these findings?

Helpful Suggestion: Let your brain and notes rest for at least 24 hours, and preferably 48 hours. Re-read your notes from the above process and start writing a 5-6 page “Proposal Synopsis” paper from scratch, not by copying pieces of your notes. This will make for a more flowing and cohesive paper.