proposal

Your proposal is due on week 15. The maximum word limit of the proposal is 4,000 +_ 5% excluding the title (cover) page, references and appendices. Avoid repetition and be concise.

The exact format of each student’s proposal is likely to vary in content, style and presentation. The example below provides a possible structural framework for your proposal and should be used as a guide only. It is important to bear in mind that different approaches may necessitate differences in structure. Overall, ensure that deviations from a ‘traditional’ structure are clearly explained and justified.

Title (Cover page)

This is a mandatory inclusion and should contain the following information.

Title of project

Author Name

Proposal Submitted for the Master of Science in Nursing

College of Nursing. Hail University

Month and Year of Submission

The title (cover) page and page numbers should be exactly per APA style

Proposal should be written in future tense, except for the literature review section.

Introduction

Introduce your topic of interest for the reader. Provide information on the context and rationale for the topic you chose to study and why it is important. Describe the broad foundations of your proposal, including some references to existing literature and/or empirically observable situations. In other words, the introduction needs to provide sufficient background for readers to understand where your proposal for research, a process improvement or policy initiative is coming from.

This section provides a description of the topic being studied (global to within the Saudi Arabian context). It provides a justification of its importance and relevance in terms of existing trends, reports, theory, research and practice.

Tips on drafting your background

· Indicate the general scope of your proposal project, but do not go into so much detail that later sections (purpose/literature review etc.) become irrelevant

· Clarify what the problem is or knowledge gap is that your project is responding to.

Overall, this section should demonstrate wide reading in the immediate area and related theoretical areas and a discussion of underlying theories and supporting evidence. It is recommended that you include information on your search strategy (e.g. keywords, databases and inclusion and exclusion criteria and final results of your search). Provide a range of years used in the search and a rationale. Essentially, this section should be a comprehensive summary and a critical review of existing literature, which identifies strengths, weaknesses and omissions within the reviewed literature, and there should be accurate and complete referencing.

In summary, the literature review is to examine the relevant literature to identify the research areas which are pertinent to your subject. A further purpose is to identify a conceptual framework that is suitable to guide your study.

Tips on drafting your Literature Review

· Categorize the literature into recognizable topic clusters and begin each with a sub heading. Look for trends and themes and then synthesize, a) the various positions that are relevant to your project, b) that build on conclusions that lead to your project, or c) demonstrate gaps in the literature

· Avoid starting each paragraph with “Smith says X, Jones says Y”. You should be synthesizing the information you find into specific concepts / topics. The meaning of synthesis is to report sources in an organized and clear way. To do this, all of the relevant studies need to be combined to demonstrate concepts / topics.

· Avoid including all the studies on the subject; include relevant studies only for the synthesis process. Stick to those pieces of the literature directly relevant to your narrowed subject (research question or statement of a problem).

· You should fight the temptation to strongly express your opinions about the literature you find. Look at both sides of an argument and be nonjudgmental in your appraisal.

· Conceptualize the research problem, drawing on the relevant literature.

The conceptual / theoretical framework; please read your text books and the link provided on the PowerPoint to fully understand the purpose of using a conceptual / theoretical framework as part of your Capstone Project. If you use a non-nursing theory for your conceptual framework, for example, if you use the PDSA for process improvement, you need to write a paragraph on a suitable nursing theory that aligns with your project. It is very important that you study this section so that you have a very clear understanding of the conceptual / theoretical framework. Include the name of the creator of the framework, their discipline  (nursing, sociology etc), a description of framework,  and the rationale/relevance for selecting the framework you chose. 

The overall purpose for this section is to discuss the methods adopted and to provide a clear rationale for this choice. The method section for your research has a number of subsections which should include the following

· Aim and objectives: a clear statement of aim and objectives and where appropriate hypothesis(es) and/or research questions (use PICO format)

· Philosophical Stance: consider the methodology of choice and in short few sentences explain the theoretical underpinnings of the methodology of choice (where did this worldview/lens come from originally)

· Research design: describe and provide justification for the type of methodology adopted and discuss its appropriateness to the research problem / question (use PICO format) /objectives or hypothesis(es)

· Sample: identify and describe the population from which the sample will be drawn. Make explicit reference to the way in which the sample will be selected and the composition of the sample (i.e. size and characteristics)

· Instruments: describe instruments used to collect data (e.g. questionnaires, interview schedule, observation forms). It is also important to discuss the steps undertaken to ensure the rigor of your proposal. Include that you will have tool professionally translated into Arabic for use.

· Ethical issues: Include a discussion of the ethical issues relevant to your research design and procedure and the steps taken to ensure compliance with ethical guidelines for example, the governing authority that may grant approval, for instance the Saudi Ministry of Health.

· Procedure: Report each step clearly so that it can be replicated by another researcher

· Data analysis: in the case of quantitative research this will incorporate a statement of the statistical tests used or that you are going to use, for what purpose and their justification. Similarly, for qualitative research it is important to provide justification for the analysis procedure how are you going to make sense of your findings and present the findings

· Work Plan : Describe the proposed plan for managing the flow of work on the project, indicate in the work plan the sequence of tasks to be performed, the anticipated length of time required for their completion.

References

All references cited in the text use APA (American Psychological Association) 6th manual for putting down your references.

These could include, a questionnaire, interview guiding questions, letters, and consent form.

· Ensure that your write-up answers all the set guidelines.

· “Times New Roman”- font size 12 is to be used for writing

· Give 1.5 line space

· Set margins all sides (Top, Bottom, left and right) 1”

· Total number of slides for presentation should not exceed 20.

· Remember the word limit is 4,000 words. At the beginning of the process you may think that 4,000 words is a lot but as you proceed you will probably be surprised at the amount you want and need to say. Avoid repetition and be concise. Ensure that the latter sections of the dissertation receive as much attention as the initial sections.

Your proposal is graded by course instructor who will decide on the final grade. The project is worth up to 15 % of the total marks for the course. The presentation is worth up to 20% of the total marks for the module

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