BIZZNA TUTOR

Directions for Unit 8

The Proposal

All the information you need for completing Unit 7 will be found on this directions sheet. Print a copy and please pay careful attention to the directions.

1. Keep the objective relevant to this unit in mind as you proceed: Following completion of this course, the student will have demonstrated the ability to develop a good quality, well designed proposal for a research project. The student will understand the critical need for controlling as many factors as possible and can discuss all of Campbell and Stanley’s (1963) threats to internal validity. The student will be able to explain one method of random sampling and of convenience sampling and will understand the desirability of random assignment of subjects and why convenience sampling is often used in educational research despite the obvious disadvantage.

2. Complete the assigned readings.

3. You have one major task to complete: Proposal. Never start data collection on a project until your supervisor has approved your proposal. Using your review of literature as a foundation, develop a proposal for your research. This will entail sandwiching an introduction and a methods section around the review of literature which you have already completed. Consult required readings for assistance . The proposal will include the following:

(a) Title page

(b) Introduction. About one page in length, selling the need for the study. See page 73. This would be the ideal location to insert a citation from LexisNexis. Available as one of your library’s databases, this is a hot topics link to news articles of various kinds. This kind of resource is particularly helpful in making a case for doing research, but does not replace the peer reviewed journal articles that you must review.

(c) Review of literature. You’ve already done this part, but be sure that every single editing point is addressed and corrected . Once you do that, simply copy and paste it in.

(d) Methods. ( Minimum of five subjects per group) See page 74.

(e) References. See page 76.

(f) Appendix. See page 76.

4. One relatively minor task remains. Study the text section on quantitative research designs and fill out the matrix on the following page. Copy and post the completed matrix.

Design	Advantage	Weakness
One- shot, case study
One-group pre-post
Static groups, posttest only
Pretest posttest control group
Solomon four gp
Nonrandomized Control gp pretest posttest
Ex post facto

Critical Features Analysis Matrix for Experimental Design