Research Proposal

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Research Proposal Instructions

Carefully read the Research Proposal Sample to know how to easily complete the assignment

To avoid zero points for this assignment, you must use the following outline to complete a research proposal:

Research Proposal Outline

Title Page Introduction

Literature Review Research Methods

Conclusion Bibliography

In using the above outline, respond to all the statements under each of the following sub- headings without including the statements in your research proposal paper. Introduction a. Provide background information about your proposal (at least 150 words).

b. Identify a clear, focused, and precise research question (at least 20 words)

c. Discuss why your research question is clear, focused, and precise (at least 165 words)

d. Discuss the relationship between the dependent and independent variables in your research

question, as debated or contested in relevant peer-reviewed journal articles (at least 180 words).

e. Discus the position you took on the relationship between the dependent and independent

variables in your research question (at least 25 words).

f. Explain your conceptualization, operationalization, and measurement of the dependent and independent variables in your research question. Be clear on the peer-reviewed journal articles from which you got your conceptualization, operationalization, and measurement (at least 380 words).

g. State the null hypothesis and the research hypothesis related to your research question (at least 70 words).

• Let the hypotheses reflect the position you took in (d) above on the relationship between the dependent and independent variables in your research question.

• Be clear if you are re-testing another author’s hypotheses.

h. Discuss the specific new contribution your proposal will make to existing knowledge: That contribution may be, for example, a specific relationship between a specific dependent

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variable and a specific independent variable that existing studies have not convincingly examined or the use of new cases to examine the validity of a specific claim in existing studies, or the use of a different research method to examine a specific studied relationship, etc. (at least 50 words).

Literature Review

i. Briefly review 5-10 peer-reviewed articles from JSTOR (www.jstor.org) and/or EbscoHost (www.ebscohost.com) that focus on the relationship between the dependent and independent variable in your research question. In your review, you are required to discuss the following (in at least 2300 total words):

• The debate about the relationship between the dependent and independent variables.

• Conceptualization, operationalization, and measurement of the dependent variable, as discussed in the relevant peer-reviewed journal articles.

• Conceptualization, operationalization, and measurement of the independent variable, as discussed in relevant peer-reviewed journal articles.

• Possible control variables identified in relevant peer-reviewed journal articles.

• Conceptualization, operationalization, and measurement of the possible control variables, as discussed in relevant peer-reviewed journal articles.

• The specific control variables whose impact on the dependent variable you are proposing to examine.

• The specific new contribution of your research proposal to existing knowledge (you may use information in (g) above.

• Your own conceptualization, operationalization, and measurement of the dependent, independent, and control variables that you borrowed or adapted from relevant peer- review journal articles.

• Discuss the link between relevant peer-reviewed journal articles and your hypotheses. Research Methods (in at least 400 total words) j. Describe the sampling method(s) you will use to select two groups of 30 research subjects.

Each group must have 30 research subjects. Given your research question, you may have one of the following pairs of research subjects:

30 males and 30 females, 30 undergraduate students and 30 graduate students, 30 African Americans and 30 Hispanics, 30 African Americans and 30 Caucasian Americans, or 30 young persons and 30 old persons

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k. Clearly describe the rationale for the sampling method(s).

l. Discuss how you will protect the research subjects and how you will keep the information

from the research subjects confidential.

m. Describe how you will analyze the collected data Conclusion (in at least 150 total words) n. (1) Identify and (2) Discuss three anticipated findings of your research proposal

o. Explain two implications of the three anticipated findings. Provide in-text citations and a list of references cited based on the American Psychological Association (APA) format in chapter 7 in the Six Edition of Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Chapters 3 and 4 in the same Manual provide guidance on “Writing Clearly and Concisely” and “The Mechanics of Style”.