phd isaac newton/LB

Research Proposal Guide

Preview of the Literature

This section is called a “Preview of the Literature” rather than a “Review of the Literature” because  the focus of this “Preview”  is narrowed to the few studies that you want to consider while doing this practice research proposal. If you had been doing an actual research project, you would do a full “Review of the Literature” after the “Purpose of the Study”.

This preview shows an understanding of several key studies that will form the basis of how you conceptualize  the problem, and  includes a discussion of the literature that is selective, synthetic, analytical, and thematic, and aligns with the question, hypothesis, and variables at hand.

 

Section 1— Preview.  (this is a 2-3 page, double-space, APA style “preview of literature” using a minimum of 5 refereed articles and/or books. This preview is a summary of each article that will tie into the research problem and question you identify later below. Any article obtained directly from the Internet must be contained within a source that is considered to be scientific or peer reviewed. In other words, an article that is written by an author but is not contained in a scientific journal or part of a scientific publication will not be acceptable. This preview should discuss how these key articles contribute towards a) our further understanding of the problem and question selected below, b) their relevance, and c) reference to other previous articles or studies on that matter. The  articles selected and previewed can either support, refute or provide a combination of such perspectives).

Typical Sample Literature Review

 

Research Problem 

This section describes the context in which the question arises, includes a problem statement, description of subjects, makes clear the research question, variables, and hypothesis to be addressed, describes the motivation for the study, and provides a roadmap for readers.

Research Proposal Narrative Template

Jordan Research Proposal Exemplar

Rogers Research Proposal Exemplar

 

Section 2— Setting Description.  (for our purposes, make this your current work setting) where you will conduct your study):

· Name of organization and location where action research will take place

· Detailed description of the organization

· Key Personnel

Section 3— Statement of a problem.  or a situation in your work setting or profession that you want to improve (a clear statement of one problem that is behavioral and observable)

Section 4— Subjects.  (describe the subjects of your study)

Section 5— Research Question.  (a clear statement of one question that ties in with the problem)

 

Here are three examples of research questions that flow from research problems:

· Research Problem: It was identified that adolescents graduating with traditional training methods were lacking in self-esteem.

· Research Question: Will adolescents who receive contemporary training have higher levels of self-esteem than those who receive traditional training or no training?

· Research Problem: Within the fire rescue profession, t was identified that many patients receiving CPR with ventilations were not surviving long enough to make it to the hospital.

· Research Question: Will doing CPR with ventilations or CPR without ventilations be more effective in enhancing patient survival?

· Research Problem: In the construction industry, it was found that unethical decisions were made quite often among employees with less than a high school education.

· Research Question: Is there a relationship between the number of years of education of professionals in the construction industry and the incidence of ethical decisions as measured by the Florida Construction Industry Licensing Board?

 

Section 6 —Type of research this question lends itself to:

· Descriptive (If you plan to describe the whole population of subjects you are studying and organize and summarize data only)

· Inferential (If you plan to draw conclusions about a larger population of subjects based on a sample of subjects)

 

Section 7— The study will concern itself with:

· Differences among levels of an independent variable on a dependent variable (proceed to 7A)

· Relationships among variables (proceed to 7B)

 

Section 8— Variables used including scale of measurement  (must fit with the research questions and hypotheses- you will use an independent and dependent variable if you are looking at differences and will use correlational variables if looking at relationships)

 

7A. You are studying Differences among levels of an independent variable on a dependent variable.

· Independent Variable ____________________ levels ____________________________

                  Scale of Measurement ____ nominal ____ ordinal ____ interval

· Dependent Variable ______________________ levels _____________________________

                  Scale of Measurement ____ nominal ____ ordinal ____ interval

 

7B. You are studying Relationships among variables.

· Correlational Variable #1 __________________ levels ___________________________

                  Scale of Measurement ____ nominal ____ ordinal ____ interval

· Correlational Variable #2 ___________________ levels __________________________

                  Scale of Measurement ____ nominal ____ ordinal ____ interval

 

Section 9— Research Hypothesis.  (must fit with the research questions and levels of measurement of the variables and be behavioral, observable, practical, and doable)

· There will be a difference between (use with 7A) ___________ and ____________ on _________?

· There will be a relationship between (use with 7B)__________ and ____________ on __________?

 

Section 10— Purpose of the Study.

 

Procedures

Procedures are described in detail and aligned with the research question, variables, and hypothesis

 

Section 11— Design of the Study.  (must fit with the research questions, hypotheses, and levels of measurement of the variables). Examples of research designs include: descriptive survey research, correlational research, experimental research, quasi-experimental research, causal-comparative research, qualitative research, action research, etc.). 

Section 12— Instrumentation.  (describe any dependent measure you will use to operationalize the dependent variable or correlational variables stated above. For example, if your dependent variable is depression, your dependent measure would be the specific way you will measure depression. You could use a simple dependent measure such as having subjects rank their moods from a 0-10 with “0” being “extremely depressed” and “10” being “extremely happy”. On the other hand, you could choose to use an existing instrument such as the Beck Depression Inventory to measure depression level. If you use an existing instrument as your dependent measure, please describe the instrument, how it is scored, and report on its reliability [consistency] and validity [does it measure what it’s supposed to measure?]).

Section 13— Statistical Procedures.  (must fit with the research questions, hypotheses, levels of measurement of the variables, and design of the study)   Section 14— Definitions of Terms.   Section 15— Summary of the Above Proposal.   Section 16— References.  (An APA style reference page consisting of a minimum of 5 refereed articles and/or books are required. Every document cited in the text must be listed in References and vice versa. See above description for details)