Each component must be addressed effectively to receive credit. Please refer to the research articles provided for your article review for examples.
Introduction (5-7 pages):
- Introduce your topic in a general sense, situate it within the larger context of education
- Identify the research problem you want to address
- Include relevant research concerning your topic (brief literature review)
- Discuss studies that asked similar questions to you
- Discuss studies that identified a similar research problem/research questions.
- Discuss how these studies indicated a need for your research
- After discussing relevant research and building a case for your study, clearly identify the purpose of your study
- State your research question(s)
- Include a potential hypothesis, if you deem this necessary
- Use subheadings, such as Introduction, Review of Literature, and Research Questions
Method (3-5 pages) use subheadings for each component:
- Research design: qualitative or quantitative. Explain why you selected this design. Within each design indicate your method—such as ethnography or grounded theory for qualitative research or pre-posttest experimental/ quasie-xperimental design for quantitative research. Why did you select this method to address your research questions?
- Participants: Who will they be? How many? How did you sample these participants? (ie: purposeful, random etc…) What is the setting in which your data will be collected?
- Data collection: What methods will you use to collect data? Why did you select these methods? How will you try to ensure validity and reliability of the data. Cite your text for specific validity strategies.
- Data analysis: How do you plan on analyzing your data? Will you use qualitative methods—such as content analysis or grounded theory coding? Will you use statistical methods, such as t-tests, mean comparison?
- Because you do not have an extensive background in data analysis procedures, you may hypothesize your methods and/or ask me for help.
References
- You must cite any and all research that you will be writing about. If the idea did not come directly from you, then cite. Most of your citations will be in the introduction (ie: citing education legislation to create a need for your research, citing relevant studies that address your research topic). However, you will also need citations in the methods section, concerning your research design, data collection, and data analysis. These citations can come from your text.
- I cannot stress this enough- when in doubt, add a citation. Educational researchers work hard and deserve to be awarded credit for their ideas. I take plagiarism very seriously. Don’t do it.
APA style writing
- Please observe APA style for your proposal
- Use APA style citations and include APA style references
- Refer to your APA manual (6th edition, second printing) or https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/Links to an external site.
- Please proofread your proposal for typos and errors. Excessive errors will result in deduction.
