CHAPTER 3
Checklist Items
Pg/NA
Comment History
Introduction
Restate the study purpose as described in chapter 1.
Preview major sections of the chapter.
Research Design and Rationale
Concisely state the study variables (independent, dependent, covariate, mediating, and/or moderating variables, as appropriate.
Identify the research design and its connection to the research questions.
Explain any time and resource constraints consistent with the design choice.
Describe how design choice is consistent with research designs needed to advance knowledge in the discipline.
If conducting an intervention study, defend the choice of intervention.
Methodology
(needs to be described in sufficient depth so that other researchers can replicate the study)
Population
Define the target population.
State target population size (if known) or approximate/estimated size.
Sampling and Sampling Procedures
Identify and justify the type of sampling strategy.
Explain specific procedures for how the sample will be drawn.
Describe the sampling frame (inclusion and exclusion criteria).
Use a power analysis to determine sample size and include:
· Justification for the effect size, alpha level, and power level chosen.
· Cite the source for calculating or the tool used to calculate the sample size.
Procedures For Recruitment, Participation, and Data Collection (for students collecting their own data)
Thoroughly describe recruiting procedures and particular demographic information that will be collected.
Describe how participants will be provided informed consent.
Describe how data are collected.
Explain how participants exit the study (for example, debriefing procedures, etc.).
Describe any follow-up procedures (such as requirements to return for follow-up interviews, treatments, etc.).
Additional Information if Conducting a Pilot Study:
Describe the relationship of the pilot study to the main study (for example, what is the purpose of the pilot study?).
Additional Information if Conducting an Intervention
Describe clearly and thoroughly the nature of the treatment, intervention, or experimental manipulation, how it will be designed and administered, and by whom and to whom it will be administered.
For Students Using Archival Data
Include all procedures for recruitment, participation, and data collection associated with the main study.
Describe the procedure for gaining access to the data set.
Describe necessary permissions to gain access to the data (with permission letters located in an appendix).
If historical or legal documents are used as sources of data, demonstrate the reputability of the sources and justify why they represent the best sources of data.
Instrumentation and Operationalization of Constructs
For published instruments provide:
· Name of developer(s) and year of publication.
· Appropriateness to the current study.
· Permission from developer to use the instrument (permission letter should be included in an appendix).
· Published reliability and validity values relevant to their use in the study.
· Where and/or with what populations the instrument was previously used and how validity/reliability are/were established in the study sample.
For all researcher instruments provide:
· Basis for development (literature sources or other bases for development, such as a pilot study).
· Plan to provide evidence for reliability (for example, internal consistency and test/retest).
· Plan to provide evidence for validity (for example, predictive and construct validity).
· Establish sufficiency of instrumentation to answer research questions.
For intervention studies or those involving manipulation of an independent variable:
Identify materials/programs applied as treatment or manipulation.
Provide information on the developer of the materials and/or programs.
If published, state where, how, and with which populations the instrument was previously used.
If researcher-developed materials, state the basis for development and how the materials were developed.
Provide evidence that another agency will sponsor intervention studies (such as clinical interventions).
Operationalization
For each variable describe:
Its operational definition.
How each variable is measured or manipulated.
How the variable/scale score is calculated, what the scores represent, and an example item.
Data Analysis Plan
Identify software used for analyses.
Provide explanation of data cleaning and screening procedures as appropriate to the study.
Restate the research questions and hypotheses here as written in chapter 1.
Describe in detail the analysis plan including the elements below including:
· Statistical tests that will be used to test the hypothesis(es).
· Procedures used to account for multiple statistical tests, as appropriate.
· Rationale for inclusion of potential covariates and/or confounding variables.
· How results will be interpreted (key parameter estimates, confidence intervals and/or probability values, odds ratios, etc.).
Threats to Validity
Describe threats to external validity (for example, testing reactivity, interaction effects of selection and experimental variables, specificity of variables, reactive effects of experimental arrangements, and multiple-treatment interference, as appropriate to the study) and how they will be and/or were addressed.
Describe threats to internal validity (for example, history, maturation, testing, instrumentation, statistical regression, experimental mortality, and selection-maturation interaction, as appropriate to the study) and how they will be and/or were addressed.
Describe any threats to construct or statistical conclusion validity.
Ethical Procedures
Agreements to gain access to participants or data (include actual documents in the IRB application).
Describe the treatment of human participants including the following (include actual documents in the Institutional Review Board [IRB] application):
· Institutional permissions, including IRB approvals that are needed (proposal) or were obtained (completed dissertation);include relevant IRB approval numbers in the final dissertation.
· Ethical concerns related to recruitment materials and processes and a plan to address them.
· Ethical concerns related to data collection and/or intervention activities (these could include participants refusing participation or early withdrawal from the study and response to any predicable adverse events) and a plan to address them.
Describe treatment of data (including archival data), including issues of:
· Whether data are anonymous or confidential and any concerns related to each.
· Protections for confidential data (data storage procedures, data dissemination, who will have access to the data, and when data will be destroyed).
Other ethical issues as applicable (these issues could include doing a study within one’s own work environment, conflict of interest or power differentials, and justification for use of incentives).
Summary
Summary of design and methodology of the method of inquiry.
Transition to chapter 4.
