Research Proposal
In weeks 1, 3, and 5, you will work on a research proposal. This assignment progresses in stages so that at the end of the course, you will have a completed proposal and understand the components of the research process. Overall, the assignment will help you think about research approaches and how they can be applied based on your chosen worldview or the nature of the groups you wish to research. By selecting the best approach from the start, researchers are more likely to get good results to answer research questions.
This week you will select a proposal topic that interests you and you would like to learn more about. This can be something you do for work, academic studies, or a personal interest. You will use the four combinations of worldviews, designs, and research methods you learned this week to discuss a project involving your research topic. You will determine whether your proposed study should apply a quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods approach.
The importance of a good research question cannot be overstated. It is integral to a research study and ensures the researcher is focused on a measurable target for successful research results. It also ensures that the research objective is clearly defined, and the target is measurable. For example, if you wanted to study whether or not membership in afterschool clubs increases the likelihood of developing friendships, it is important to apply operationalizationLinks to an external site., or precisely define your variables and measures. It would be essential to clearly define what constitutes after-school clubs, and a precise definition of what is to be counted as success. At this stage, you are transforming your question into a hypothesisLinks to an external site.—a prediction or proposal of an explanation that can be measured and validated, or rejected, through testing.
After choosing your research proposal topic and formulating your hypothesis, the next step is to learn what is already known. By reviewing the existing literature, you may learn that your area of interest has been asked and answered in various ways or that gaps in the literature need to be addressed. You may want to replicate and retest prior research or develop an investigation of your own.
As you think about your proposal, consider whether your approach will be inductive, deductive, or mixed. In the research strategyLinks to an external site. chart provided next, you can review how different types of inquiry lend themselves to three different types of research methods: qualitative (inductive), quantitative (deductive), and mixed methods, combining both types of data collection.
A chart describing three types of research methods: inductive, deductive and mixed with the long description provided next.
Long description
Chart by Priya ChettyLinks to an external site. from Project Guru.
In your paper, please use the following as a template for this assignment.
Select each tab and respond to all parts of the assignment.
IntroductionWorldviewConclusionFormat Instructions
Introduction (1- 2 paragraphs)
Write an introductory paragraph that includes the following:
Explain the significance of your selected research proposal topic, including why it is important to you.
Describe the target population or demographic for your proposal.
Justify your selection and why the chosen group is appropriate.
Describe any important, unique, or relevant information about your proposal that your readers should know.
Worldview (3-5 paragraphs)
Summarize, in your own words, the four worldview approaches that you learned about this week: constructivism, positivism/post positivism, pragmatism, and advocacy/participatory.
Justify the worldview approach you selected for your project including why you think this is the best choice for this type of research.
Conclusion (1 paragraph)
Summarize why this topic is important to you and what you have learned this week that you were able to apply to this stage of the research process.
The Understanding Research Design and Approaches: The Social Science Research Proposal paper,
must be two to three double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Writing Center’s APA StyleLinks to an external site..
must include a separate title page with the following:
Title of paper
Student’s name
Course name and number
Instructor’s name
Date submitted
For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA Formatting for Microsoft WordLinks to an external site..
must utilize academic voice. Review the Academic VoiceLinks to an external site. resource for additional guidance.
must include Introduction, Literature Review, Worldview and Conclusion paragraphs. Your introduction paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the purpose of your paper.
For assistance on writing Introductions & ConclusionsLinks to an external site. and Writing a Thesis StatementLinks to an external site., refer to the Writing Center resources.
must use at least 3 credible sources in addition to the course materials.
The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible SourcesLinks to an external site. table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.
must document any information used from sources in APA style as outlined in the Writing Center’s Citing Within Your PaperLinks to an external site..
must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Writing Center. Review the APA: Formatting Your References ListLinks to an external site. resource in the Writing Center for specifications.
