Applied Research Prospectus Format

Transcription

1 Applied Research Prospectus Format A "prospectus" is an incisive and revealing analytic summary of your proposed research project. For this course it should not exceed 10 pages in length. The prospectus first states the question that your project will attempt to answer or explore then shows why it is an important or worthy question in the context of current knowledge and your own intellectual purposes. Then it describes what you will do to answer or explore that question, explaining how and why each step fits into your analytic research design. The prospectus concludes with a preview of your thesis or argument, and a tentative outline of the paper that will result. The goal of the prospectus is to show that a) it is possible for you to do a substantial piece of research on this topic, b) that it will answer or seriously explore the question you have formulated, c) it can be completed within the time available to you, and d) what you will do about it. Obviously you can only do a good prospectus when you have actually done a significant share of the research involved for the project. You must be able to show specifically that the basic components you need for a logical analysis are available in certain key sources. The best way to do this is by actually drawing on some of your sources to illustrate how they will serve your needs. Thus, the prospectus is in part an intellectual justification for, and in part a mini-version of a full research proposal. That means your question must be fairly fully conceptualized, explored. For your final exam, your goal is to demonstrate an integration of research methods and your understanding assessment and mental disorders. Choose a setting, a scenario, or a situation and develop a research prospectus for how you would go about designing an intervention to address the issue. This can be done in the format of format research or as a grant application. Basic points to include are: Statement of the problem Understanding of relevant research o This should not only demonstrate an understanding of the issue o And it should provide the support or rationale for your intervention Description of the intervention planned How you plan on assessing the issue, what is needed, and the effectiveness of your intervention. While you do not need to do this as a formal research proposal, as a reference, I am providing two outlines of prospectus formats. One is for Quantitative Research and the Other for Qualitative. Feel free to choose the research design that will best investigate your research question.

2 PROSPECTUS OUTLINE FOR QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS I. Introduction A. Context of the Problem 1. Describe the general circumstances surrounding the problem (for example, the state of higher education; the nature prevalence, and incidence of a disability or disease; the administrative environment in the public schools.) 2. Describe the ramifications of the problem or the difficulties that result from the problem. B. Statement of the problem C. Significance of the problem D. Statement of the purpose of the research - the statement of purpose is an explicit statement of the central goal of the research (for example, "the purpose of this research is to study the effects of psycholinguistic training on children with learning disabilities.") E. Research questions and/or hypotheses. II. Literature Review III. Method A. Brief summary of the problem and purpose B. Systematic review of the research 1. Proceed from older ideas, models, theories, and research to recent ones. 2. Proceed from globally relevant research to research specifically addressing elements of your research questions C. Relevance of the literature to the problem being studied D. Review reflects an articulation of the synthesis and integration of major themes in the research reviewed, as opposed to a simple chronology of studies. A. Participants or organizations 1. Number and salient characteristics of participants (for example, age, gender, grade level, ethnicity.) 2. Sampling method used to select the participants (for example, random selection, probability sampling.) 3. State how participants were assigned to groups, if applicable (for example, random assignment, median split.) B. Procedure and data collection 1. Describe the steps utilized in gathering the data so that a reader could replicate your research. 2. Describe the manipulation or treatments, if any (for example, length of time). C. Research design 1. Describe the specific methodology chosen and provide appropriate references to the literature. 2. Explain why the methodology is suitable for the problem of interest. 3. Discuss the strengths and limitations of using the methodology.

3 4. State the design used (for example, experimental, quasi-experimental, or ex post facto.) 5. Identify the dependent (outcome) variable(s) - provide operational definitions (i.e., instruments used) and scales of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio) for each. 6. Identify the independent (predictor) variable(s) - provide operational definitions (i.e., instruments, manipulations, treatments) and scales of measurement for each. 7. State research questions or hypotheses (statistical hypotheses). D. Data analyses 1. State the specific statistical analyses that will be used to address each of the research questions or hypotheses. E. Instrumentation or apparatus 1. Describe the materials used, if applicable. 2. Describe the use of existing survey questionnaires, scales, or psychometric instruments used. a. Indicate the reliability (for example, interrater, test-retest, parallel forms, internal consistency, or alpha reliability.) b. Indicate the validity (for example, content, criterion-related, or construct.) 3. In the event you develop an instrument, please describe development and validation process you will use to ascertain the technical adequacy of the instruments. IV. Utility and Limitations of the Proposed Research A. Anticipated outcomes of the research B. Limitations of the research 1. Threats to internal validity. 2. Threats to external validity. 3. Threats to statistical conclusion validity. 4. Threats to construct validity. 5. Other limitations. C. Importance of the expected outcomes to your discipline Rubric for Evaluation: A. Organization (30 points) 1. Content 2. Headings 3. Tables, figures, and appendices (as appropriate) B. Clarity & concision (adhering to page length) (20 points) C. References and Literature Review ( 25 points) D. Use of APA style (25 points)

4 PROSPECTUS OUTLINE FOR QUALITATIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS I. Introduction A. Context of the Problem 1. Describe the general circumstances surrounding the problem (for example, the state of higher education; the nature prevalence, and incidence of a disability or disease; the administrative environment in the public schools.) 2. Describe the ramifications of the problem or the difficulties that result from the problem. B. Statement of the problem C. Significance of the problem D. Statement of the purpose of the research - the statement of purpose is an explicit statement of the central goal of the research (for example, "the purpose of this research is to study the effects of psycholinguistic training on children with learning disabilities.") E. Research questions guiding the research. II. Literature Review A. Brief summary of the problem and purpose B. Systematic review of the research 1. Proceed from older ideas, models, theories, and research to recent ones. 2. Proceed from globally relevant research to research specifically addressing elements of your research questions C. Relevance of the literature to the problem being studied D. Review reflects an articulation of the synthesis and integration of major themes in the research reviewed, as opposed to a simple chronology of studies. III. Method A. Participants or organizations 1. Number and salient characteristics of participants (for example, age, gender, grade level, ethnicity.) 2. Describe how the sample was obtained (for example, purposive selection). B. Procedure and data collection 1. Describe the steps utilized in gathering the data so that a reader could replicate your research. 2. State the instructions or information given the participants. 3. Describe protocol development, or development of the interview schedule, observation method, document analysis, and other procedures used in collecting data. 4. Indicate what efforts were made to ensure the adequacy and accuracy of the data.

5 C. Research design 1. Describe the specific methodology chosen and provide appropriate references to the literature. 2. Explain why the methodology is suitable for the problem of interest. 3. Discuss the strengths and limitations of using the methodology. 4. Discuss design of approach (case study, multiple case study, ethnographic, etc.) D. Data analyses 1. Describe the approach used to analyze the data. 2. Indicate the measures taken to ensure the fidelity and accuracy/truthfulness of interpretation. 3. Methods employed to handle subjective bias. E. Instrumentation or apparatus 1. Describe the materials used, if applicable. 2. Describe the use of existing survey questionnaires, scales, or psychometric instruments used. a. Indicate the reliability (for example, interrater, test-retest, parallel forms, internal consistency, or alpha reliability.) b. Indicate the validity (for example, content, criterion-related, or construct.) 3. In the event you develop an instrument, please describe development and validation process you will use to ascertain the technical adequacy of the instruments. IV. Utility and Limitations of the Proposed Research A. Anticipated outcomes of the research B. Limitations of the research 1. Threats to credibility. 2. Threats to transferability. 3. Other limitations. C. Importance of the expected outcomes to your discipline Rubric for Evaluation: A. Organization (30 points) 1. Content 2. Headings 3. Tables, figures, and appendices (as appropriate) B. Clarity & concision (adhering to page length) (20 points) C. References and Literature Review ( 25 points) D. Use of APA style (25 points)