Dr.Dovil Research Proposal Guideline:

The final paper will be on your research proposal project. You will be required to select one criminal justice issue/problem; explain why you choose this particular issue; provide scholarly articles that specifically studied the issue/problem; provide the proposed methodology; provide a completed IRB form; as well as the different components of the research proposal.

Elements of a Research Proposal (8-10 pages, without reference page or IRB form)

Cover Page Introduction Problem or Objective

What exactly do you want to study?

Research Questions/Hypothesis

What is your research question or questions?

Do you have any predictions about your variables?

Significance of Study

What will this study help uncover? What are the broader impacts for society? Why is the study necessary? How does this study benefit society? Who will benefit from this study? How does this contribute to the field of Sociology?

Literature Review (8-10 Scholarly Journals)

What have others said about this topic? What previous research exist? Are these consistent findings, or do past studies disagree? Does the body of existing research have flaws you can remedy?

Methodology Subjects for Study

Study Site

Who or what will you study in order to collect data? Identify subjects in general and specific terms. Identify and describe the sampling method you are proposing for the quantitative and qualitative portions of the proposed study (i.e., simple random sampling, convenience sampling, etc.) Indicate the anticipated sample size for quantitative and qualitative samples Describe (in

 

 

general) the anticipated demographic characteristics of your quantitative and qualitative samples

Identify and describe where your study will take place, including city and state and, if applicable, agency name.

Measurement

For the quantitative portion of the proposed study:

Identify and describe the operational definition (e.g. how it is measured) for the independent and the dependent variables. Describe the type of quantitative study instrument being used, such as a survey, a case record review form, or if the data are supposed to come from administrative data, indicate that here.

Describe the reliability of the quantitative study instrument, if known. If not known, then describe how you would address reliability issues (e.g. how will you know if the instrument is reliable)? Describe the validity of the quantitative study instrument, if known. If not known, then describe how you would address validity issues (e.g. how will you know if the instrument is valid)?

For the qualitative portion of the proposed study:

Identify and describe the main domains that are to be explored (e.g. the main topics you are going to ask about) Describe the type of qualitative study instrument being proposed, such as a semi-structured interview guide, or a focus group guide.

Describe how potential issues related to the credibility and trustworthiness of the data will be addressed

Data Collection

How will you actually collect the data for your study? Describe, step by step, how you will: Describe how you will obtain informed consent, ensure participants’ confidentiality or anonymity, protect them from harm, and submit your proposal to an IRB for review and approval. Recruit potential participants (if applicable) Collect data from participants What will happen when you collect data (survey, interview questions, audio recording, field notes, etc..) If the proposed study includes an intervention, describe the intervention in this section

 

 

 

 

Data Analysis

For the quantitative portion:

Describe the types of descriptive statistics that you are proposing to use for each variable of interest, including: demographic variables, the independent variable, the dependent variable and also any important extraneous (i.e. confounding) variables that may influence the possible relationship between the independent and the dependent variables.

What are the key variables in your study? How will you define and measure them?

Indicate the kind of analysis you plan to conduct.

Describe the type of inferential statistics that you are proposing to use to test

your hypothesis. For the Qualitative Portion:

Describe your anticipated process for qualitative analysis (i.e. ongoing, cyclical process of reading and re- reading transcripts and field notes) Describe the coding process you will use (content, thematic, comparative, narrative), you can combine these approaches.

Study Design Strengths and Limitations

Describe the potential strengths and limitations of your proposed methods. Consider strengths and limitations of each component in the methods section, however describe here only the most important strengths and limitations.

Anticipated Findings and Implications

Include in a separate section Briefly state what you expect your findings to be, and explain the implications of your specific, anticipated results for social work (i.e., its influence on practice, policy, theory, and/or future research).

Institutional Review Board

Complete and submit your application

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Evaluation of writing: Go to the writing center, schedule appointment with Mrs. Monroe, go to office hours Extensively edit your own paper and/or have others assist you. Do not expect your instructor to edit your draft or final paper for you. It is your responsibility to read through the paper to identify and fix errors. Use Grammarly.com to assist with grammar mistakes

 

 

The word program will usually show many of these problems colored in red or green – FIX THEM!

Linking Literature Review to Your Proposal

Make clear connections between: The information presented in your literature review Your research statement (“This research examines….”) Your hypothesis (quantitative) and your research question (qualitative) Is there a logical connection between the information that you present and your research statement? Can the reader easily see why your proposed study would be important to the field of social work?

Writing: Technical Issues

Do not use contractions in professional writing: – Don’t should be: do not, etc…). When starting a sentence with a number, write the number out in words Affect vs. Effect: — Affect is a verb or adverb, e.g., “Youth in the foster care

system are affected by a number of challenging situations.” — Effect is a noun or object, e.g., “Multiple placement changes can have a number of negative effects on youth in the foster care system.”

Paraphrase—do not generally use quotes:

Paraphrasing means to use your own words to summarize and/or synthesize someone else’s work Only use a quote of a passage of text if it is of some distinction or you are providing the definition of a concept.

Paraphrasing is a skill that requires you to fully understand the meaning of the text you are citing.

For more information see: Ensure adequate paragraph structure: Paragraphs should be at least three sentences (beginning (transition), middle (content) and end (conclusion) Paragraphs should focus on one idea and should never be longer than one page double spaced. Lead the reader on a journey (tell a good story) about why the study that you are proposing is important. Common feedback: Re-word to improve clarity Use topic-specific sub-section headings Use transition sentences and phrases to link ideas Make sure to back up your statements with references. If you say: “Studies show…” “Research

 

 

indicates…” There should be at least one reference after that sentence. Qualify whenever possible your own interpretations about research evidence as possibilities, rather than facts.

APA Format In-Text Citations

Properly cite secondary sources No “&” within in-text citations

When referencing in-text: Use just the authors last name and date (no first names, book title, journal/ article titles or presentation titles)

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_s tyle_guide/general_format.html

When describing a population—put the individual first, rather than the disorder/problem: People with mental illness (vs. the mentally ill People with a substance use disorder vs. addicts, alcoholics etc…

People with Autism vs. Autistics People who are undocumented or with unauthorized citizenship status vs. illegal immigrants

Do not use I, me, my, we, etc. – Use the third person, such as the author, this writer, etc. Use 12-point Times New Roman font with 1 inch margins throughout – change bottom margin to .8 if needed to ensure the margins area all the same size. Set orphan and widow controls

Use ragged right, not right-justified margins