- Review the problem sheets that you have completed to see how they correspond to the suggestions made in this chapter.
- This assignment asks you to produce a formal proposal of at least 1200 words describing the research project you intend to pursue. Those in student teaching will use this proposal to guide your study during your student teaching. Paper format: 1200 +words; 1.5 spacing; separate title page including name, title, and date; page numbers; in-text citations and works cited in APA form; 1″ margins; visual evidence (as appropriate) with captions. USE YOUR PROBLEMS SHEETS. The research proposal MUST include the following headings:
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- Section I
- Title Page
- Table of Contents
- Summary of Proposal
- Section II
- Problem to be investigated – This introduction should be designed to interest your reader in your topic and proposal and provide some historical/cultural context for your project. At the end of your introduction, include a tentative thesis to indicate to your reader that you are entering your project looking at your topic through a critical, analytic lens — this thesis should clearly state your intentions using a metadiscursive structure (i.e., “In this project, I will…” or “This research project will investigate …”). A good formula for an introduction is context + problem/complication + proposed argument or research question. Each stage in this formula should be a few sentences long. If you are not ready to construct a hypothesis at this point, be sure to include at least one well-thought-out research question to indicate what line of inquiry you’re going to use in your research. Include:
- Purpose of the study (including assumptions)
- Justification for the study
- Research questions and hypotheses
- Definition of terms
- Background and review of literature – In this section, you should discuss the methods and sources you will use to conduct your research, including specific references to sites, databases, key texts or authors that you feel will be indispensable to your project. Include here also reference to less traditional research methods– fieldwork, interviews, surveys, visits to chatrooms, gaming — as applicable to your topic. This is also the section in which you might troubleshoot the research project, or weigh the benefits and drawbacks of certain types of sources (i.e., availability, bias, etc.). Make sure your reader understands how the methodology/sources you have chosen are appropriate to your specific topic. Include:
- Theory, if appropriate
- Studies directly related
- Studies tangentially related
- Procedures
- Description of the research design
- Description of the sample
- Description of the instrument
- Explanation of the procedures that you will follow to conduct the study and collect the data
- Proposal Conclusion
- Problem to be investigated – This introduction should be designed to interest your reader in your topic and proposal and provide some historical/cultural context for your project. At the end of your introduction, include a tentative thesis to indicate to your reader that you are entering your project looking at your topic through a critical, analytic lens — this thesis should clearly state your intentions using a metadiscursive structure (i.e., “In this project, I will…” or “This research project will investigate …”). A good formula for an introduction is context + problem/complication + proposed argument or research question. Each stage in this formula should be a few sentences long. If you are not ready to construct a hypothesis at this point, be sure to include at least one well-thought-out research question to indicate what line of inquiry you’re going to use in your research. Include:
- Section I
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- References (Bibliography) – If you cite any sources, you’ll also need to have a works cited at the end of the proposal, with the citations in APA format. Any parenthetical citations in the text itself should also follow APA guidelines. Even if you don’t have a works cited, you should include a preliminary bibliography at the end of your proposal containing at least 3 sources; be sure this is in proper APA form as well (please be sure to include URLs for your source UNLESS you found them through a database). Also, please after each citation, note how you found it. For example, this is a citation that might appear in the bibliography/works cited of a paper on Women & Computer Science:
- “Women and Computer Science – Science Q&A – Readers’ Questions – New York Times Blog.” New York Times. 16 Apr 2007. Web. 19 Apr 2008 . Found through a search of NYTimes.com
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- Appendixes
- Timeline. Include a timeline for your project, using these dates from the syllabus as the foundation for your plan: (Example)
- Wednesday, January 16: Draft of Research Proposal due
- Tuesday, January 22 (by 11:59pm): Proposal Presentation Materials due
- Wednesday, January 23: Proposal Presentations (by individual assignment)
- Monday, January 28: Revision of Research Proposal du
- Timeline. Include a timeline for your project, using these dates from the syllabus as the foundation for your plan: (Example)
- Appendixes
- Add an “About the Author” section. Finally, as an addendum to the proposal, create a biography of yourself as a researcher — an “About the Author” section in which you establish your persona and your ethos as a student-researcher on your topic. Please include an appropriately sized photograph of yourself alongside your bio. Be sure to use the third person in your biography.
******The research should be conducted for the entire school at Henderson Middle School at Jackson, Georgia.