o The abstract
o The “body” of the proposal (i.e., the intro, literature review, and methods)
Abstract: The abstract goes on the second page. It is one paragraph, no more than 100 words long and is a summary of what the reader is about to see in the body of the proposal. Provide brief descriptions of the intro and methods.
The Body: The body of the paper is composed of three main parts
1) The introduction. Describe the importance of the research question of your choice. Provides the reader with the research background of your project.
2) REVISED Literature review. It should be largely based on your proposal draft with some additional transitions to make sure that the proposal flows well.
It should be around 4- 7 pages. The lit review can be done in two ways
o Temporal review: gives a history of the research that has preceded your proposal. Starts from earliest work and moves forward in time to the present.
o Conceptual review: provides the reader with previous research that has been conducted on different variables in your proposal. For example, if you are testing two variables – say, the effect of education and poverty on juvenile prostitution – the review would cover each variable separately. There would be a brief review of research on education and juvenile prostitution, then a brief review of the research on poverty and juvenile prostitution. That would lead up to your proposal which proposes to study the combined effects of education and poverty on juvenile prostitution.
• For the purposes of this paper I want you to use at LEAST EIGHT references (six of which must come from academic, refereed articles, and the other two of which can come from an academic book). These sources must be original material (i.e., no magazine or newspaper articles, no web sites, and no textbooks).
• Use APA style for all referencing and general style requirements. You can find copies of the APA guide in the library.
3) Proposed Methods: This is where you describe what you will do with the proposed research topic. Think of this section as if it were a “recipe” for conducting research. You must provide enough detail to the reader so that he/she knows what you are doing and how you will do it. You must include the “ingredients” (i.e., participants, sample selection, settings, etc.) as well as “instructions” (i.e., procedures) in this section. The following are GENERALLY what should be included in the methods, but this is totally up to you depending on what kind of proposal you are doing.
o Setting: If you are doing the research in a particular place and this place has an important role in the research then describe it here. For example if you are comparing an urban (i.e., Fairfax) city to a rural (i.e., Roanoke County, VA) one in a proposed qualitative research project, you would provide crime statistics and demographic information for both places. You do not need a setting section if the setting is not crucial to the proposal (i.e., you don’t need one if all you are doing is a quantitative study of police suicide rates across the US).
o Participants: This is where you describe the individuals you are studying. Provide age, gender, and other demographic and criminal justice related information here. You don’t need this section if people are not what you are studying (for example, a study of how different newspapers report crime).
o Sample Selection Process: This is where you describe your sample selection strategy. Based on your research question and the type of participants you have in mind, what would be an appropriate way to identify your participants?
o Materials: This is where you describe any physical materials you will need to use in your study. For example, a description of any psychological measures or surveys would go here (a description, but not the actual survey itself or the questionnaire…that would go in the appendix).
o Procedures/Selection of Research Method: This is where you describe the process of research, from start to finish (the “how to do it” portion). Throughout the semester, we’ve covered different types of research methods. Pick one method which you believe to be most appropriate to examine your research question discussed in your previous draft. Describe the method and outline its advantages and disadvantages.
References: Use APA format. List all bibliographic references in alphabetical order.
Appendices: Any graphs, tables, or materials (questionnaires, surveys, etc.) go here. You also need to attach the previous graded draft here.
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