Research Proposal

Keep in mind, that this is not merely an exercise. I will not accept research proposals with
minimal thought that are sloppily done. Although you may be somewhat uncertain and
anxious about the research process, keep in mind that everyone goes through this process.
However, once you start writing and make some progress, you will find that it is not that bad.
In fact, if you are like me, you will become excited by the prospect that you will be able to
obtain some knowledge that you and your organization will find useful. Good Luck.

Use the following information and format to write your research proposal Again, I strongly
urge you to examine the previous research proposals that have been developed for this
course. They are located on this web site. When examining these research proposals again
note the considerable variability in the formatting. This is due to the formatting requirements
changing over the years. Therefore, the best bet is to focus on the content and when you
write your proposal use the present format. I should also note these are top quality proposals
with all of these students receiving As on their proposals. Unless otherwise stated, you
should follow APA format. Keep in mind that you are completing a Research Proposal, that
is, a plan for conducting a study at some future date. Therefore, particularly in the Method
and Research Design sections, you should be using the future tense in your writing.

Other points are worth noting. Of course, many of the below recommendations are
automatically handled by most word processing programs

Double-space everything.

Margins: 1" on all sides.

Pagination: 1" from edges, upper right-hand corner or bottom centered. Use lowercase
Roman numerals for lists and tables; use Arabic numbers throughout beginning on page
one of the body of the paper.

Indentation: Five (5) spaces all paragraphs and first line of each reference.

Do not right-justify the paper.

Do not use boldface type; italics print takes the place of underlining only.

Do not switch print types; use block print, 12 CPI.

Always retain a second copy.

 Use non-sexist language throughout the paper.

Numbers one through ten are spelled out; never start a sentence with a number (14
states).

Do not use personal pronouns or contractions.

Sections of the Research Proposal

Title Page
Include the title of the paper, your name, PSC 280, term, and date on this page. Number
all pages beginning with the title page.

Abstract
This is the second page of the paper. It should not be indented. It should be titled
Abstract and it should be centered. This should be the last thing you write. The
abstract should summarize your proposal. It should give the reader an idea of problem,
what you expect to find, and the basic method. You need to do this within 120-150
words.

Problem Statement
The body of your text will begin here with the Problem Statement.

Literature Review
Use your literature review to develop the rationale for the proposed research in the most
compelling and logical fashion. Do not simply cite your five articles in a serialized,
disjointed fashion but rather integrate it such that it logically leads to your problem and
objectives. When you are citing research only cite the authors, last name and year of
publication (e.g., Jones, 1999) and summarize the basic contents of each article.

Method
Describe in detail how the study will be conducted.

Research Design and Analysis of Results

Describe your design and how you plan on analyzing your variables.

References
The reference section starts on a new page. A reference section only contains those
sources that have been referred to in the writing of the paper. Papers are cited in
alphabetical order and double-spaced. You need to reference your citations using APA
format. Make sure you use the APA manual to accomplish this goal. Have a look at
this stylistic sample of APA proposal with some useful hints.
When you have completed all of the sections of the research proposal go over it carefully for
understanding and syntax. There is nothing worse than a poorly edited paper.

Evaluation
The research paper is worth 300 points. The evaluation will be based on writing style,
completeness, and accuracy. I will evaluate your proposal and return to you as an e mail
attachment.

Assignment Submission: