Development Proposal
FCST 304: Final Paper
Research Development Proposal
This paper will be a complete research development proposal. The final document will describe, in detail, the rationale for and the design of a proposed study. This paper will outline your plan for an original research project including the planned design, sample, procedure, and methods. This paper is your opportunity to learn more about a topic in Human Development and Family Science that you are especially interested in, and to critically evaluate ways in which you think this topic could be studied in the future. This paper will also be your chance to highlight your expertise in APA style. You will not collect any data for this proposal; rather, you will describe the data you would collect were you to carry out the study.
The final paper, written in APA style, should be approximately 5-10 pages in length (the specific length will depend on your writing style and the details of your proposed study). The paper should include a title page, an abstract, and introduction section (including a literature review, justification of the research question and hypotheses), a planned methods section (including a participants section, a materials section, and a procedure section), an anticipated results section, a discussion section, and a reference section. If you design any new measures for the study you will also need an appendix section where you present the new measures. The title page, abstract, references, and appendices do not count for your page length goal. Your study must focus on a topic related to human development and/or families.
Detailed Instructions
*The entire paper will be written in APA style*
1) Title Page
2) Abstract: 150-250 word summary of your research development proposal.
3) Introduction Section: Specify your research question, justifying its importance based in a review of the existing literature (include citations in APA format; including the three papers you already reviewed for your Research Assignments 2, 3, and 4 plus at least TWO NEW REFERENCES for a total of 5 MANDATORY REFERENCES), clarify what we already know about the subject and what we do not yet know (i.e., gaps and limitations of existing literature – as related to your question) and state your hypothesis. Remember, you must cite at least 5 references in this section.
4) Method Section: Describe how you will answer your research question. Presume that resources/ funds are limitless!! Describe the methods you will use and the reasons you think these methods are the most appropriate. Be as specific as possible.
a. Participants Subsection: Include a subsection describing your proposed sampling strategy. What will your unit of analysis be (individuals, classrooms, families, neighborhoods)? What procedures will you follow to select your sample (i.e., random sampling, cluster sampling, snowball sampling, convenience sampling)? How will you assure that your sample is representative of the population to which you want to generalize your findings? Be sure to clearly state what population you will be able to generalize your results to. How large will your sample be and what characteristics will they have (age, gender, race, etc.)? Once you have selected the sample, how will you recruit it?
b. Measures Subsection: Include a section describing each of your measures. Include a separate paragraph (with a separate subheading) for each variable in your study and describe how you will measure it. If you are including a survey or an interview, include sample items (or attach a sample questionnaire as an appendix). If you are using an observational approach, specify your procedures, attach any checklists or coding sheets you will use, etc. Make sure you explain how you will establish the reliability and validity of each of your measures and how you will address common threats to validity. For most of you, there will be one or two sentences about reliability and validity in each subsection of the measures section.
c. Procedure Subsection: If you are doing an experiment, describe all of the experimental procedures (how will groups be assigned and what will be done with each group)? If you are doing a quasi-experiment, describe who will be included in the groups you are comparing and why as well as what each group will do. Include a detailed description of how the data will be collected. This is the “cookbook” section of your paper. Someone should be able to read your procedure section and carry out your study for you. Make sure you describe your overall data collection procedures in detail. Is it a questionnaire administered in a group setting? Is it another approach? What directions will be given to participants? How will you get informed consent (and assent if appropriate)?
5) Expected Results Section: Here, please describe what statistical tests you will conduct, and what you expect the results of these tests to show. This information can be found in chapters 12 and 13 of your book, and the APA publication manual has excellent information as well. Dr. Goldstein will post additional resources on the Canvas site to provide further support for this section.
6) Discussion: Finally, describe how you think this research might be an important contribution to the field. Describe ways in which the potential results from this research could be used to inform work with families and individuals throughout the lifespan. Finally, be sure to note potential limitations of your research. You should tie in your expected results with previously conducted research (at least one of the articles that you cited in the introduction section).
7) Include a reference section in APA style.
8) If relevant, also include an Appendix section, using APA style.
Formatting:
· Remember to use APA style (including cover page, headers, section headings, in-text citations, references, and appendices (if applicable).
· Proofread! Make sure sentence structure and grammar are acceptable.
· Avoid first person statements.
· Include section and subsection headings (see attached sample).
Remember to keep one hard copy and one electronic copy for yourself before submitting the paper. Submit the paper in hard copy in class on the day it is due. Your book provides a sample APA paper starting on page 341 (or 349 if you are using the 12th edition). Also, the following links will send you directly to APA style resources.
APA style tutorial from APA
http://flash1r.apa.org/apastyle/basics/index.htm?__utma=185732729.631729230.1441216953.1441216953.1441217991.2&__utmb=185732729.8.10.1441217991&__utmc=185732729&__utmx=-&__utmz=185732729.1441217991.2.2.utmcsr=google|utmccn=%28organic%29|utmcmd=organic|utmctr=%28not%20provided%29&__utmv=-&__utmk=58740269
MSU APA page
http://www.montclair.edu/media/montclairedu/library/APAStyle-2012.pdf
Purdue Owl APA page
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
APA style blog from APA
http://blog.apastyle.org/
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NOTE: An APA style reference section and appendices should follow the text. Each should begin on a new page, but these do not count toward the page limit. Any documents included in the appendices should be referenced in the text. Documents in the appendix should be presented in the order in which they were mentioned in the text.