the elements of a proposal

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1/9THEELEMENTSOFAPROPOSALFrankPajaresEmoryUniversityI.IntroductionandTheoreticalFrameworkA.Theintroductionisthepartofthepaperthatprovidesreaderswiththebackgroundinformationfortheresearchreportedinthepaper.Itspurposeistoestablishaframeworkfortheresearch,sothatreaderscanunderstandhowitisrelatedtootherresearch(Wilkinson,1991,p.96).B.Inanintroduction,thewritershould1.createreaderinterestinthetopic,2.laythebroadfoundationfortheproblemthatleadstothestudy,3.placethestudywithinthelargercontextofthescholarlyliterature,and4.reachouttoaspecificaudience.(Creswell,1994,p.42)C.Ifaresearcherisworkingwithinaparticulartheoreticalframework/lineofinquiry,thetheoryorlineofinquiryshouldbeintroducedanddiscussedearly,preferablyintheintroductionorliteraturereview.Rememberthatthetheory/lineofinquiryselectedwillinformthestatementoftheproblem,rationaleforthestudy,questionsandhypotheses,selectionofinstruments,andchoiceofmethods.Ultimately,findingswillbediscussedintermsofhowtheyrelatetothetheory/lineofinquirythatundergirdsthestudy.D.Theories,theoreticalframeworks,andlinesofinquirymaybedifferentlyhandledinquantitativeandqualitativeendeavors.1.Inquantitativestudies,oneusestheorydeductivelyandplacesittowardthebeginningoftheplanforastudy.Theobjectiveistotestorverifytheory.Onethusbeginsthestudyadvancingatheory,collectsdatatotestit,andreflectsonwhetherthetheorywasconfirmedordisconfirmedbytheresultsinthestudy.Thetheorybecomesaframeworkfortheentirestudy,anorganizingmodelfortheresearchquestionsorhypothesesforthedatacollectionprocedure(Creswell,1994,pp.8788).2.Inqualitativeinquiry,theuseoftheoryandofalineofinquirydependsonthenatureoftheinvestigation.Instudiesaimingatgroundedtheory,forexample,theoryandtheoreticaltenetsemergefromfindings.Muchqualitativeinquiry,however,alsoaimstotestorverifytheory,henceinthesecasesthetheoreticalframework,asinquantitativeefforts,shouldbeidentifiedanddiscussedearlyon.II.StatementoftheProblemA.Theproblemstatementdescribesthecontextforthestudyanditalsoidentifiesthegeneralanalysisapproach(Wiersma,1995,p.404).B.Aproblemmightbedefinedastheissuethatexistsintheliterature,7/31/2015 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2/9theory,orpracticethatleadstoaneedforthestudy(Creswell,1994,p.50).C.Itisimportantinaproposalthattheproblemstandoutthatthereadercaneasilyrecognizeit.Sometimes,obscureandpoorlyformulatedproblemsaremaskedinanextendeddiscussion.Insuchcases,reviewersand/orcommitteememberswillhavedifficultyrecognizingtheproblem.D.Aproblemstatementshouldbepresentedwithinacontext,andthatcontextshouldbeprovidedandbrieflyexplained,includingadiscussionoftheconceptualortheoreticalframeworkinwhichitisembedded.Clearlyandsuccinctlyidentifyandexplaintheproblemwithintheframeworkofthetheoryorlineofinquirythatundergirdsthestudy.Thisisofmajorimportanceinnearlyallproposalsandrequirescarefulattention.ItisakeyelementthatassociationssuchasAERAandAPAlookforinproposals.Itisessentialinallquantitativeresearchandmuchqualitativeresearch.E.Statetheproblemintermsintelligibletosomeonewhoisgenerallysophisticatedbutwhoisrelativelyuninformedintheareaofyourinvestigation.F.EffectiveproblemstatementsanswerthequestionWhydoesthisresearchneedtobeconducted.Ifaresearcherisunabletoanswerthisquestionclearlyandsuccinctly,andwithoutresortingtohyperspeaking(i.e.,focusingonproblemsofmacroorglobalproportionsthatcertainlywillnotbeinformedoralleviatedbythestudy),thenthestatementoftheproblemwillcomeoffasambiguousanddiffuse.G.Forconferenceproposals,thestatementoftheproblemisgenerallyincorporatedintotheintroductionacademicproposalsforthesesordissertationsshouldhavethisasaseparatesection.III.PurposeoftheStudyA.Thepurposestatementshouldprovideaspecificandaccuratesynopsisoftheoverallpurposeofthestudy(Locke,Spirduso,&Silverman,1987,p.5).Ifthepurposeisnotcleartothewriter,itcannotbecleartothereader.B.Brieflydefineanddelimitthespecificareaoftheresearch.Youwillrevisitthisingreaterdetailinalatersection.C.Foreshadowthehypothesestobetestedorthequestionstoberaised,aswellasthesignificanceofthestudy.Thesewillrequirespecificelaborationinsubsequentsections.D.Thepurposestatementcanalsoincorporatetherationaleforthestudy.Somecommitteespreferthatthepurposeandrationalebeprovidedinseparatesections,however.E.Keypointstokeepinmindwhenpreparingapurposestatement.1.TrytoincorporateasentencethatbeginswithThepurposeofthisstudyis...Thiswillclarifyyourownmindastothepurposeanditwill7/31/2015 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3/9informthereaderdirectlyandexplicitly.2.Clearlyidentifyanddefinethecentralconceptsorideasofthestudy.SomecommitteeChairspreferaseparatesectiontothisend.Whendefiningterms,makeajudiciouschoicebetweenusingdescriptiveoroperationaldefinitions.3.Identifythespecificmethodofinquirytobeused.4.Identifytheunitofanalysisinthestudy.IV.ReviewoftheLiteratureA.Thereviewoftheliteratureprovidesthebackgroundandcontextfortheresearchproblem.Itshouldestablishtheneedfortheresearchandindicatethatthewriterisknowledgeableaboutthearea(Wiersma,1995,p.406).B.Theliteraturereviewaccomplishesseveralimportantthings.1.Itshareswiththereadertheresultsofotherstudiesthatarecloselyrelatedtothestudybeingreported(Fraenkel&Wallen,1990).2.Itrelatesastudytothelarger,ongoingdialogueintheliteratureaboutatopic,fillingingapsandextendingpriorstudies(Marshall&Rossman,1989).3.Itprovidesaframeworkforestablishingtheimportanceofthestudy,aswellasabenchmarkforcomparingtheresultsofastudywithotherfindings.4.Itframestheproblemearlieridentified.C.Demonstratetothereaderthatyouhaveacomprehensivegraspofthefieldandareawareofimportantrecentsubstantiveandmethodologicaldevelopments.D.Delineatethejumpingoffplaceforyourstudy.Howwillyourstudyrefine,revise,orextendwhatisnowknown?E.Avoidstatementsthatimplythatlittlehasbeendoneintheareaorthatwhathasbeendoneistooextensivetopermiteasysummary.Statementsofthissortareusuallytakenasindicationsthatthewriterisnotreallyfamiliarwiththeliterature.F.Inaproposal,theliteraturereviewisgenerallybriefandtothepoint.Bejudiciousinyourchoiceofexemplarstheliteratureselectedshouldbepertinentandrelevant(APA,2001).Selectandreferenceonlythemoreappropriatecitations.Makekeypointsclearlyandsuccinctly.G.Committeesmaywantasectionoutliningyoursearchstrategytheproceduresyouusedandsourcesyouinvestigated(e.g.,databases,journals,testbanks,expertsinthefield)tocompileyourliteraturereview.CheckwithyourChair.V.Questionsand/orHypothesesA.Questionsarerelevanttonormativeorcensustyperesearch(Howmanyofthemarethere?Istherearelationshipbetweenthem?).Theyaremostoftenusedinqualitativeinquiry,althoughtheiruseinquantitativeinquiryisbecomingmoreprominent.Hypothesesarerelevanttotheoreticalresearchandaretypicallyusedonlyinquantitativeinquiry.Whena7/31/2015 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4/9writerstateshypotheses,thereaderisentitledtohaveanexpositionofthetheorythatleadtothem(andoftheassumptionsunderlyingthetheory).Justasconclusionsmustbegroundedinthedata,hypothesesmustbegroundedinthetheoreticalframework.B.Aresearchquestionposesarelationshipbetweentwoormorevariablesbutphrasestherelationshipasaquestionahypothesisrepresentsadeclarativestatementoftherelationsbetweentwoormorevariables(Kerlinger,1979Krathwohl,1988).C.Decidingwhethertousequestionsorhypothesesdependsonfactorssuchasthepurposeofthestudy,thenatureofthedesignandmethodology,andtheaudienceoftheresearch(attimeseventhetasteandpreferenceofcommitteemembers,particularlytheChair).D.Thepracticeofusinghypotheseswasderivedfromusingthescientificmethodinsocialscienceinquiry.Theyhavephilosophicaladvantagesinstatisticaltesting,asresearchersshouldbeandtendtobeconservativeandcautiousintheirstatementsofconclusions(Armstrong,1974).E.Hypothesescanbecouchedinfourkindsofstatements.1.Literarynullanodifferenceformintermsoftheoreticalconstructs.Forexample,Thereisnorelationshipbetweensupportservicesandacademicpersistenceofnontraditionalagedcollegewomen.Or,Thereisnodifferenceinschoolachievementforhighandlowselfregulatedstudents.2.Operationalnullanodifferenceformintermsoftheoperationrequiredtotestthehypothesis.Forexample,Thereisnorelationshipbetweenthenumberofhoursnontraditionalagedcollegewomenusethestudentunionandtheirpersistenceatthecollegeaftertheirfreshmanyear.Or,ThereisnodifferencebetweenthemeangradepointaveragesachievedbystudentsintheupperandlowerquartilesofthedistributionoftheSelfregulatedInventory.Theoperationalnullisgenerallythepreferredformofhypothesiswriting.3.Literaryalternativeaformthatstatesthehypothesisyouwillacceptifthenullhypothesisisrejected,statedintermsoftheoreticalconstructs.Inotherwords,thisisusuallywhatyouhopetheresultswillshow.Forexample,Themorethatnontraditionalagedwomenusesupportservices,themoretheywillpersistacademically.Or,Highselfregulatedstudentswillachievemoreintheirclassesthanlowselfregulatedstudents.4.OperationalalternativeSimilartotheliteraryalternativeexceptthattheoperationsarespecified.Forexample,Themorethatnontraditionalagedcollegewomenusethestudentunion,themoretheywillpersistatthecollegeaftertheirfreshmanyear.Or,StudentsintheupperquartileoftheSelfregulatedInventorydistributionachievesignificantlyhighergradepointaveragesthandostudentsinthelowerquartile.F.Ingeneral,thenullhypothesisisusediftheory/literaturedoesnotsuggestahypothesizedrelationshipbetweenthevariablesunderinvestigationthealternativeisgenerallyreservedforsituationsinwhichtheory/research7/31/2015 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5/9suggestsarelationshipordirectionalinterplay.G.Bepreparedtointerpretanypossibleoutcomeswithrespecttothequestionsorhypotheses.Itwillbehelpfulifyouvisualizeinyourmind=seyethetables(orothersummarydevices)thatyouexpecttoresultfromyourresearch(Guba,1961).H.Questionsandhypothesesaretestablepropositionsdeducedanddirectlyderivedfromtheory(exceptingroundedtheorystudiesandsimilartypesofqualitativeinquiry).I.Makeaclearandcarefuldistinctionbetweenthedependentandindependentvariablesandbecertaintheyarecleartothereader.Beexcruciatinglyconsistentinyouruseofterms.Ifappropriate,usethesamepatternofwordingandwordorderinallhypotheses.VI.TheDesignMethodsandProceduresA.Themethodsorproceduressectionisreallytheheartoftheresearchproposal.Theactivitiesshouldbedescribedwithasmuchdetailaspossible,andthecontinuitybetweenthemshouldbeapparent(Wiersma,1995,p.409).B.IndicatethemethodologicalstepsyouwilltaketoanswereveryquestionortotesteveryhypothesisillustratedintheQuestions/Hypothesessection.C.Allresearchisplaguedbythepresenceofconfoundingvariables(thenoisethatcoversuptheinformationyouwouldliketohave).Confoundingvariablesshouldbeminimizedbyvariouskindsofcontrolsorbeestimatedandtakenintoaccountbyrandomizationprocesses(Guba,1961).Inthedesignsection,indicate1.thevariablesyouproposetocontrolandhowyouproposetocontrolthem,experimentallyorstatistically,and2.thevariablesyouproposetorandomize,andthenatureoftherandomizingunit(students,grades,schools,etc.).D.Beawareofpossiblesourcesoferrortowhichyourdesignexposesyou.Youwillnotproduceaperfect,errorfreedesign(noonecan).However,youshouldanticipatepossiblesourcesoferrorandattempttoovercomethemortakethemintoaccountinyouranalysis.Moreover,youshoulddisclosetothereaderthesourcesyouhaveidentifiedandwhateffortsyouhavemadetoaccountforthem.E.Sampling1.Thekeyreasonforbeingconcernedwithsamplingisthatofvaliditytheextenttowhichtheinterpretationsoftheresultsofthestudyfollowfromthestudyitselfandtheextenttowhichresultsmaybegeneralizedtoothersituationswithotherpeople(Shavelson,1988).2.Samplingiscriticaltoexternalvaliditytheextenttowhichfindingsofastudycanbegeneralizedtopeopleorsituationsotherthanthoseobservedinthestudy.Togeneralizevalidlythefindingsfromasampletosomedefinedpopulationrequiresthat7/31/2015 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6/9thesamplehasbeendrawnfromthatpopulationaccordingtooneofseveralprobabilitysamplingplans.Byaprobabilitysampleismeantthattheprobabilityofinclusioninthesampleofanyelementinthepopulationmustbegivenapriori.Allprobabilitysamplesinvolvetheideaofrandomsamplingatsomestage(Shavelson,1988).Inexperimentation,twodistinctstepsareinvolved.Randomselectionparticipantstobeincludedinthesamplehavebeenchosenatrandomfromthesamepopulation.Definethepopulationandindicatethesamplingplanindetail.Randomassignmentparticipantsforthesamplehavebeenassignedatrandomtooneoftheexperimentalconditions.3.Anotherreasonforbeingconcernedwithsamplingisthatofinternalvaliditytheextenttowhichtheoutcomesofastudyresultfromthevariablesthatweremanipulated,measured,orselectedratherthanfromothervariablesnotsystematicallytreated.Withoutprobabilitysampling,errorestimatescannotbeconstructed(Shavelson,1988).4.Perhapsthekeywordinsamplingisrepresentative.Onemustaskoneself,Howrepresentativeisthesampleofthesurveypopulation(thegroupfromwhichthesampleisselected)andhowrepresentativeisthesurveypopulationofthetargetpopulation(thelargergrouptowhichwewishtogeneralize)?5.Whenasampleisdrawnoutofconvenience(anonprobabilitysample),rationaleandlimitationsmustbeclearlyprovided.6.Ifavailable,outlinethecharacteristicsofthesample(bygender,race/ethnicity,socioeconomicstatus,orotherrelevantgroupmembership).7.Detailprocedurestofollowtoobtaininformedconsentandensureanonymityand/orconfidentiality.F.Instrumentation1.Outlinetheinstrumentsyouproposetouse(surveys,scales,interviewprotocols,observationgrids).Ifinstrumentshavepreviouslybeenused,identifypreviousstudiesandfindingsrelatedtoreliabilityandvalidity.Ifinstrumentshavenotpreviouslybeenused,outlineproceduresyouwillfollowtodevelopandtesttheirreliabilityandvalidity.Inthelattercase,apilotstudyisnearlyessential.2.Becauseselectionofinstrumentsinmostcasesprovidestheoperationaldefinitionofconstructs,thisisacrucialstepintheproposal.Forexample,itisatthisstepthataliteraryconceptionsuchasselfefficacyisrelatedtoschoolachievementbecomesscoresontheMathematicsSelfEfficacyScalearerelatedtoGradePointAverage.Strictlyspeaking,resultsofyourstudywillbedirectlyrelevantonlytotheinstrumentaloroperationalstatements(Guba,1961).7/31/2015 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7/93.Includeanappendixwithacopyoftheinstrumentstobeusedortheinterviewprotocoltobefollowed.Alsoincludesampleitemsinthedescriptionoftheinstrument.4.Foramailedsurvey,identifystepstobetakeninadministeringandfollowingupthesurveytoobtainahighresponserate.G.DataCollection1.Outlinethegeneralplanforcollectingthedata.Thismayincludesurveyadministrationprocedures,intervieworobservationprocedures.Includeanexplicitstatementcoveringthefieldcontrolstobeemployed.Ifappropriate,discusshowyouobtainedentr.2.Provideageneraloutlineofthetimescheduleyouexpecttofollow.H.DataAnalysis1.Specifytheproceduresyouwilluse,andlabelthemaccurately(e.g.,ANOVA,MANCOVA,HLM,ethnography,casestudy,groundedtheory).Ifcodingproceduresaretobeused,describeinreasonabledetail.Ifyoutriangulated,carefullyexplainhowyouwentaboutit.Communicateyourpreciseintentionsandreasonsfortheseintentionstothereader.Thishelpsyouandthereaderevaluatethechoicesyoumadeandproceduresyoufollowed.2.Indicatebrieflyanyanalytictoolsyouwillhaveavailableandexpecttouse(e.g.,Ethnograph,NUDIST,AQUAD,SAS,SPSS,SYSTAT).3.Provideawellthoughtoutrationaleforyourdecisiontousethedesign,methodology,andanalysesyouhaveselected.VII.LimitationsandDelimitationsA.Alimitationidentifiespotentialweaknessesofthestudy.Thinkaboutyouranalysis,thenatureofselfreport,yourinstruments,thesample.Thinkaboutthreatstointernalvaliditythatmayhavebeenimpossibletoavoidorminimizeexplain.B.Adelimitationaddresseshowastudywillbenarrowedinscope,thatis,howitisbounded.Thisistheplacetoexplainthethingsthatyouarenotdoingandwhyyouhavechosennottodothemtheliteratureyouwillnotreview(andwhynot),thepopulationyouarenotstudying(andwhynot),themethodologicalproceduresyouwillnotuse(andwhyyouwillnotusethem).Limityourdelimitationstothethingsthatareadermightreasonablyexpectyoutodobutthatyou,forclearlyexplainedreasons,havedecidednottodo.VIII.SignificanceoftheStudyA.Indicatehowyourresearchwillrefine,revise,orextendexistingknowledgeintheareaunderinvestigation.Notethatsuchrefinements,revisions,orextensionsmayhaveeithersubstantive,theoretical,or7/31/2015 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8/9methodologicalsignificance.Thinkpragmatically(i.e.,cashvalue).B.Moststudieshavetwopotentialaudiences:practitionersandprofessionalpeers.Statementsrelatingtheresearchtobothgroupsareinorder.C.Thiscanbeadifficultsectiontowrite.Thinkaboutimplicationshowresultsofthestudymayaffectscholarlyresearch,theory,practice,educationalinterventions,curricula,counseling,policy.D.Whenthinkingaboutthesignificanceofyourstudy,askyourselfthefollowingquestions.1.Whatwillresultsmeantothetheoreticalframeworkthatframedthestudy?2.Whatsuggestionsforsubsequentresearcharisefromthefindings?3.Whatwilltheresultsmeantothepracticingeducator?4.Willresultsinfluenceprograms,methods,and/orinterventions?5.Willresultscontributetothesolutionofeducationalproblems?6.Willresultsinfluenceeducationalpolicydecisions?7.Whatwillbeimprovedorchangedasaresultoftheproposedresearch?8.Howwillresultsofthestudybeimplemented,andwhatinnovationswillcomeabout?IX.ReferencesA.FollowAPA(2001)guidelinesregardinguseofreferencesintextandinthereferencelist.Ofcourse,yourcommitteeordisciplinemayrequireChicagoorMLA.B.Onlyreferencescitedinthetextareincludedinthereferencelisthowever,exceptionscanbefoundtothisrule.Forexample,committeesmayrequireevidencethatyouarefamiliarwithabroaderspectrumofliteraturethanthatimmediatelyrelevanttoyourresearch.Insuchinstances,thereferencelistmaybecalledabibliography.C.Somecommitteesrequirethatreferencelistsand/orbibliographiesbeannotated,whichistosaythateachentrybeaccompaniedbyabriefdescription,oranabstract.CheckwithyourcommitteeChairbeforethefact.AppendixesTheneedforcompletedocumentationgenerallydictatestheinclusionofappropriateappendixesinproposals(althoughthisisgenerallynotthecaseasregardsconferenceproposals).Thefollowingmaterialsareappropriateforanappendix.ConsultwithyourcommitteeChair.Verbatiminstructionstoparticipants.Originalscalesorquestionnaires.Ifaninstrumentiscopyrighted,permissioninwritingtoreproducetheinstrumentfromthecopyrightholderorproofofpurchaseoftheinstrument.Interviewprotocols.7/31/2015 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9/9Sampleofinformedconsentforms.Coverletterssenttoappropriatestakeholders.Officiallettersofpermissiontoconductresearch.ReferencesAmericanPsychologicalAssociation(APA).(2001).PublicationmanualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation(Fourthedition).Washington,DC:Author.Armstrong,R.L.(1974).Hypotheses:Why?When?How?PhiDeltaKappan,54,213214.Creswell,J.W.(1994).Researchdesign:Qualitative&quantitativeapproaches.ThousandOaks,CA:Sage.Guba,E.G.(1961,April).Elementsofaproposal.PaperpresentedattheUCEAmeeting,ChapelHill,NC.Fraenkel,J.R.&Wallen,N.E.(1990).Howtodesignandevaluateresearchineducation.NewYork:McGrawHill.Kerlinger,F.N.(1979).Behavioralresearch:Aconceptualapproach.NewYork:Holt,Rinehart,&Winston.Krathwohl,D.R.(1988).Howtopreparearesearchproposal:Guidelinesforfundinganddissertationsinthesocialandbehavioralsciences.Syracuse,NY:SyracuseUniversityPress.Locke,L.F.,Spirduso,W.W.,&Silverman,S.J.(1987).Proposalsthatwork:Aguideforplanningdissertationsandgrantproposals(2nded.).NewburyPark,CA:Sage.Marshall,C.,&Rossman,G.B.(1989).Designingqualitativeresearch:NewburyPark,CA:Sage.Shavelson,R.J.(1988).Statisticalreasoningforthebehavioralsciences(secondedition).Boston:AllynandBacon.Wiersma,W.(1995).Researchmethodsineducation:Anintroduction(Sixthedition).Boston:AllynandBacon.Wilkinson,A.M.(1991).Thescientistshandbookforwritingpapersanddissertations.EnglewoodCliffs,NJ:PrenticeHall.Howtocitethiswebpage:Pajares,F.(2007).Elementsofaproposal.Retrievedfromhttp://des.emory.edu/mfp/proposal.html