Writing the Research Proposal

1. Writing the Research Proposal Assessment 9

2. Where we’ve been… • The classifications, styles and methods of research • Research Process • Design considerations

3. What we’re doing today… Writing the research proposal

4. Why use a standard format? • Ease of communication • mirrors research community

5. The Title • Concise and descriptive • What’s the difference? Propaganda on the Internet? v. The Progress of Terror: White Supremacists and Islamic Extremists Propaganda on the Internet

6. The Rationale • Explains how your study fits into the field/relates to its subtopics • Gives insight into the thought process that led you to want to do the study and your objectives • DON’T just answer the questions. “My study is important because…” “We should care because…”

7. The Preliminary Literature Review • Provides the researcher and the reviewer an understanding of how your research fits into the field of study. • Context— • background • relevance • insight

8. More on the Lit. Review • How to synthesize – • Create an outline first with headings (you did something like this with Assessment 8) • Fit the details from your sources into the various headings • For each heading, look at the relationships/differences between the details • Organize and summarize your discussion of the sources in a meaningful way

9. Even more on the Lit. Review • Selecting the sources to include • balance – print and electronic, primary and secondary • relevant, scholarly, authoritative (use the website evaluation to determine) • can’t/shouldn’t include everything • Lit. Review sources should only be those that contribute to the background of your topic or help you establish the context of your study.

10. Still more on the Lit. Review • What to do/not to do • Don’t simply summarize your sources in order. “The first source I read was X and it said blah…” • Use appropriate writing style • Double space • Proper format of source by author’s last name in text—See Section 10 of Prentice Hall for help.

11. Research Design • Classification – look back at notes (Assessments 1 and 5) • basic, applied, or practical • qualitative? quantitative? (if quantitative, include hypothesis… look at notes from Assessment 6) • Note: we are not asking for particular styles, but their higher-level classifications

12. Research Design Continued • Instruments – detailed description of the instruments you will use based on the classifications you identified. • As you decide on the instruments you use, remember to keep in mind variables, validity, and reliability of the factors affecting your research (review Assessments 5 and 6)

13. More on Design • Duration and Time line • Triangulation • Projected Cost • Potential Problems/Ethical Issues (we’ll learn more about this in next assessment)

14. References and Format • Follow MLA style. (See Prentice Hall Guide or MLA Handbook) • Again, you are to include all your sources… a minimum of 10. • 6 of the sources will be those used in the Literature Review

15. Assessment 9 • Draft the Literature Review • “Draft” doesn’t mean 1st draft… you should turn in the review as polished as you can make it.