Assignment 1: Introduction to Research Proposals

 

Just because you thought of an interesting research question and have a desire to conduct research does not mean that your research will automatically be supported by faculty or funded by an organization. In order to gain stakeholder approval, you must submit a research proposal. Much like an outline of a paper or a treatment of a movie script, the research proposal contains several parts that begin with a research question and end with a literature review. For this Assignment, you compile a research proposal that includes a research problem, research question, and a literature review.

 

For this Assignment, choose between the case studies entitled “Social Work Research: Couple Counseling” and “Social Work Research: Using Multiple Assessments.” Consider how you might select among the issues presented to formulate a research proposal.

 

Be sure to consult the outline in Chapter 14 the Yegidis et al. text for content suggestions for the sections of a research proposal. As you review existing research studies, notice how the authors identify a problem, focus the research question, and summarize relevant literature. These can provide you with a model for your research proposal.

 

Submit a 5-page research proposal stating both a research problem and a broad research question (may be either qualitative or quantitative).

·      Use 8-10 of the most relevant literature resources to support the need for the study, define concepts, and define variables relevant to the question.

·      Include a literature review explaining what previous research has found in relation to your problem and question.

·      The literature review should also include a description of methods used by previous researchers

·      Finally, be sure to explain how your proposed study addresses a gap in existing knowledge.