I need help creating a research question (Research Proposal )

RESEARCH PROPOSAL: Choosing a Proposal Topic

Welcome to the Research Proposal! Whether in academic work, health fields or the private sector, securing funds for research is always a necessary and first step. Often, funds are obtained from outside sources (e.g., the government or other corporations). Every year such sources receive more research proposals than they have the funds to cover, and so proposals are put through a rigorous review process. In this course you will have the chance to create your own research proposal to learn more about this process.

A research proposal is somewhat different from a full research report. Rather than reporting on data you have collected and analyzed, you are instead suggesting a possible, future studyand that means no data collection at this stage. However, your proposal must be feasible, practical, and doable, given your current level of expertise and training. In other words, you have to convince a reviewer that your project is important and well thought out, and that you can competently complete your proposed project if funded.

Your research proposal will be expanding on a topic of your choosing. You will familiarize yourself with the materials in theResearch Proposal menu area in Blackboard and (on your own) select a topic that you feel confident in expanding upon through a new research project. You will then review relevant literature in the PsycINFO database and draft at least two research questions to guide your project.

STEP 1:Choosing a topic

You will first choose a topic about which you would like to learn more. For ideas, you can peruse textbooks, think about your interests (or things that caught your attention in previous courses), observe people, or watch television shows.

STEP 2:Reviewing the literature

After choosing a topic, you will search for relevant literature in the PsycINFO database as a way of becoming more familiar with the theory and data associated with that experiment.

Steps in the literature review process:

• Use PsycINFO, through the Baruch College Newman Library link, to find peer-reviewed research articles related to your topic (e.g., theoretical articles or empirical articles). Get in the habit of downloading the PDFs of the original printed articles.
• After collecting peer-reviewed articles, read their abstracts first for an overview of the article. I also encourage you to skip to the Discussion section of each article (usually at the end) for a helpful summary of key findings and larger issues (including unresolved problems). Often times, the author will make suggestions about questions that still need answering; these can provide ideas for your project.
• Please use the helpful checklist in the Maclin and Solso (2008) reading for each article (p. 37)

STEP 3: Drafting research question(s)

Based on your literature review, work to think of at least two new research questions that expand on the theory/methods related to your topic.

Good research questions should:

• Be in the form of a question (i.e., not a statement)
• Include key concepts and variables of interest; operationalize your variables
• Be fairly specific (i.e., not overly broad)
• Describe some kind of comparison (e.g., between groups, or different conditions)
• Describe a question you really don't know the answer to (and that others are likely to want answers to as well)

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