GERO 101: Research Proposal Statement (25 points). This assignment is a preliminary step to your research paper. In your 1-page double-spaced research statement you need to discuss the following:
This assignment is a preliminary step to your research paper. In your 1-page double-spaced research statement you need to discuss the following:
1) Your choice of research topic and your research question: Define the topic as clearly as possible, and discuss what you would like to find out through your research. Discuss your potential research question you plan to address in this research paper.
2) Your preliminary research on the topic: Discuss what you know about the selected topic at this point. Use at least one scholarly source besides our textbook (i.e., government or foundation research report or peer-reviewed journal article) to discuss your preliminary knowledge about the topic.
3) Your plan of research: Discuss how you plan to expand and carry out your research in your final research paper based on your preliminary research.
You will need to satisfy all of the following criteria:
✓ Clearly state your selection of research topic and research question.
✓ Elaborate your current knowledge about the topic using a credible source of information.
✓ Effectively use preliminary research to plan your research from this point.
✓ Provide in-text citations in correct APA format when you site your source of information.
✓ Proofread the document and present no grammatical errors.
✓ Use APA-style and provide your name, course number (i.e., GERO 101) and submission date on your cover page.
✓ Include a reference page for your government or foundation research report or peer-reviewed journal article source in APA-style.
Research Statement scoring will be divided into the following subcategories:
Overall grammar (including citations) 5 pts
Selection and discussion of research topic10 pts
Quality and discussion of preliminary research 5 pts
Plan of research in reference to preliminary research 5 p
If you’re nearing the end of your degree program and your dissertation or thesis is on the horizon, or you’re planning to apply for a PhD program, chances are you’re going to need to craft a convincing research proposal. If you’re on this page, you’re probably unsure exactly what the research proposal is all about. Well, you’ve come to the right place.
A research proposal is a simply a structured, formal document that explains what you plan to research (i.e. your research topic), why it’s worth researching (i.e. your justification), and how you plan to investigate it (i.e. your practical approach).
The purpose of the research proposal (it’s job, so to speak) is to convince your research supervisor, committee or university that your research is suitable (for the requirements of the degree program) and manageable (given the time and resource constraints you will face).
The most important word here is “convince” – in other words, your research proposal needs to sell your research idea (to whoever is going to approve it). If it doesn’t convince them (of its suitability and manageability), you’ll need to revise and resubmit. This will cost you valuable time, which will either delay the start of your research or eat into its time allowance (which is bad news).
As we mentioned earlier, a good dissertation or thesis proposal needs to cover the “what”, the “why” and the “how” of the research. Let’s look at each of these in a little more detail:
Your proposal needs to clearly articulate your research topic. This needs to be specific and unambiguous. Your research topic should make it clear exactly what you plan to research and in what context. Here’s an example:
Topic: An investigation into the factors which impact female Generation Y consumer’s likelihood to promote a specific makeup brand to their peers: a British context
As you can see, this topic is extremely clear. From this one line we can see exactly:
So, make sure that your research proposal provides a detailed explanation of your research topic. It should go without saying, but don’t start writing your proposal until you have a crystal-clear topic in mind, or you’ll end up waffling away a few thousand words.