Students will be putting together a research proposal that utilizes a flexible design about a problem they would like to explore. Students are encouraged to choose a topic related to their doctoral program project
Students will be putting together a research proposal that utilizes a flexible design about a problem they would like to explore. Students are encouraged to choose a topic related to their doctoral program project so that the research completed will contribute to their overall applied project. Applied Research projects often are designed to answer practical questions and involve applying specific theories (Fixed Designs /Quantitative Studies) and findings to a specific real-world problem that a specific organization is experiencing.
This course focuses on the use of flexible designs utilizing Qualitative methods of Phenomenology, Narrative, Grounded Theory, Case Study and Ethnography. While fixed designs and Quantitative methods will be reviewed, your proposal should be a flexible design using a Qualitative method of study.
The Doctor of Strategic Leadership (DSL) degree at Liberty University culminates in a Case Study that is comprised of three parts to include:
1. Foundation of the Study
2. The Project
3. Application to Professional Practice
To be clear, for the purpose of the Doctor of Strategic Leadership (DSL) degree, you will be writing a single Case Study for the Doctoral Research Project (DRP).
As a side note, PhD dissertations in some schools traditionally have five parts to include: 1. Introduction 2. Background (Literature Review) 3. Methods 4. Results 5. Conclusion. Textbook readings for this class generally will follow the traditional concept of the five-part dissertation. In this class, students are going to complete parts 1 through 3 (Introduction, Background/Literature Review and Methods). Specific to this class, part 1 deals with the Introduction, part 2 deals with the Background (Literature Review) and part 3 covers Methods.
The students will complete a proposal only and will not actually complete the research project in this course. Students should incorporate the Merida: Christ-centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Kings text in parts 1 and 2 of this paper as it relates to the chosen applied research topic. Each area of the project proposal will be discussed in further detail in class and will relate to the textbook chapters.
Regarding the textbooks chosen, Robson & McCartan: Real World Research and Creswell & Poth: Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches, each will use slightly different terminology in their writings.
Robson writes of flexible and fixed designs whereas Creswell references Qualitative and Quantitative methods. Generally speaking, flexible designs are aligned with Qualitative methods and fixed designs are aligned with Quantitative methods.
Part 1 – Project Justification (Introduction): Students will submit their research topic, problem statement, purpose statement, the importance of the study, the central question for conducting the research, research questions, nature of the study and definition of the key terms. Part 1 will be between five to eight pages in length.
Reference to the Read: Simple but Effective Problem Statements and Research Questions White Paper will be of great assistance.
Part 2 – Background (Literature Review): Students will discuss the search strategy and then conduct a review of the existing literature about this topic and write the literature review in APA format. The background will consist of 15 pages in length using a minimum of 10 academic references. Students should start researching and collecting scholarly references as soon as possible as this can be a very time-consuming process.
Part 3 – Project Approach (Methods): Students will identify the research process, how they will collect data, how they will analyze data, and the instrumentation used. This can include selecting what Qualitative research method to use, the research target (population and sample). Through a flexible design, using qualitative methods, a concept will be discussed. The methods sections will consist of five to eight pages and will include two additional academic references on the methods chosen in addition to the textbooks.
Completed Final Project – Students should combine the previous three parts of the paper into a final research proposal. Students should update the sections based on the feedback from their instructor.
Final Project Presentation – Students will put together at least ten slides that discusses the major components of their presentation. A title slide and references slide are required utilizing APA format.
Students will be putting together a research proposal that utilizes a flexible design about a problem they would like to explore. Students are encouraged to choose a topic related to their doctoral program project so that the research completed will contribute to their overall applied project.
Students will be asked to complete this assignment individually, but may collaborate with other members of the cohort. To help students develop the skills necessary to generate new questions and design studies, each student will be given access to an online database of data sets collected by faculty at UIC. Students will also have access to existing survey instruments and other tools for measuring attitudes, opinions and behaviors if needed. Students must provide their own laptop computers for this course (Mac or Windows).
The course will begin with a brief overview of the research process, including what it means to be a “good” researcher as well as an introduction to some of the ethical issues involved in conducting human subjects research.
After this orientation, students will be asked to generate new questions about human behavior and design studies that address these questions using UIC’s data sets. Students will also learn how to write up their findings in a scientific manuscript suitable for submission to peer-reviewed journals (if appropriate).
Students will learn how to use SPSS and R in order to analyze their data and interpret the results, as well as how to write up their findings for publication. The course will be taught in a seminar format, with class meetings once per week for 3 hours.
Students will also be expected to complete a number of readings and assignments outside of class time. Students will be expected to complete a number of readings and assignments outside of class time.
Students will also be expected to complete a final project, which may include an analysis of their own data set or interpretation of published research that uses UIC’s data sets.
Students will be expected to complete a final project, which may include an analysis of their own data set or interpretation of published research that uses UIC’s data sets. Students should expect the course to be challenging but also rewarding, and they should feel free to ask questions about any aspect of the material covered in class or in readings.
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