ABSTRACT

• Provides step-by-step instructions for students who will be writing their first research proposal in the social and behavioral sciences.

• Each major section is divided into short topics. For each topic, students complete an exercise that leads them toward the goal of preparing a proposal.

• Numerous examples throughout the book make the recommendations for proposal writing come alive.

• The model proposals at the end of the book illustrate proposal writing and provide material for classroom discussions.

• Provides concrete guidance for students who will be writing proposals for both quantitative and qualitative research.

• The structure of this book enables students to work independently with confidence while writing the first drafts of their proposals.

• All steps in proposal writing are clearly described and illustrated.

• Ideal for use in:

· research methods classes where students write a proposal as a term project,

· thesis/dissertation preparation classes,

· senior research seminars where proposing and conducting research is a culminating undergraduate activity, and

· any graduate-level seminar in which the instructor wants to incorporate a project that will engage students in critical thinking about the content area.

• Written by our best-selling author, Mildred L. Patten. Your students will appreciate her clear and informative style.

part |2 pages

Part A: Getting Started

chapter 1|2 pages

What Is Empirical Research?

chapter 2|2 pages

Identifying Broad Problem Areas

chapter 3|2 pages

Evaluating Broad Problem Areas

chapter 4|2 pages

Identifying and Combining Variables

chapter 5|2 pages

Identifying Treatment Variables

chapter 6|2 pages

Considering Demographic Variables

chapter 7|2 pages

Writing Purposes and Hypotheses

part |2 pages

Part B: A Closer Look at Problem Selection

chapter 8|2 pages

Finding Ideas in the Literature

chapter 9|2 pages

Considering a Body of Literature

chapter 10|2 pages

Considering Theories

chapter 11|2 pages

Determining Feasibility

part |2 pages

Part C: Selecting a Research Approach

chapter 12|2 pages

Qualitative Research

chapter 13|2 pages

Survey Research

chapter 14|2 pages

Correlational Research

chapter 15|2 pages

Test Development Research

chapter 16|2 pages

Experimental Research

chapter 17|2 pages

Causal-Comparative Research

chapter 18|2 pages

Program Evaluation

part |2 pages

Part D: Organizing and Evaluating Literature

chapter 19|2 pages

Organizing Literature by Topics

chapter 20|2 pages

Evaluating Research Literature

chapter 21|2 pages

Considering the History of a Topic

part |2 pages

Part E: Writing the Introduction and Literature Review

chapter 22|2 pages

A Separate Introduction

chapter 24|2 pages

Writing the First Paragraph(s)

chapter 25|2 pages

Using a Topic Outline

chapter 26|2 pages

Being Selective and Critical

part |2 pages

Part F: Proposing a Sample

chapter 27|2 pages

Sampling in Qualitative Research

chapter 28|2 pages

Random Sampling

chapter 29|2 pages

Other Methods of Sampling: I

chapter 30|2 pages

Other Methods of Sampling: II

chapter 31|2 pages

Sample Size

part |2 pages

Part G: Proposing Instrumentation

chapter 32|2 pages

Qualitative Instrumentation

chapter 33|2 pages

Proposing Published Instruments

chapter 34|2 pages

Proposing New Instruments

chapter 35|2 pages

Proposing to Measure Demographics

chapter 36|2 pages

Ethical Issues in Measurement

part |2 pages

Part H: Proposing Procedures

chapter 37|2 pages

Nonexperimental Procedures

chapter 38|2 pages

Procedures in Experiments

chapter 39|2 pages

Ethical Issues and Procedures

part |2 pages

Part I: Proposing Methods of Analysis

chapter 40|2 pages

Qualitative Analysis

chapter 41|2 pages

Analysis of Demographics

chapter 42|2 pages

Relationships: Nominal

chapter 43|2 pages

Relationships: Equal Interval

chapter 44|2 pages

Group Differences

part |2 pages

Part J: Concluding Tasks

chapter 45|2 pages

Writing a Discussion Section

chapter 46|2 pages

Giving the Proposal a Title

chapter 47|2 pages

Preparing an Abstract

chapter 48|2 pages

Developing a Timeline

chapter 49|2 pages

Preparing a Reference List