ITEMS THAT MUST BE INCLUDED IN PROPOSAL: Refer to APA manual for more details. 1. ABSTRACT OF PROPOSAL – 120 words or less 2. NARRATIVE – Must be 15 – 20 double-spaced pages. This page limit includes only those sections described in a through f below. In the narrative be sure to address: a. Introduction section includes a description of the problem, development of some background information and a clear problem statement in that order. Start broad, provide compelling evidence that you proposed research problem is worthy of researching and funnel your writing to focus on your research topic. b. Literature Review section is a review of work done by others in the area addressed by your proposed research. This should have a similar organization as your intro section, but include much more detail. This section is the bulk of your narrative. Again, start broad with topics that provide background for your study and slowly narrow to your specific focus. You should use subheadings in this section to make the organization clear to you reader. c. Methods and procedures to be used: The Method section should have subheading which address the following in very specific detail. Plan to describe your method so that someone else could conduct the study exactly the way that you would do it. i. Participants – How many participants? How will they be selected? What permission do you need to obtain data from these participants? Append copies of sample permission letters. ii. Design – Identify your research design (Survey, experimental, quasi-experimental, ex post facto, etc.) Address the issue of threats to internal and external validity as they apply to the type of research design you are proposing. Discuss how you plan to minimize these threats. iii. Measures – Identify and describe the measures (tests, observation, etc.) you plan to use for data collection. Address the issues of reliability and validity as they apply to your measures. Append the measures or at least sample items from those measures if the entire measure is not available. iv. Procedures – Discuss your procedures for obtaining needed consent, data collection, etc. For experimental and quasi-experimental studies you will detail the experimental and control procedures. This should be a step by step description of what will go on at each stage of the data collection. v. Data analysis – Outline the statistical procedures you plan to use. These often include how you will calculate variables from the measures you give. Note that your data analysis procedures must be related to your research questions. f. Anticipated results and implication: What do you think you will find and how will you interpret that in light of what you wrote in your introduction and literature review. Be sure to draw explicit connections (using citations) between your anticipated results and the literature you described earlier in the proposal. This brings the proposal full circle and provided closure for the reader. 3. Literature Cited – Include all and only those references that have been cited in the narrative. Reference list must be in precise APA style and must agree exactly with those citations you have used in the text.