Research Methodology

Components of a Research Proposal I. Statement of the Problem

The problem statement is the guiding theme of the proposal. This section should include a statement of the purpose of the study and should specify its objectives. Purpose of the Study. This section should explain why the research is being conducted. It should establish the importance of the problem addressed by the research and explain why the research is needed. For example, it might establish the seriousness of juvenile antisocial behavior nationally and describe the gaps that exist in the knowledge about this behavior. It might also explain why the specific knowledge gap chosen is of particular importance. Objectives. This section should describe what the investigator hopes to accomplish with the research. After reading this section, the reader should be clear about the questions to be asked, the kinds of answers expected, and the nature of the information to be provided by the proposed research. For example, one might propose to test a drug abuse treatment approach to determine the intervention characteristics that contribute differentially to the success of adolescent boys and girls who participate in the program. Expected outcomes might also include the provision of descriptive information not currently available. An example of this might be a comparison of arrest rates for participants in the years prior to and following participation in the program. II. Review of the Literature This section will review published research related to the purpose and objectives described above. It should be noted that references may be found throughout the proposal, but it is preferable for most of the literature review to be reported in this section. A review of the literature should also relate to the hypotheses, definition and operationalization of variables, methodology and data analysis that follow. It should summarize the results of previous studies that have reported relationships among the variables...