How many pages should my proposal be?
My estimate for each section is the following:
Review Babbie where he talks about bivariate analysis and relationships (look these up in the index). Essentially you want to show a relationship between your independent and dependent variable. You can choose two variables (based off of two questions), or you could construct an index, which would be slightly more complicated, but perhaps more revelatory of the concept under analysis. (For example, you may have asked a series of questions about body image. You could use just one of those questions as an indicator of body image, or you could create an index that combines that series of questions into a single score, which would then serve as one of your variables.) If you decide to construct an index, you may wish to discuss this a bit in your feasibility study, especially if it differs from what you presented in your methods section.
You don't have to use IV and DVs in your bivariate table construction - as per Babbie's bivariate relationships examples early on, you could show how two measures are related to each other. I would prefer that you try to identify a causal relationship (ie, in theory the independent variable should cause the dependent variable), but in either case, be clear about what the relationship between the two variables is supposed to be.
What is everything that we're supposed to turn in?
A checklist of sorts:
My estimate for each section is the following:
- Intro: 1-2 pages
- Lit Review: 3-4 pages
- Methods: 3-4 pages
- Feasibility Study: 2-3 pages
- Conclusion: 1 page
the total thus would be somewhere around 10 - 14 pages, not including appendices.
How should I label the different sections of the proposal?
Use the above section labels (intro, literature review, methods, feasibility study, conclusion) as opposed to "assignments 2 &5" types of labels. the final proposal should be cohesive and read like one paper, so do try to transition smoothly between sections. if need be, you could use sub-headings if you feel like it would help clarity to your paper. (for example, look at how articles might use subheadings.)
Since we turned in each assignment discretely, there might be a lot of repetition if we just put them together. Should we eliminate the repetition, leave it in, or...?
The paper should be continuous and flow smoothly from section to section. Typically social sciences like road maps, so as Babbie puts it, "tell me what you're going to tell me, tell me, then tell me what you've told me." To this end, there will be some repetition, but it should in general increase the clarity of the proposal and your argumentation / logic.
What exactly goes in our feasibility study?
The first half page (or so) of the feasibility study should outline your methods for the feasibility study. (I'm not particularly concerned that your methods are that rigorous per say - convenience samples are fine!! The point is to get some data and start drawing some conclusions about your proposed methodology thus far.) Then you should briefly discuss your analytic approach, then discuss the results of your analysis, or your findings (if any). Analysis for quantitative will take the form of a bivariate table showing the relationship between two variables (possibly more if you're constructing an index.) Qualitative analysis would be a discussion of the themes that emerged from your coding, w/ perhaps some exemplar quotes. Lastly, you should discuss what your feasibility study suggests for your future methods. This could be a lot of things... question wording, question order, how you administer a survey, operationalization of concepts, assumptions you may have made, etc. You should be able to provide some substantive discussion of how your future methods could be improved. That is, it wouldn't be particularly helpful if you simply discuss how you didn't get any meaningful results. Try to figure out why you didn't, and what you would need to change in future data collection efforts.
What are we supposed to do w/ our actual analysis / evidence that we coded etc?
Put the following in an appendix:
- interview schedule / questionnaire
- example of raw data
- two or three filled out surveys
- three to five single-spaced pages of transcribed interview notes (should also be coded)
- coded data
- page of spreadsheet demonstrating surveys have been coded, along with codebook
- coded transcripts (same material as above) and some sort of key
The appendix should be labeled as such. Look at Babbie for an example.
What are bivariate tables again...?
Review Babbie where he talks about bivariate analysis and relationships (look these up in the index). Essentially you want to show a relationship between your independent and dependent variable. You can choose two variables (based off of two questions), or you could construct an index, which would be slightly more complicated, but perhaps more revelatory of the concept under analysis. (For example, you may have asked a series of questions about body image. You could use just one of those questions as an indicator of body image, or you could create an index that combines that series of questions into a single score, which would then serve as one of your variables.) If you decide to construct an index, you may wish to discuss this a bit in your feasibility study, especially if it differs from what you presented in your methods section.
You don't have to use IV and DVs in your bivariate table construction - as per Babbie's bivariate relationships examples early on, you could show how two measures are related to each other. I would prefer that you try to identify a causal relationship (ie, in theory the independent variable should cause the dependent variable), but in either case, be clear about what the relationship between the two variables is supposed to be.
What is everything that we're supposed to turn in?
A checklist of sorts:
- cover page / letter perhaps providing a little bit of narrative about your personal research proposal process, what you feel like you've learned (or come to appreciate), and what your goals have been for your submitted paper. (i.e. how would you be evaluated in terms of your own goals for the final project?) comments are opt-in only. (that is, by default i won't provide comments on your final proposals unless you specifically ask and make a case for why you want them. don't just ask because you think you should.)
- cohesive research proposal, 12 pt font, pages numbered, double spaced, works cited. appendix.
- page outlining peer edits (ie the comments you GAVE to people)
- drafts / peer edits (including those that i gave you.)
When and where do I turn the proposal in??
Friday, May 6th, my box, 410 Barrows, no later than 3:45 pm. (the office closes at 4.)
GOOD LUCK EVERYONE! (remember... learning experience! fun!)
