II. *RESEARCH PROPOSAL. 

*Research proposals must be approved and signed first by the course instructor and then by the adult responsible for the children involved in the study.  Data collection may NOT begin until the course instructor has approved proposals.  Individual appointments for proposal discussion/approval can be made with Mrs. Khirallah.  Before Mrs. Khirallah will approve proposals, students must have a site for conducting the research study.

Students are expected to develop a research proposal that includes the following sections:

A.     An introduction to the theoretical foundation for the study

1.      The introduction should be two to three paragraphs that clearly establish a theorist and specific dimensions of theory to be used as the foundational framework for analyzing some facet of the physical, cognitive, psycho-social, or moral development of children.

2.      The introductory paragraphs are expected to briefly explain key theoretical concepts that will be investigated.

3.      The introductory paragraphs are not intended to serve as a vehicle for simply developing a biographical sketch of the theorist although some biographical information may be appropriate.  (For example, birth and death dates of the theorist, names of significant people who worked with or influenced the theorist, countries of origin and education that reflect on the theorist’s work all help to situate a theorist in a context; however, this type of information should not amount to more than one paragraph in your proposal.  Biographical information can be expanded, as needed for understanding, in the final paper.)

B.     Statement of the problem (and any sub-problems)

1.      This is a brief statement outlining the nature of the problem to be investigated in light of the theoretical foundation. 

C.     Critical questions that will guide the study

1.      These are two or three concrete, well-thought out questions for which you plan to collect data during your research study.

2.      These questions will use more precise terminology reflective of your early reading/inquiry into your topic.

3.      These questions will reflect the key points to be discussed in your paper /presentation in light of data you plan to collect and analyze. 

4.      These questions may need to be modified as your reading becomes more focused.

D.     Hypotheses (or educated thoughts) based on authoritative reading going into the study

1.      One or more statements that briefly respond to each of the questions posed in section C.  Here, researcher articulates what he/she "thinks" will be the result of the study.  The word "think" in this case means that you have read and reflected seriously about the theory and theorist in light of your question and then written these "educated thoughts" about the outcome of the study.  [Do not use first person to write even in this section of your proposal.] 

E.      A preliminary list of terms critical to the research study

1.      This is a preliminary list of vocabulary terms specific to your theorist and his/her theory as well as other related terminology that are relevant to your study that you have "discovered" in your reading.

2.      All terms do not have to be defined at this point; however, you must define those that are used in the proposal.

6. A partial annotated bibliography (that includes a minimum of three sources with at least two primary texts)
   1. Be sure that you know the difference between an "annotated bibliography" and the bibliography ("works cited") section of a paper.  Both are required for this study.  Click here for more information.
   2. Be sure to read the information about Course Reading and its relationship to the annotated bibliography.  Click here for more information.
7. A script of the procedure that you will follow when you interact with the children.  It MUST include the following two items:
   1. A preliminary data collection instrument -- based on the questions of your study

• What ever materials you plan to use for collecting information from the children should be included here.  For example, if you plan to interview students, please provide a list of the questions as well as the document that you plan to use to record their answers.  If you plan to use a tape recorder to record responses, please indicate that.  If you plan to use a video camera to collect data, indicate that.  If you plan to ask children to write answers to questions, then have a preliminary document developed – one that is ready to be given directly to the students with instructions, spaces for responses, lines for writing responses, etc. 
• This instrument must be appropriate for collecting the data that you need.  
• In some cases, you may discover in your reading useful instruments that the theorists employed in their own research.  If so, you are encouraged to evaluate them for use in their own study.  You may decide to use them as is, or you may need to modify them in some way to better suit your study.  In cases where you modify the instruments, be sure that you can explain the reasons for modification.

2. Preliminary Criteria / Rating System to guide the analysis and evaluation of data

• Show me how you will translate the data collected from the students into the language (terminology) of your theorist.
• Develop a rubric or scoring guide that shows exactly how you will decide the meaning of the data in terms of the theoretical terminology

For Sample Proposals, click here...

       For an example of all sections of the proposal, go to http://dante.udallas.edu/concesmontessori/Research_Proposal1.pdf