Question: Research Project

You are a doctoral student of psychology preparing a research proposal for the review board of your university. Answer the questions below to explain your imaginary research. Your answers should be rich in detail using the information you gained during the course. You are also free to use any textbook resource(s) you choose. Your research should be very simple; it can either be qualitative or quantitative. If you decide on quantitative research please keep it simple; only one or two variables.

A realistic Internal Review Board (IRB) would ask far more questions than what you find on this document, but for the sake of simplicity and time, you are only asked to complete 4 of 9 crucial sections. You need to include a title page and reference page. Use either Times New Roman (12) or Courier New (12) fonts; be sure to use headers for each section. You may reproduce A-D sections as headers if you like. Your reference page is simply titled "References," and the title is centered. Good luck with the project, have fun with it.

(1800 Word Minimum, References Not Included in Word Count)

A. Purposes of the Study

Explain the research purpose of the study, including a statement of the research question. Key elements are the research problem, the research question (and sub-questions), any hypotheses, and a clear statement of the research purpose (solving the research problem). The objective is to orient the reader to the nature of the study.

B. Target Population and Participant Selection

Describes the characteristics of the larger population from which the sample (study participants) will be drawn. Include in this section, after the characteristics, a discussion of sample size. General references to textbooks are insufficient documentation; refer to methodological articles or research examples closely relevant to the research question you are presenting.

C. Research Questions and Hypotheses

All studies are designed to answer specific research questions. Describe carefully the research question and sub-questions, followed by the null and alternate or research hypotheses (in quantitative studies) that predict the answer to each.

D. Ethical Considerations

Explain in detail how you plan to protect your participants and discuss any ethical concerns you may have with you research.

E. References

List references using APA Style. Remember that citations should also appear in the body of the text when you quote/paraphrase an author or use information learned from a printed/spoken source.