PA301 (Section 01) Fall Semester 2021
Student Project (Proposal)
Follow the outline below in writing your proposal. You are required to submit your completed proposal and power point presentation. You are required to submit two files. One is the complete project and the second is the PowerPoint presentation. Note that all written documents must follow the strict application of the most recent APA guidelines. Review the APA guideline online. Your grade will be based on how well you follow the outline. So, label the presentation slides from your written proposal as shown below:
Cover Page
For this project you must submit a cover page. The cover page will have the following information:
Title of the Proposal or Assignment: Example: The Social Impact of COVID-19
Submitted by: Your Name (Angela Ojemen)
To: Name of the Instructor (Dr. Jovita Esechie)
Date
Course Name and Number: Research Methods in Public Administration (PA301-01)
Term: Fall 2021
Texas Southern University
Abstract
The abstract is a summary of your study. Since you did not carry out the research, include a summary of the annotated bibliography. From your reading (literature review) what did you find. What is the come thread that goes through all the literature you read. (150 words)
In the next section, write the Statement of the Problem. (300 words)
Statement about your topic and why it is important? (For example, Crime has become a major problem even in suburban neighborhoods …. Here, you are to discuss the problem.
Why do you think something must be done about the social issue?
Have there been several options proposed in the past? If there are, you can state that several options have been proposed in the past but you will develop a hypothesis about one of these options …
Give your readers an understanding of the true purpose and the need for your investigation. So, you need to state the direction you wish to take on your research.
The research question is a statement about what you believe is not yet known or understood about your topic or a statement about the gap you are seeking to fill, followed by a “but” or “however” to set up the research question. You’ll find that in any area of research, developing an understanding of relevant theories will help you to ask important questions, consider reasonable alternatives and choose appropriate research procedures.
Notes:
Do not state in your purpose statement for example: “I want to learn Climate Change.”
Instead, write “I seek to study the Social Impact of Climate Change on the elderly in Missouri City”. Include citations from peer reviewed articles.
Hypothesis(es) Statements (Not less than one research hypothesis and one alternate hypothesis)
For statement about hypothesis, review chapter 2. Write out your hypothesis clearly. Note that a hypothesis states a relationship between two or more variables or characteristics that can change. Note also that does not just state that there is a connection between two variables. It suggests that one variable influences another. That means a change in one propels a change in the second. Assuming for instance, that the level of religiosity is related to support or opposition to a proposal to legalize casino gambling in Texas:
Your hypothesis or hypotheses should read as follows: People who attend church regularly are more likely to oppose casino gambling in Texas than those who do not attend.
Your alternate or null hypothesis should be “Church attendance has no effect on the support for casino gambling in Texas”.
Another Example: If you stay up late in the night, then you will be tired the next day.
What is the alternate hypothesis for the above? ……………………………………. .
Other examples:
If you think that crime is becoming an increasingly troublesome problem, not just in our cities but in suburban area, you will write:
Hypothesis: As the number of police officers on bicycles in a community increases, the number of burglaries decreases.
Alternate hypothesis: The number of police officers in a community has no effect on the prevalence of crime in a community.
Another Hypothesis: As the number of surveillance cameras increases in a community, the number of burglaries decreases.
State your alternative or null hypothesis ————
Or, Men who smoke cigarettes for many years are more likely to develop heart disease or cancer.
The alternate hypothesis is: There is no relationship between heart disease and cancer to cigarette’s smoking.
Research Design and Methods (200 words)
(See chapter 2 page 29 and review the section that discusses “What is the Design?”
Decide if you are going to carry out an inductive or a deductive research.
You can use anyone of the several different types of research design or a combination of the designs. So, decide if you will be using any of the following: cross sectional designs, longitudinal designs, trend designs, panel designs, cohort designs? Include statements about your research design that will be used to test your hypothesis and why you have chosen the design. In other words, why have you chosen panel designs? Justify it.
State clearly how you plan to test your hypothesis. Are you going to use survey questionnaire, field interviews, experiments, program evaluation, participant observations, or the analysis of secondary data from any of the following sources: newspaper stories, FBI Crime Reports, National Election Studies etc. If you are using secondary data (see chapter 8, page 200), explain the meaning of secondary data then state for example, “I will collect data from suburban and rural police departments in Harris County on the number of burglaries committed over a period of time, for example, one year, two years etc”.
You may need to add that “I will also collect data on the number of fatalities from the Harris County records etc ….. .”
Studies involving the use of human subjects require a Formal Permission Letter. If your project requires permission from someone in authority, draft a formal letter asking for permission. (Refer to chapter 3 of the course textbook.) You need an informed consent form for the participants in your study. Note that minors, and people who are compromised in any way may not be able to give their consent to participate in the study. If this is the case, a responsible adult must be the one to sign the consent form on behalf of the minor participant. See chapter 3.
Survey Questionnaire and Cover Letter
Irrespective of the method you chose to use for this assignment, you are required to submit 20 (twenty) survey questions. Include demographic questions, policy questions, etc. Review chapters 4 and 7 of the class textbook. The questions must be relevant to your study. That means you must use variables that will help you to test your hypothesis.
Literature Review (600 words)
This is a very important component of your project.
Conduct a literature review relevant to your study. You are required to use 8(eight) sources. Fulfill this requirement as an annotated bibliography. Approach this section as a mini “book report” on each of the reference sources that significantly informed you about your topic. Give the reader an overview of what information you found most relevant to your research. You may have found conflicting opinions/theories related to your topic area. Note that not all the sources will agree with your point of view. Include the sources that are for and against your view.
See Appendix A page 378 of the course textbook.
Analysis
How do you plan to analyze your data? You can use charts, graphs (see chapter 8 page 184, measures of central tendency, and rates, ratios and percentages.
Result Slide.
If you had actually carried out the research, what do you expect you would have found from the analysis. Note: Do not collect any data. Discuss hypothetical findings.
Recommendations. (50 words)
Here you will state your recommendations based on your hypothetical findings.
