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SOWK 435 Research Proposal Project Outline (Fall 2020)
Research Proposal Project (100 points)
A major part of the semester's work will be the development of a research proposal. Students, working in groups of two - three, will develop a research question(s), conduct a literature review, select a research design, a data collection methodology, and anticipate a budget. Topics must be related to a specific social issue/problem. The assignment components are noted below. You should begin your literature search early, as it will help inform your development of the problem statement and questions.
Outline
Title & Abstract (cover page)
The title of your proposal should be short, accurate, and clear. A single sentence containing ten or fewer words is best. Don’t use acronyms and technical jargon as your reviewers may not come from your technical specialty. As in a technical paper, the proposal abstract should “abstract” the project for the reader. It should be a
ief (100 – 200 words), tightly worded summary of the project, its objectives, the problem’s significance, the project’s scope, the methods that will be employed, the identity and relevant technical expertise of the research team, and the results that are expected to result. Be sure to write this section last so that its content indeed abstracts your proposal.
Introduction (1 page)
The introduction section should introduce the research problem, its significance, and the technical approach your work will take to investigate/solve the problem. It should introduce the research team that will ca
y out the work.
Background & Literature Review (3-4 pages)
This section should present a concise review of the primary literature relevant to your proposed research efforts. You are expected to provide no fewer than 15 citations, of which 10 must be from peer-reviewed journal articles. The remaining 5 can be from books or government documents. In this section you will:
Provide a detailed review of the literature cu
ently focused on your research question. What is cu
ently known about the question?
Critically appraise the literature,
Cite the key literature sources,
Be up to date (no more than 10 years old),
The background section should be constructed to inform the reader concerning where your study fits in.
It should clearly state why your project should be done. Does your work:
Take science in a bold new direction? Build on the prior work of others (whose?) in the field. Address flaws in previous work (again, whose?). Develop infrastructure (instrumentation, methodology, collaborations) that will take science in exciting new directions.
Research Methodology (2-3 pages)
Describe the methods you would use to study the identified problem. Would you use qualitative or quantitative methods? Whichever you choose, how would you go about collecting the data? Surveys? Interviews? Age groups involved? Target population? Geographic area of focus (e.g., county, state, national, global?) Will the data be completed from a primary source (directly from individuals) or secondary source (from existing data?) For example, a secondary source of data could be from the General Social Survey databank). What strategies would you use to gather information? If your plan is to directly collect data from human subjects, be sure to note in this section that you will include submitting this proposal to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) to determine that the research will adhere to IRB standards of protection and conduct. You do not have to provide specific statistical methods you plan to employ to analyze the data, but it helps to include some statement regarding what type of analyses you plan to use. Remember that this section is more focused on research methods.
Budget (1-2 pages)
The budget should identify the anticipated cost for everything (salaries, materials, instrumentation, travel costs, etc.) that will be required in order to accomplish the research project. Usually budgets are prepared and submitted as tables with prescribed format. For the purposes of this assignment, rather than develop a prescribed format per se, focus on identifying anticipated costs noted above. You do not need to provide actual numbers, but you do need to list what costs are anticipated. See below for more detail regarding costs.
The most important point in preparing a budget is to make sure that you ask for what you really need. Some people underestimate the importance of working through a budget in advance of writing the actual grant proposal. This is really important because most grant programs provide grants with a certain set monetary value. It is critical to ask for the amount you really need because if you don’t ask for what you need you simply won’t be able to do the work and if you can’t ca
y out your project, it is highly unlikely that you will ever be able to obtain funding from that funding agency again in the near future. At the same time, it is important not to go ove
oard in padding your budgetary request. A thoughtful budget demonstrates that your project is well conceived and likely to yield quality results. If the reviewers feel that your budget is naïve or over-inflated, that can work against you – your project could be funded at a lower rate or certain items requested might simply be eliminated from the budget by the funding agency – so be sure to think through your budget requests carefully and make sure that all requests are thoughtfully justified.
There are two major components in a budget:
Direct costs are the costs that you incur that are directly attributable to the project. Examples of direct costs include personnel salary, fringe benefits, materials and supplies, major instrumentation, and travel costs. We will
iefly examine each of these:
Direct Costs
Personnel Salary. An important budget request in most grants is the salary for the personnel who will ca
y out the research on the project. Salary is usually requested for the principal investigator, postdoctoral students, graduate and undergraduate students. Some funding agencies will provide secretarial support. Academic faculty, who usually receive academic year ( 9-mos typically) salary from their institutions, often supplement their salary (summer salary) by ca
ying out external research programs.
Fringe benefits refers to the costs incu
ed by your institution/employer in providing group health insurance, retirement, unemployment, workers compensation, FICA (Medicare), etc. Undergraduate salaries are not normally assessed fringe benefits when the student is supported during the academic year.
Materials and supplies include a wide range of items such as laboratory supplies, chemical reagents, research animals, computer software and supplies, etc.
Major Instrumentation. A purchase is typically identified as major instrumentation rather than materials and supplies when the cost of the instrument exceeds a thousand dollars and when the device has an anticipated lifespan of more than a year. Examples of major instrumentation purchases include laptops (cost typically $2k), UV-vis instruments, desktop centrifuges, etc. When requesting major instrumentation it is important to specify the manufacturer and model of the specific instrument that you wish to purchase and to indicate what if any features this model has that make it uniquely required in order to accomplish your proposed work. If you do require a specific instrument, it is wise to obtain a quotation from the manufacturer. Since it may be six months or more before you begin your project be sure to inquire what the anticipated cost of the instrument will be at the time you anticipate purchasing it (i.e., allow for inflation).
Travel Costs. If you intend to attend a professional meeting in order to present the results of your research, you may include the anticipated cost of traveling to and attending the meeting in your budget request. You may include the cost of a round-trip coach class fare airplane ticket, meeting registration, hotel, ground transportation (taxi, car rental, etc.), and food. Many funding sources place strict limitations on travel so be sure to research this carefully before making your request. Feel free to have some fun with this. Propose your research somewhere interesting like Hawaii, Belgium, India, wherever. You don’t have to, but if you do, you can create some extra interesting points like flight costs, hotel, etc.
Indirect Costs
Indirect costs are the facilities and administrative costs that are incu
ed by your institution/employer in support of your research activities. These are typically assessed as a percentage of the direct costs for the project. Indirect costs are often assessed on either a modified total direct costs basis (MTDC) or a total direct costs basis (TDC). MTDC rates do not include the costs of major instrumentation, student tuition, or subcontractors in the total for the direct costs on which the indirect costs are assessed while TDC includes all costs when assessing the indirect costs for the project. The MTDC and TDC rates are set by your institution so be sure to check with them to determine what the cu
ent rates are.
Note that you will not need to include everything defined here as each proposal is unique and different. Identify what is appropriate and include what you feel is adequate to best represent your budget.
Summary (1 page)
Summarize the research proposal presented. Include information regarding how you plan to mitigate potential harm to subjects participating in the study if collecting from a primary source. State what you expect to learn from this study, what value the findings will have for the agency, community, or society?
APA style and other concerns
Complete this assignment using APA 7th Edition writing guidelines. This includes a cover page with the names of everyone on that page. One person will submit the paper at the end of the semester. All will receive the same score for the assignment unless serious issues arise where the Professor learns that one or more group members did not adequately participate.