Research proposals

General information Write in an hourglass Write so your grandmother can understand it End strong—come back to how you started Write, revise, write, revise…..

APA format Cover page Abstract Introduction Method Expected Results Discussion References Appendices

Introduction/Literature review Explain the rationale for your topic/study in the first 1-3 paragraphs Tell why the topic matters without saying “it is important” Set up the sections and study to come Start strong Review the past literature Use topic sentences Organize by topic, not study Explain studies without unneeded details Current study section Explain rationale for your hypotheses Introduce your study

Method Participants Who will you recruit, how will you recruit them, will you pay them Procedure In “time” order In enough detail that I could replicate it For each measure, give what it measures, sample item, how many items, how answered, reliability and validity information Think about possible confounds and other problems (and try to figure out a way to address them) Measures, Apparatus, etc. (optional sections)

Expected results Any planned data cleaning or manipulations, manipulation checks, etc. For each hypothesis, what comparison you’d make and what you expect to find Correlations Main effects/interactions

Discussion What would it mean if you found these results What if you did not What are at least two limitations of your study What are ways those limitations could be addressed in future research (or other ideas for future research) What are the implications of your study End strong

Writing details—Be concise Get rid of unnecessary phrases It is important to note that The researchers showed that Give details that matter, but don’t go into too many details # participants or detailed characteristics Particular measures

Keep your sentences and phrases parallel In spring, summer, and in fall, there are birds in the Iowa woods. Ten-year-olds were more likely to play with their age peers than eight-year-olds. People in the experimental condition completed six measures, while four were completed by those in the control condition. Avoid passive voice The dog was bitten by the man. The questionnaires were completed by the participants.

Be precise Use consistent terms for your IV and DV Attitude strength vs. importance vs. relevance mean different things Be careful about terms you can’t know “believe” “prove” Don’t use colloquial terms “feel” (only for emotions) “filled out”

Avoid acronyms Give them in () the first time Only use them for common terms, and no more than 1-2 per paper “This” and “these” need a noun after them “Male” and “female” are adjectives, not nouns Other word distinctions That vs. which While vs. whereas Since vs. because