This assignment is your FINAL Research Proposal

*BEFORE SUBMITTING YOUR PROPOSAL, if you would like to double check your document for plagiarism and proper citation, you can do so here:

Research Proposal- Plagiarism Check

Your final research proposal will bring together aspects of Labs #5-8. You may restate information from your previous labs, however: I will be checking to make sure you incorporated feedback for each section. This should be an essay format (no bullets) with proper introduction paragraph, sub-headings for organization of each section below, and conclusion paragraph. Use APA formatting and citations throughout your essay, and please include a title page and references list at the end of the document. (Writing style and APA format: 3 pts)

An example of a properly formatted APA-style paper can be found here (Links to an external site.).

Part 1: Introduction and Literature Review- 8 pts
Please use a introductory paragraph to state your research topic of interest and why this is an important area to study.

Next, state what is known in scientific literature about your research topic. In complete sentences, restate what you found in your Annotated Bibliography (Lab #5), answering the following questions for each research article you read . Try to integrate the two articles and summarize them in a way that connects back to your research topic (this literature review should only be one to two paragraphs).

What is the purpose of the studies? What were the authors’ research questions?
What constructs did the authors explore, and how were their variables measured?
Who were the participants?
What were the primary results/findings?
How does this connect to your research question?

Part 2: Research Questions and Hypothesis- 10 pts
Please restate the following information from your Research Ideas and Hypothesis assignment (Lab #6):

What is/are the empirical research question(s) you want to answer?
What are the main constructs that you will examine?
What is your independent variable (or predictor/cause)?
What is your dependent variable (or outcome/effect)?
What is your hypothesis for this research question? How will your two variables be related? What do you expect to find? Why?

Part 3: Sampling for your research study- 10 pts
Answer the following questions pertaining to Sampling for your research study (Lab #7):

Who is the target population you want to generalize your research to?
Who is your accessible population? If they differ from your target population, explain how and why.
Select one of the following sampling methods and indicate how you would use it to obtain a sample for your research question (make sure you keep the target and accessible populations in mind):
Simple Random Sampling
Systematic Sampling
Stratified Random Sampling
Cluster Sampling
Convenience Sampling
Quota Sampling
Purposive Sampling
What is the criteria for inclusion and exclusion from your study?
How will you ensure that your participants are treated ethically? How will you lower their risk of any potential harm?

Part 4: Research Strategy, Measures, and Method- 10 pts
Restate the best Research Strategy you selected to answer your research questions in Week 8 (Lab #8). Indicate how you could design an empirical research study to test your hypothesis and/or answer your research question. Be sure to incorporate instructor feedback! Options from Week 8 included:

Experimental Research Strategy
Quasi/Non-Experimental Research Strategy
Correlational Research Strategy
Descriptive/Survey Research Strategy
*Bonus (if desired, talk to instructor): Qualitative Strategy
Please include the following information regarding your (ONE) chosen research strategy:

_________________________Research Strategy (fill in the name of the Research Strategy you have chosen)
Provide a description detailing:
How can this research strategy can be used to answer your research question? Describe the specific procedure you would use for employing this research strategy.
How would you operationally define your independent and dependent variables for this research strategy? How would you measure them? (Direct observation of behavior, survey, interview, etc)? List an example item for your measurement or assessment. Discuss how you could score/scale the variable, and how to interpret the scoring.
Example: My independent variable is family homelessness/high mobility. I will measure this via parent/guardian survey. An example item from my survey could include “How many times have you been evicted?” The variable will be scored by frequency of evictions, with lower scores indicating less risk for homelessness.
How and when will you collect data? How long do you expect data collection to take?

Part 5: Conclusion – 4 pts
Wrap up your paper by restating your expected results (hypotheses). If your hypotheses were to be  supported, explain how your research might impact both science in general and your population of interest in particular. (How might it be used in the real world?) Explain how your thinking regarding this topic has changed from when you started this project, and how you might use this research in your current or future career.

I have attached my labs that we are supposed to reference below.

My topic is: The effect of unstable coparenting on a toddlers behavior in the classroom. By unstable I mean divorced parents that do not get along each other.