C. Research Proposal (submitted in 2 parts: Part 1A & B – statement of problem & literature review; Part 2 – methodology) [EPAS 2015 Foundation 4.1 & 4.2]

You  will prepare a research proposal on a topic of your choice. You will  work on this proposal as you move through the research process,  submitting it in 2 parts. You will use your literature synthesis matrix  to assist you in writing this paper. Part 1 of your paper will include a) the statement of the problem and b) the literature review. 

Part  2 of your paper, the methodology section, due later in the course, will  be added to part 1 so that in the end you will have one full proposal  paper, from statement of the problem and literature review to research  methodology. 

You  will then use this full paper to prepare a PowerPoint presentation on  your proposal and present in the final 2 weeks of class.

Part 1: Statement of the Problem & Literature Review (120 points)

Use the literature synthesis matrix  you created from the eight (8) research articles you located on your  topic to write both sections of this paper. The guidelines and rubric  presented here shows the information needed for each section.

The paper must conform to American Psychological Association (APA) format.  A rubric providing grading criteria is found below.

A. Statement of the Problem Section  
[EPAS 2015 Foundation 4.1]

This is the first section of this paper.  The problem statement is the guiding theme of a research proposal. This  paper should include a statement of the purpose of the study and should  specify its objectives. This section should be about 3 double-spaced  typed pages and should include references relating to the scope of the  problem.  The full paper should be 8-10 pages excluding the references.

Use  a minimum of 3-4 of the resources to write an overview of your topic:  The overview should provide a comprehensive statement of the problem,  its significance to society, and its relevance to the social work  profession. The format of this paper follows:

Purpose of the Study.  This section should explain why the research is being conducted. It  should establish the importance of the problem addressed by the research  and explain why the research is needed. For example, it might establish  the seriousness of juvenile antisocial behavior nationally and describe  the gaps that exist in the knowledge about this behavior. It might also  explain why the specific knowledge gap chosen is of particular  importance. After reading this section, the reader should be clear about  the questions to be asked, the kinds of answers expected, and the  nature of the information to be provided by the proposed research. For  example, one might propose to test a drug abuse treatment approach to  determine the intervention characteristics that contribute  differentially to the success of adolescent boys and girls who  participate in the program. Expected  outcomes might also include the provision of descriptive information  not currently available. An example of this might be a comparison of  arrest rates for participants in the years prior to and following  participation in the program.

List your research question(s): Have  one research question. If you must have more, do not attempt to address  more than 2 research questions in your study. Your research questions  must be feasible to research, clear, precise, and if you are conducting a  quantitative study, measurable and concrete. As an example: 

Is  there a significant difference in the retention rate of clients engaged  in outpatient treatment based upon treatment modality?  

Is there a significant difference in the retention rate of clients engaged in outpatient treatment based upon gender? 

Is there a significant difference in the retention rate of clients engaged in outpatient treatment based upon ethnicity?

Definition of Terms: This  section provides an operational definition for each of the terms you  are exploring in your research hypotheses. Explain how you are defining  the terms for your study, not their general definitions. You should have already done this in your first course exercise as well.

As  an example (based upon the research questions noted above), you would  provide an operational definition for the terms, retention, outpatient  treatment, client, treatment and modality.  

ie: The literature of treatment retention studies utilizes terms such as retention and attrition. For the purpose of this research, the term retention refers  to the completion of a course of outpatient treatment at the XYZ  Substance Abuse Center. The outpatient program at XYZ consists of 8  weeks of individual and group therapy sessions. Individual sessions are  held once a week and group sessions also meet once a week. Thus, retention is defined as the completion of 8 individual therapy session and 8 group therapy sessions.

B. Review of the Literature Section 

[EPAS 2015 Foundation 4.2]

The second section of part 1 of your paper should have the title)terature Review.  In this section you will use the published research from your  literature synthesis matrix related to the purpose and objectives  described in the statement of the problem above.  Begin by reviewing the  themes from each paper and combining (synthesizing) those relating to  the same theme. Review their methodologies, etc. and look for  similarities or differences. The review of the literature should  summarize the results of the previous studies that have reported  relationships among the variables included in the proposed research  

An  important function of the literature review is to provide a theoretical  explanation of the relationships among variables of interest. It is  most important that the review explain what mechanisms link the  variables. The review can also provide descriptive information about  related problems, intervention programs, and target populations. 

This  section should be about 4-5 double-spaced, typed pages, excluding the  list of references and appendices. The paper must conform to American  Psychological Association (APA) format.  

• Use the synthesis matrix  you created from the eight (8) research articles you located on your  topic to write your literature review. This section should have 4-5  references-empirical articles. 

This section should cover:

Topic or problem area: This part of the literature review covers material directly related to the problem being studied. There will usually be at least two substantive areas reviewed because most research involves variables that have been studied in separate substantive areas. For  example, a study on some aspects of juvenile antisocial behavior  suggests a review of the literature on anti-social behavior, adolescent  development and families at risk (3 substantive areas of research). 

Summary and critique of the selected research.  Your synthesis matrix have already grouped your research studies.  Choose minimum of 4 of your studies and discuss why these studies were  conducted, what research questions or hypotheses were posed, what  concepts were used, what research method was selected to answer the  research question, what were the major findings, the cultural competence  demonstrated in the study, any presenting ethical issues, and the  strengths and limitations of this set of research investigations. Please  remember that this overview should be more than just a list of article  summaries, but a synthesis/integration of multiple sources of knowledge and practice wisdom. In other words, review the topic areas found in your matrix and synthesize your review.

• Topic Analysis and need for further study. Summarize the findings and provide a justification for why your study should be conducted.