SMALL RESEARCH PROPOSAL The purpose of this assignment is to describe how you would research a particular topic

SMALL RESEARCH PROPOSAL

The purpose of this assignment is to describe how you would research a particular topic/hypothesis. You will not be required to conduct the actual research.  

Part A: (required by Thursday, Day Four of Module 3 to the Small Research Proposal   Discussion Room, 0 point)

State your research question and hypothesis.  The topic should be business-related.  The hypothesis should not be obvious or innocuous.  It should typically be a proposed explanation of a problem or proposed solution which can be supported/not supported by measurable statistical data.  The research variables will be definable, multi-level, and measurable by statistics.  Students will need faculty approval in Module 3 before moving forward with their research proposal. (Submit to Small Research Proposal Discussion Room by Thursday, Day Four, and comment on the work of your classmates.)  (required).  Students are strongly encouraged to submit parts B and C to the Small Research Proposal Discussion Room for peer review and comment during Modules Four and Five.

Part B: (recommended by Thursday, Day Four of Module 4 to the Small Research Proposal Discussion Room). Students are strongly encouraged to submit parts B and C to the Small Research Proposal Discussion Room for instructor feedback, peer review and comment during Modules Four and Five.

1)  Describe your population.

2)  Develop three scholarly resources in support of your research problem and hypothesis.  These resources should come from scholarly journals, as opposed to Wikipedia or random internet sources, and should help underpin the theoretical framework of your research problem.

3)  Suppose that you are going to test this hypothesis with a sample. Select a sampling technique to collect and test data from your population. Justify why this sampling technique is appropriate. List the number of groups needed in your sample. 

4)  Develop three good survey questions or describe your experiment. Why will this process lead to valid and reliable data?

 Part C: (recommended by Thursday, Day Four of Module 5 to the Small Research  

Proposal Discussion Room). Students are strongly encouraged to submit parts B and C to the Small Research Proposal Discussion Room for instructor feedback, peer review and comment during Modules Four and Five.

1)  List all variables involved in the hypotheses. 

2)  Specify data levels of all involved variables. 

3)  Select appropriate statistical techniques that can be used to test your hypotheses. Justify it.

RUBRIC

RESEARCH QUESTION AND HYPOTHESIS

Student presents a business-related research hypothesis that is original and relevant, Provides a scenario that clearly identifies the problem and/or need for the proposed research, Relates how the proposed research results could be used to develop a solution/address the research problem, Research variable are definable, multi-level and measurable by statistics

Student presents an appropriate, business-related research hypothesis, Provides justification for proposed research, Identifies how research results could be used to address research problem, Research variables are definable, multi-level and measurable by statistics

Student presents a research hypothesis that is unclear, irrelevant and/or has obvious results, Provides little or no reason for research, Does not relate how research results could address research problem, Research variables are inappropriate for statistical analysis

SURVEY QUESTIONS/EXPERIMENT

Student designs three survey questions/an experiment that accurately address the research question and hypothesis, would generate valuable data, utilize specific and clear terminology, are appropriate to the population

Student designs three survey questions/an experiment that relate to the research question and hypothesis. Questions would generate usable data, but display some problems with terminology or focus

Student designs survey questions/an experiment that do not accurately address the research question and hypothesis, utilize ambiguous terminology, are misleading, are inappropriate to the study population and would not generate usable data

POPULATION/SAMPLE

Student accurately describes the population for the proposed research, Selects  sampling technique and sample size that reflect best practices used for quality research, Provides detailed and robust support  for selected sampling technique, Recognizes and addresses any challenges associated with sampling from the describe population, 

Student describes the population for the proposed research, Selects appropriate sampling technique and sample size, Provides support for selected sampling technique

Student briefly describes the population for the proposed research, Selects and inappropriate sampling technique and/or sample size, Does not prove support for selected sampling technique, Does not display and understanding of quality standards of research sampling

STATISTICAL TECHNIQUES

Student correctly selects the appropriate statistical techniques that should be utilized to analyze the research data, Creates an exemplary argument supporting why this statistical technique is the most appropriate for the proposed research hypothesis , Argument is grounded in theory and clearly identifies the study characteristics that require the selected technique

Student correctly selects the appropriate statistical techniques that should be utilized to analyze the research data, Creates support for why this statistical technique is most appropriate for the proposed research hypothesis

Student selects a statistical technique that would be inappropriate for analysis of the research data. Omits or creates a weak argument for why the selected statistical technique would be the most appropriate for the proposed research hypotheses.

COMMUNICATION

Student presents a research proposal that includes all require elements, Proposal is organized and has exceptional vocabulary and clarity, Proposal is free of all grammatical/format errors and meets all professional and graduate level expectations, 

Student presents a research proposal that includes all required elements, Proposal has minor grammatical/format errors, Proposal is appropriate for graduate level work

Students presents a research proposal that is missing one or more of the required elements, Proposal has multiple grammatical/format errors/ Proposal does not meet graduate level expectation