Proposal Planning Guide / II. Planning my Methodology (Quantitative) / b. Drafting my methodology
Step 4::
Determining
Overall Research
Methodology
/ My overall design of my project will take a Quantitative approach. These are the key components of my Proposal.
The type of investigation that I will pursue will be:
Quantitative Types
(check one/more if there is a blurring of two types)
Descriptive
Correlational
Causal-Comparative/Quasi-Experimental
True Experimental
Other ______
Step 2:
Refining My Investigation with Research Methods
/ 1. What are the threats to the internal validity (the extent to which extraneous variables are controlled, so that observed effects can be attributed solely to the independent variable)?
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2. What are the limitations to the generalizability (i.e. external validity) of the findings that will result from your research design? What will you do to maximize the generalizability of your findings?
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Sampling:
3. Describe the characteristics of the population you will study.
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4. Identify sampling unit.
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5. Identify sampling procedures.
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Variables:
6. List variables you will study:
Independent Variable: ______
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Dependent Variable: ______
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Data Collection:
7. What types of data collection tools (instrumentation) could I use:
______Interviews
______Observations
______Questionnaires/Surveys
______Document Review
______Scientific Investigation
______Other ______
If I plan to use interviewsor questionnaires/surveys, did I find one previously created by another investigator that might be beneficial? If so, where did I find it, and what is the title?
______Interviews______
(Journal Article Title)
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(Title of Tool)
______Survey______
(Journal Article Title)
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(Title of Tool)
8. How will you measure the variables?
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Data Analysis:
9. What techniques will you use to analyze the data?
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Ethics:
10. What threats does your study pose for participants?
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11. How will you minimize these threats?
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12. Create a timeline for your major steps.
Overall timeline of complete study: ______
Timeline for specific tools:
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Budget:
13. You will use the Resources and Materials organizer to assist you in writing your budget in a narrative format.
Limitations:
14. What limitations (influences researcher can not control)
Things that might create limitations (your analysis, the nature ofself-reporting; the instruments you utilized; the sample; time constraints)
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Delimitations:

15. What delimitations (choices made by the researcher)

Remember: Delimitations describe the boundaries that you have set for the study.This is the place to explain:
  • the things that you are not doing (and why you have chosen not to do them)
  • the literature you will not review (and why not)
  • the population you are not studying (and why not)
  • the methodological procedures you will not use (and why you will not use them)
Limit your delimitations to the things that a reader might reasonably expect you to do but that you, for clearly explained reasons, have decided not to do.
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______/ When writing your proposal many of these steps may be combined and/or reorganized to present a more cohesive piece of writing.