Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Leading to Theses
At
Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics
Spring 2006
by
Dr. Larry L. Bradshaw
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INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this document is to guide graduate students in the development and
preparation of a research proposal. The guide is not designed to help individuals identify a
research topic, but rather to serve as an aid in the presentation of the research idea in a form
The guidelines were developed primarily to fit the needs of experimental and descriptive
research topics. It was not developed as a rigid document that must be followed without
alteration. Some research studies lend themselves to alternative methodologies, and therefore,
The guide is written in the form of chapter one of a research proposal with the headings
and a cover page. The proposal will be Chapter One, a sample Chapter Two, and sample
Chapter Three. Chapter one of the research proposal should include the following headings:
INTRODUCTION
PROBLEM STATEMENT
DEFINITIONS OF TERMS
REFERENCES
The research proposal should be written with the intent of its inclusion in the
dissertation. The writing style should be professional in nature, utilizing the style manual
chosen by the Department. The inclusion of the proposal within the final version of the
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dissertation should only necessitate the changing of the tense from present to past and further
The INTRODUCTION should focus on the general area in which the study is to be
conducted. It should also broadly define the problem that is to be investigated with a focusing
on specifics at the conclusion of the section. The Introduction should give the reader the
4. Is the general tone of the research set so that the reader will be able to
easily understand the remainder of the study?
PROBLEM STATEMENT
The Problem STATEMENT should answer specifically what the researcher is trying to
accomplish by doing the study. The problem may be an inconsistency in the literature, a need
for replication in a different setting or some other condition that justifies the study. It should be
short and concise directing itself only to the specifics of the study.
The problem of this study is to better understand the role of Linguistics in the
higher education system. The understanding of the role of Linguistics is essential
to its continued development.
*This statement is poor in communicating specifically what is going to be
studied, we cannot tell what the outcome is to be.
1. Does the Problem Statement address itself to what is being done in this
study?
2. Is the Problem stated with sufficient specificity that the reader would
easily understand?
The Purpose of the Study should address itself to why the study is being conducted and
should, therefore, have a direct relationship to the Problem. The why of the study can be
This study is undertaken to help identify the needs of Linguists. The entire study
will aid in giving educators a better understanding of Applied Linguistics.
1. Does the Purpose Statement address itself to why the study is being
conducted?
The Need for the Study can be established through a number of different sources. If the
only identifiable source of need for the study is a single publication, perhaps the study
actually lacks merit. The need can be established from the following sources:
This section is the area that will tell the Committee the extent to which the Candidate has
studied the potentials of the research. This section will be strengthened if quotes from noted
authorities and researchers as to the need for research into a specific problem are
included.
2. Is the need for the research expressed from a number of different sources?
3. Are there quotations that call for a direct need to research the area that I
have identified?
4. Am I convinced that the need for the study has been sufficiently
established?
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The title of this section may not always be Hypotheses of the Study, but may be entitled
Research Questions or Propositions of the Study. The title of the section will change as the
nature of the research changes. Experimental studies typically have both research hypotheses
and statistical hypotheses. Descriptive and historical studies may have questions or propositions.
The hypotheses are educated guesses at what the outcome of the study may be. The
important element in the formulation of hypotheses is the fact that the guess or hunch is an
educated one. Poorly conceived hypotheses are a reflection of insufficient prior study. The
hypotheses, like the section on Need for the Study, will be a good indication of the work that the
Two specific types of hypotheses should be stated to give the reader an understanding of
the problem under consideration. The first type of hypotheses should be the research hypotheses
which states in verbal terms the projection which is under consideration. The second type is the
statistical hypotheses, which will give an understanding of the method that will be used to test
RESEARCH HYPOTHESES:
It is hypothesized that there is no significant difference in learning
between students taught by means of distance instruction and students
taught by means of traditional classroom procedures.
STATISTICAL HYPOTHESES:
H0: σ1 ≠ σ2
H1: σ1 = σ2
RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS:
It is hypothesized that teaching success can be predicted from a collection
of variables.
STATISTICAL HYPOTHESIS:
H0: Rho ≠ 0
H1: Rho = 0
"those factors surrounding the study within which the conclusions must be confined." The
major purpose of this area is to identify and present areas of potential weaknesses in the
1. Method or procedure.
2. Reliability or validity of instrumentation.
3. Sampling technique.
4. Environmental conditions.
5. Characteristics of sample.
The Procedure of the Study in chapter one is designed to give the researcher a brief plan
under which he/she can carry out the study. This plan will assist your committee assess your
readiness to undertake the research project, allow them a chance for input as to the design of the
methodology rather than sending you without good direction as where to begin and what to do
next. A more detailed description of each of the listed steps will be included in chapter three.
The procedure should consist of a step-by-step outline of what the researcher intends to do. This
1. Define the population from which the subjects for the study will be
selected
2. How will the subjects will be selected from the defined population?
3. Under what conditions will the data will be collected? Will the data be
5. The treatment
This section is extremely important because a good plan for the study will facilitate your
completion of the study. Chapter Three will be the detailed research plan that you actually
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carried out. Often times there will be changes from this plan. Students who have a good plan
usually can adjust quite a lot easier as needed because of the thought process in preparing the
1. Will the procedure outlined test the hypotheses that have been proposed?
The type of data to be collected along with the type of hypothesis and / or questions
to be answered directly impact the choice of statistical or explanation procedures.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
The terms included in the Definition of Terms should be only those that would have a
specific meaning or interpretation in the study being conducted. If a term has more than one
definition and is critical to the understanding of the study, it should be defined in this section.
All terms should be defined from a documented reliable source unless they are identifier-
2. Are any terms included in the study which could have more than one
meaning or are used uniquely in this study that have not been defined?
REFERENCES
This section should begin on a separate page and list only those sources that were quoted
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in the proposal. The multitude of materials that were reviewed in the formulation of the
problem and proposal need not be referenced. The style to be used is that of the style and form
department.
Background references should be kept in a separate file, often the researcher wishes a
reference could be used to amplify or support a viewpoint, but hasn’t been filed properly and
Chapter Two
The second chapter is the Literature Review chapter. Many students have difficulty
developing this chapter. Perhaps this is the most difficult of the entire research process, usually it
will be the largest chapter. The purpose of Literature review in the proposal is to show an
understanding of related research that exists. This section of this paper shares some thoughts that
are intended to make this portion of the research paper easier to complete. Good practice avoids
The research study is to result in new knowledge, often knowledge that is built on
existing knowledge in ways that are distinct from all that is currently known. This new
knowledge will be about the dependent variable of the study and will be presented in Chapter
. The independent variables, in fact are already known, therefore these are the topics to be
reviewed in the literature. We should know about their variances, reliability, and validity and
any other pertinent facts. These are the facts to be reported in Chapter 2.
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The following decisions will be made based on literature found in texts and previous studies.
4. how was the procedure for collecting information selected? Was the procedure
logical?
5. on what basis was the sample size determined? What bias might be introduced?
The purpose of the literature review is to assist reader/reviewers in assessing whether all
the independent variables have been found and adequately understood. This is the area in which
too many assumptions are often made without support, leaving the new researcher vulnerable to
criticism.
Chapter Three
Methodology
This chapter should be viewed much like a contract that the researcher will complete.
When the plan is well made, the tasks will be well defined, allowing the researcher to complete
the data collection in a logical and timely manner. It is possible for the plan to change due to
unforeseen impediments, but a good plan usually minimizes the number and extent of problems
for the researcher. A Gantt chart placed in Chapter Three would make a nice graphical
presentation of your planned activities in relation to time. A poorly conceived Procedure of the
Study can necessitate changes in the study which will require the candidate to undertake a
number of unwanted tasks which could have been eliminated with good pre-planning.