Assignments #3-4: Research Proposals


Psychology 331: Labs in Biopsych
Draft Due: 3pm Tuesday, February 23 in Prof. Polk's mailbox (4035 East Hall)
Final Proposal Due: 3pm Tuesday, March 16 in Prof. Polk's mailbox (4035 East Hall)
Draft counts 10% of your total grade
Final proposal counts 20% of your total grade

One of the most critical skills in biopsychology is the ability to write an intelligent and compelling research proposal. Not only does writing a proposal force one to think critically about the research one wants to do, but one must also be able to produce a proposal that will convince a funding agency to support one's research. In Psychology 331 you will be writing a research proposal for the former reason (to think critically about your research) rather than the latter (to acquire funding), but you should also be aware of the latter because although you are not seeking funding you are writing a proposal which should persuade readers that the research you want to do is important and warrants the time and effort it will take you to complete it successfully.

Specifics of the assignment. Your proposal should be double-spaced, typed, 12 point Times font with 1 inch margins on all sides and limited to about seven pages of text (excluding figures, tables, and references). You will write two versions of your proposal. The first is due February 23. You will then revise your proposal in light on comments and turn in a final proposal by March 16. The first version of your proposal will count 10% of your final grade. The final version will count 20%.

Content of the research proposal. Research proposals in biopsychology are typically directed to one of several Federal Government agencies such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or the National Science Foundation (NSF), among many others. Each agency has its own particular guidelines and rules for submitting a proposal, including the format and organization of a proposal, but all agencies want certain information that you will be including in the proposal you write. Please use the following guidelines to write your proposal and identify explicitly the following sections in your proposal.

A. Specific Aims. State the broad, long-term objectives of your research and describe concisely what your specific research is intended to accomplish. State explicitly any hypotheses you will test. This section should be written at a general level and be restricted to 1 1/2 pages of text. You could view the Specific Aims as a kind of abstract or summary statement that describes your research (and feel free to borrow from the abstract you wrote previously as you see fit). Think of the Specific Aims as being composed of four parts: (1) the significance or general goal of your proposed research, (2) the theoretical framework that is relevant to your proposed research, (3) the hypothesis(es) that you will test in your proposed research, and (4) how you will actually test the hypothesis(es) you propose.

B. Background and Significance. Describe the theoretical and empirical background for your proposed research so as to place your work in the context of previous relevant theory and research. Feel free to plug in the background and significance description you wrote for assignment #3 (revised as you see fit).

C. Research Design and Methods. Describe the experimental design and procedures you will use in your proposed research, including how you will collect, analyze, and interpret data. Describe the methods you will use in your research such that another investigator could come close to repeating what you propose to do. Be sure to justify the particular methods you choose to use.

Note that the experimental design portion of section C involves conceptualizing a logical sequence of steps that will be taken to test your hypothesis. You are thus describing and explaining to readers the logic behind the methods you will be using. You should describe the experimental and control group(s) in your study and the number of subjects you will observe. A schematic drawing (e.g. diagrams, flow charts, tables) can be a very powerful tool to communicate to a reader what you will be doing in your study. Even if you do not use such drawings in your proposal, it is very worthwhile to sketch one for yourself.

Under experimental design, you should include how you would interpret outcomes that are inconsistent with what you think will be the results of your study. This is a particularly important part of your proposal because it shows that you have considered carefully the results that may refute your hypothesis and how such refutations might bear on the general problem you are studying.

Your methods portion of section C, in contrast to the experimental design, is a cook-book series of details you will follow in conducting your research. Methods that are used widely in a field do not require detailed description because you can cite other papers that describe such common-place methods.

D. References. Finally, be sure that your proposal includes a reference section in which you provide complete bibliographic information for the research you cite in your proposal (in APA format).

Criteria to be used in evaluating your research proposals.

Specific aims
1. Statement of goal: explicit and clear?
2. Theoretical framework: relevant and necessary information included?
3. Hypothesis(es): explicit and clear?
4. Test(s) of hypothesis(es): is it clear how hypothesis will be tested?

Background and significance
1. Evaluation of current knowledge
2. How will proposed research fill in gaps, challenge prior knowledge?
3. Is significance of proposed research made clear?
4. Are critical terms and concepts clearly defined?

Research design and methods
1. Methods and protocol described clearly?
2. Interpretation of expected and unexpected results?

Overall
1. Is the proposal written in an organized and logical manner?
2. Is the format of the proposal appropriate?

Once again, writing style will be explicitly considered in assigning grades so write clearly, directly and grammatically.


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