Research Design

Here, you will tell the reader how you will collect your data that will help answer your research
questions and achieve your study goals. Describe and justify (explain “why” you will do what
you will do) the following: data collection methods, research site, sample, ethics in research, data
collection procedure (including how you plan to code your data, the questions that you will ask
your respondents, or the survey questions and related responses you will send them), and validity
and reliability in data. See the textbook to help design your research and the methods discussed
in them.
If you intend to propose a quantitative study, discuss (and describe) the dataset you wish to use
and the independent, control, and dependent variables. Following, discuss and justify the
statistical measures/analysis and software you plan on using.
Remember you MUST convince the reader that your overall research design and proposed
methods of analysis will correctly address the problem and that the methods will provide the
means to effectively interpret the potential results. Your design and methods should be
unmistakably tied to the specific aims of your study.

Describe the overall research design by building upon and drawing examples from your review
of the literature. Consider not only methods that other researchers have used but also methods of
data gathering that have not been used but perhaps could be. Be specific about the
methodological approaches you plan to undertake to obtain information, the techniques you
would use to analyze the data, and the tests of external validity to which you commit yourself
(i.e., the trustworthiness by which you can generalize from your study to other people, places,
events and/or periods of time).
Lastly, anticipate and acknowledge any potential barriers and pitfalls in carrying out your
research design and explain how you plan to address them. No method is perfect! So, you need
to describe where you believe challenges may exist in obtaining data or accessing information
(and if there is any way to deal with them). It’s always better to acknowledge this than to have it
brought up by your professor!
Keep this section within 5-7 pages