Research Proposal

In this unit, you will develop a research proposal as if you were going to conduct a full research project. In each section, you will include content related to areas that have been introduced and discussed throughout the course and will use one of the databases that you have used with previous submissions. 

For this unit, please address the following items: 

• Revisit the link below and select any degree, program, and state combination that you would like as long as there are at least 10 schools/universities total. Since the topic of this course is public administration, be sure to exclude private schools and focus on public organizations.
  
  
  
  • U.S. Department of Education. (n.d.). College scorecard. Retrieved from https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/ 
  
  
  
  


• Discuss the means in which the information was or was likely acquired and whether or not you think that it is valid and reliable for your project. 


• Select an additional research area/characteristic of this population that you are interested in learning about that is not readily available (satisfaction with the program, hours spent on schoolwork per week, etc.).  


• Discuss a method that you would likely use to acquire information on the topic, and include your method (e.g., survey) as well as a rationale for including each component (e.g., a rationale for including each survey question). You should include at least eight items or questions. 


• Discuss how the data would be analyzed. (For quantitative, possibly via finding simple means. For qualitative, via coding and related practices.) 


• Select one of the College Scorecard variables (annual cost, graduation rate, salary) with which to compare your new additional research area/characteristic. 


• Discuss the test of statistical significance that you think would be best in determining the relationship between the two variables. Be sure to include such items as confidence levels into your discussion and to account for possible disparities in data into your discussion. 


• Discuss internal validity associated with your chosen research methods and possible threats that may be present as well as methods to minimize these threats. 


• Discuss external validity associated with your chosen research methods and possible threats that are present as well as methods to minimize these threats. 


• Discuss how to maintain ethical standards in research in public administration organizations.  

Remember that you are not actually collecting the data or making analysis but are, instead, discussing the techniques that you would incorporate in this portion of your proposal. 

Your research proposal must be at least five pages in length, not counting title and reference pages. Please use at least the textbook in the development of your comprehensive assignment as well as at least one external resource from the  Online Library. 

Textbook:

O'Sullivan, E., Rassel, G. R., & Taliaferro, J. D. (2011). Practical research methods for nonprofit and public administrators. Routledge.