Simulating a research consultant, design a research proposal for a hypothetical experiment

INSTRUCTIONS

This final assessment will build on the first two assessments by requiring you to create a research proposal for a hypothetical experiment in a field where you have been asked hypothetically to assist with research as a research consultant. Choose a field in which you have worked or might like to work someday to personalise it to an area of interest. The goal here is to imagine the background setting and the context within which you might be asked to act as a research consultant and briefly describe this in the opening of your presentation. Some examples are below (feel free to use them or use your own idea instead).

Example 1: If your field of interest is community health, you might imagine that you work in a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility. You have been asked to propose research to assess the influence of rehabilitation counsellors’ gender on the level of engagement in counselling with young males.

Example 2: If your field of interest is organisational psychology, you might imagine that you work in human resources and have been asked to propose a research design to assess the effectiveness of training in dealing with difficult personalities.

Example 3: If your field of interest is private practice/counselling psychology, you might imagine that you work in private practice and have been asked to assist in proposing a research design to assess the efficacy of eye movement desensitisation and reprocessingLinks to an external site. (EMDR) vs cognitive behavioural therapyLinks to an external site. (CBT) for elderly Australians suffering from trauma.

Research proposal components

Your research proposal presentation must contain the following sections and content in the form of a 10-12 minute (+/– 30 seconds) narrated presentation with supporting PowerPoint (or similar) slides. The number of slides given below is a guide only. You will not be penalised for using fewer or more slides as long as the slides you present answer the questions and are clear, well-designed and easy to follow.

1. Introduction and research question (three slides)

• Title slide, introduction of yourself and overview of the research context (briefly describe your hypothetical context/scenario).
• A brief discussion of the literature and/or existing research background (3-4 studies cited is sufficient).
• State the problem and the resultant specific research question for the proposed project to address. This should be based on gaps and/or needs in the literature.

2. Method (five slides—one slide for each point below)

• What is the proposed research design (and variables) and rationale for that design?
• What are the sample characteristics and sample size, and how will participants be recruited?
• How will each of the variables included in the study be measured? For example, self-report questionnaires, clinician observations, blood tests, etc. You do not need to name a specific scale or measure but do need to report on the rationale of your choices.
• What is the procedure (what steps will be followed to conduct the study)? Who will conduct the application of experimental interventions?
• What are the ethical considerations of the proposed research, and how will they be addressed?

3. Proposed statistical analysis (two slides)

• What statistical analysis/analyses will be used to investigate the research questions? Why?
• What assumptions will be tested before conducting the statistical analysis/analyses?
• What information will the statistical analysis/analyses provide to help answer the research question/s?

4. Discussion (two slides)

• What are the strengths of the proposed research?
• What information will this study be able to contribute, and how might this be applied to professional practice in your imagined context/field?
• What are the limitations of the information and the generalisability of the results that would be generated by this study?
• How might this study lead to future studies or alternative designs to further improve knowledge in this area?

5. References (one slide)

• In-text references are required on the slides where relevant to sources that you have referred to in preparing your research proposal.
• A reference list of works cited, especially related to your introduction section, is required on your final slide.
• A minimum of three references cited is sufficient, although you may require another 1-2 pieces of research to inform your methods or other sections.

Formatting

You must adhere to APA 7th stylistics and formatting in your writing.