The project proposal I came across was one that answered the question: From finishing school to feminist academy: the impact of changing social constructions of gender on education in a private girls school in western Australia 1945-97. This proposal was published on the University of Western Australia’s website under their graduate school of education and is written by a women named Karen Marais. The aim of this particular project is to investigate the way that the social construction of gender changed over time and how it effected the experience offered by an independent Christian girls school. She describes in her abstract how this study is set against a background of significant change in western Australian education, and that the main focus of this study is to examine the impact of gender on the education given to girls enrolled in private school. She proceeds her abstract with a section called her rational for the study in which she integrates, background, a statement of purpose, her central question along with 9 sub questions, and the significance of the study. She discloses to us that the reason this study is significant is because it will make a theoretical contribution to the study of gender in schools in western Australia and that The significance of the study is that “it should provide the richness of a case study scenario to underpin the impact of the social construction of gender and class on the type of education offered to girls from 1945 to 1990.”

From that we learn that the format of this study is a case study taking place in a historical context, with a postmodern conceptual framework. Her data gathering methods were the studying of documents, of archived material on this subject and of semi structured in-depth interviews, all quantitative data, all with the intent of broadening the knowledge of the changing gendered expectations in and after schooling. After thoroughly describing her conceptual framework, Ms. Marais reviews all of the literature, which relates to her topic. Though there is lots of literature published surrounding this topic, she specifies that the framework of this project is premised on the social construction of gender and how it effects the education which girls receive. Because this study deals with qualitative data instead of quantitative data, the data analysis method is interpretivist. This means the researcher is no longer a neutral bystander to the data like with quantitative data, but rather becomes an observer and interpreter of human condition. If completed this study will provide “a multi- vocal and multi-generational representation of “lived” experiences of girls and women”

Throughout the last half of the proposal she delves deeper into each on of the sections. She describes her research methods, her data collection methods, how she will recruit people to participate in her study, the interview questions she will ask, and how she will analyze each piece of data. She also makes sure to discuss the limitations to her study, the ethical concerns connected, a time line for her study and lastly the budget she will need to complete it. She includes 4 pages of references as well, bringing the grand total page count to 30 pages.

This is a very well put together and thought out proposal, which I think would be a very successful project if attempted. She was very through and detailed, especially in her literature review, making sure to address all of the different related literature and how it related to her topic. There was nothing to my knowledge that was left unsaid regarding this topic.

http://www.education.uwa.edu.au/students/research/?a=75328

I selected a research proposal titled The Impact of Climatic Change on the Decline of the Black French Truffle. Black truffles are both unique and expensive and over the past 40 years there has been a steady decline of this rare species in both quantity and quality. The objective of this project aims to use quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection to better understand the decline in black truffles from France. The qualitative method involves interview to collect textual data. In regards to the quantitative phase, a cross-sectional survey comprised of multiple choice questions, yes/no questions, self-evaluation items as well as open ended questions will be used. The target sample is roughly 1,200 environmentalists and hoteliers in France. Qualitative Software and Research N6 will be used to code an analyze the data collected from the interviews. Descriptive statistics will also be used to determine the validity of the survey questions. The methods proposed to answer the research question seem to be appropriate and in depth enough to gather reliable data to be analyzed.

The Impact of Climatic Change on the Decline of the Black French Truffle, writepass.com, 10 December, 2016

The proposal example that I have chosen was written by Charles Ming Kheng from the graduate school of education at the University of Western Australia. The research proposed is a study to find whether or not an infusion of biology demonstrations within a physics course had any effects on the achievement or attitudes of junior standing college students in Singapore. To gather data, Kheng randomly assigned 120 students (60 male and 60 female) into control and experiment groups. Both groups were to learn the same level and course of physics, except the experimental group were to have biology-infused physics demonstrations within the course. After two weeks, the two groups were to be compared to see the impact the biology had on their achievement and attitudes.

As mentioned above, the topic of the research was effects of biology-infused demonstrations on achievement and attitudes in junior college physics. The research question was “What are the effects of infusing biology examples into physics demonstrations that are based on a constructivist teaching approach?” Kheng also added the following specific research questions: (1) What are the effects of using such demonstrations on physics achievement? (2) What are the effects of using such demonstrations on physics attitudes? (3) Do the effects of using such demonstrations on achievement and attitudes differ across males and females? (4) Do the effects of using such demonstrations on achievement and attitudes differ across ability levels? The type of data needed to answer this question would be reports of acts and behavior since the main goal is to find out if the biology affected their personal achievements and attitudes. To gather this data, the researcher used a modified version from an existing attitudes questionnaire to compare attitudes, and then used a Physics Achievement Test (PAT) to determine if their achievements differed. To then analyze this data, the statistical methods of Pearson r and Rasch were used for the PAT to see if there was any relationship between the students’ achievements when infused or not with biology.

Overall, I thought this research proposal was well written. It had language that was easy to understand, had visuals to represents the way data would be organized, and transitioned nicely from each step to the next.

This research proposal, collected from missionstudies.org, proposes to take a look into postcolonial theory and new research on women and feminist theology as applied to the practice of mission work. The author of the piece has taken this on because of the increase in studies about missions, and particularly the role of women. However, with this “new world order” there are changing events, thoughts, and movements; many of which applying to the mission work women have done. The author claims, “Women still face differences and ‘otherness’ to such an extent that the little we share, is diminished and overshadowed by these differences.” Since the effects of difference throughout the world can be so detrimental, what can be done to break down the barriers? This piece seems to assume that women are the perfect catalysts, being in both an insider and outsider position. A lot of this research proposal is spent explaining the background knowledge and plethora of ideas about this subject, which makes it much easier to understand than if only a simple explanation had been provided. There are 5 or 6 proposed questions in the “Research Areas” section that I assume will all contribute to the overarching project’s aim. Some of the questions are “How do we understand and re-interpret mission in the light of postcolonial theory and hermeneutics?”, “How can mission scholars through their theological work contribute to a positive valuation of difference in church and society?”, and “How do we read the Bible and other religious texts by means of a postcolonial, hermeneutics?” After this section, two different research aims are identified. One is to develop new paradigms of mission from the diverse female perspective in a post colonial world. The other is to encourage women to listen to each other about their experiences and challenges. This proposal, if accepted, will call on participants from missiological and theological institutions to take part in. This is assumed to be a very diverse group of people. For data collection, the author states, “In order to gather the material which is needed to carry out the research project, a call for papers and material which have not yet been published shall be released immediately.” I am not quite sure what papers or material is being referred to, but I am assuming this type of data will be organization (perhaps coming from the churches) or shallow opinions and beliefs if the people discussed above are being interviewed. There is a workshop mentioned, which I could see being similar to a focus group, working well with the latter data type.

Overall, the most impressive thing about this proposal is the preliminary information offered to the reader. However, I find myself knowing much more about the background details than the actual research study itself, which, in a way, seems to defeat the purpose of a proposal. This made is difficult to evaluate just what type of study was to be carried out. Nevertheless, it was an interesting read.

Heidemanns, K., & Van Schalkwyk, A. (n.d.). How to deal with difference? Creating new paradigms of mission from the perspective of women in a postcolonial world. Missionstudies.org . Retrieved March 11, 2017, from http://missionstudies.org/archive/4groups/women/project_description.htm

I found this research proposal on a site called academia.edu because it was hard to find any research proposals at all on my subject, and I did not really have any previous knowledge to build on. This proposal is from a student at UC San Diego, and as the title implies the topic is food deserts. This research project would answer several questions. How many households in southeast San Diego have moderate, low, an extremely low access to affordable healthy foods? What do residents report would improve their communities’ food situations? And, are people of color disproportionately living in low access neighborhoods? The proposal consists of an abstract, background information from previous studies on food deserts, the significance of the research, the research design, and appendices including interview questions that would be asked. There are several types of data that need to be gathered, and the proposal suggests gathering reports from the USDA data on food insecurity as well as from store owners/managers and residents via surveys and interviews. It would also require census data for southeast San Diego to learn about racial and ethnic diversity. The responses and results from these sources will be analyzed based on distribution of responses to surveys and how closely these are related to the racial makeup of communities.

The proposal also suggests sharing interview responses and the end results with decision-makers in the city of San Diego in order to have information to be able to improve food security in this area. I think it is important that the researcher proposes to ask residents what they think would improve their community rather than trying to shape policy from only an outside perspective. If carried out, this research would be a step towards giving people of this community a voice in important issues, and if not that, it would at least get participants thinking about these issues.

This sample proposal can be found at: http://www.academia.edu/1479455/Research_Proposal_SAMPLE_Assessing_Food_Insecurity_Food-Access_Inequality_In_Southeast_San_Diego_Households

As college students we may often find ourselves going through the motions of reading assignments, and at times may not be conceptualizing the material that we are reading. This is an issue that research David Arias a high school science teacher began to notice in his students. Arias argues, that many students are not capable of accessing content through their reading material. In his past classes he noticed his students did not have the knowledge of how to search through a book, however they knew how to decipher good information for the junk.

In his research titled, Action Research Proposal: The effect of conceptual change and literacy strategies on students in high school science classes, California State University, Northridge. In his research Arias was curious to explore the idea of conceptual change, and to find out how students who are consistently being exposed to ideas, and concepts, are still unable to grasp the information. In his proposal Arias states the purpose of his paper is to, “determine how conceptual change that uses literacy strategies affects students’ achievement in a science class. ” In order to receive the data Arias asks the following research questions: Which strategies help students access the content in a biology class or integrated coordinated science class? Can conceptual change affect students’ success in a biology class? Which literacy strategies in conjunction with conceptual change affect students’ prior knowledge? For the purpose of the study conceptual change refers to a teaching strategy that requires students to reorganize the conceptual framework in order to learn something.

The potential participant in the study will be Arias’ current students for the upcoming school year. Arias would potentially be observing three biology classes (38, 10th grade), as well as two integrated coordinated classes (40, 9th grade). The potential participants backgrounds is stated to be diverse, ranging from mixed socioeconomic statuses, race, and gender, with a wide variety of abilities. Class period run for and hour and fifty minutes, except for Tuesdays.

The proposed research will take part over 16 weeks. Arias states in his proposal that the data collection will be scaffold dependent on the data. for each unit studied the students will be given a pre and post test. Questions on the test would vary from true/false, multiple choice, and free response. Survey’s will also be a part of the study, and collected on a bi-weekly basis.

Data collected for the study will be analyzed with regards to the data collected. The students survey results will be coded and reviewed for factors. Inferential statistics will be used only if Arias’ class schedule changes in the upcoming school semester. Any field notes made by Arias will be coded.

Arias’ proposed research seems to be clearly laid out, and he seems to have a good understanding of how his students minds work, and is looking for a way to help them better understand the material. Reading through the proposal he clearly stated his methods, as well as questions he hoped to answer at the end of his study.

This research proposal’s topic is about the safe storage of Nuclear Waste. Specifically, the proposals topic is a literature review asking if Yucca Mountain, Nevada would be a suitable place for the storage of nuclear waste. The proposal has two goals, to “(1) explain the criteria for a suitable repository of high-level radioactive waste; and (2) determine whether Yucca Mountain meets these criteria” (Bloom, 1). This research will also take into account the economic impact of having a single site for nuclear waste disposal, and if the transportation costs and risks associated with travel will outweigh the harm. This proposal outlines a descriptive study, a quasi-experimental process putting together past studies to determine if Yucca Mountain is environmentally suitable and safe to house large amounts of nuclear waste. The various studies that will be used in the research will be reports of acts examining the rock structure storage safety, container corrosion, and evaluations of Yucca Mountain using the Environmental Protection Agency standards. The gathering method is simply research, going through databases and even websites, such as the EPA’s website. The author of the proposal may have already had some research done in a scientific journal as well. The proposals plan of action first outlines the criteria for a safe site for nuclear waste disposal, and secondly will evaluate Yucca Mountain based on these criteria. No analysis, or description of analysis is given in this proposal, thought I assume being a quasi-experimental study most analysis will be done in the previous studies. All this researcher must do is combine these studies and draw conclusions based on these studies. I think this is a worthwhile research proposal, though the only thing, at least I think, is missing is analysis.

Bloom, Roger. “A Proposal to Research the Storage Facility
for Spent Nuclear Fuel at Yucca Mountain.” Penn State Engineering. Undergraduate Engineering Review. Feb, 1999. Web. March, 2017. <http://writing.engr.psu.edu/workbooks/proposal.samples.html>

The Research Proposal I found is a topic relevant to all residents of California. It is called “A Proposal to Review How Geophysical Precursors Can Help Predict Earthquakes,” proposed by Christopher Gray to the Undergraduate Engineering Review in February of 1995. The question Gray wants to answer is how certain key geological factors can be indicative of large-scale earthquakes. In order to establish the importance of this topic and question, Gray details devastating historical examples such as the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and the Yokohama/Tokyo earthquake of 1923. Using the two worst earthquakes of the 20^th century as evidence, he explains the importance of earthquake prediction to save lives and infrastructure from natural disaster. Because successful prediction models could have been extremely beneficial to San Francisco and Japan in these instances, Gray mentions the successful Chinese example of earthquake prediction as justification for his research. He discusses the accuracy of Chinese prediction models in predicting earthquakes rated 5.0 or above, and how these models have saved innumerous lives. He also notes that sometimes earthquake predictions yield no results, and people can be evacuated for months despite no earthquake ever occurring. Despite this, predicting earthquakes is still extremely relevant and there are several cases where prior action has saved thousands of lives.

Gray proposes an earthquake prediction model consisting of the following geophysical precursors: ground uplift and tilt, increases in radon emissions, and changes in electrical resistivity of rocks. Gray’s objectives for this research are to describe these factors, show when they happen during the five stages of an earthquake, and explain how they are used for earthquake prediction.

In the planning section, Gray explains the various goals he is trying to achieve with this research, as well as outlines the sources needed to accomplish them. He relies mainly on expert knowledge found in published books, and notes that he will exclude prediction statistics because there is a lack of documented success in predicting earthquakes. He also goes into great detail about his target audiences: engineering students and residents of earthquake-prone areas. He acknowledges that the two groups have different interests in this research and he plans to include relevant information for both.

At the end of his proposal, Gray lays out a two-month timeframe of collecting, organizing, and composing his research. Gray wrote very clearly and gave a thorough explanation of how/what he wanted to research.

Undergraduate Engineering Review. “Sample Proposals.” “Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science “. Last modified February 1999. http://writing.engr.psu.edu/workbooks/proposal.samples.html.

(This research proposal was posted in order to educate potential proposal writers on the Undergraduate Engineering Reviews‘ standards. I could not locate a citation for Gray’s proposal but the attached link includes the proposal and his reference list).

Warren D. Devine, Constance A. Harrington

In the Willamette Valley area of the Cascade mountain range in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States there have been high levels of encroachment of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) on Oregon white oak (Quercus garryana). These savanna and woodland areas were historically kept-up by frequent burns, usually caused by humans for many reasons. Oaks typically need direct sunlight to photosynthesize, so encroachment of Douglas-firs that have been overtopping oaks has caused oaks to live in suppression for decades, which hinders biodiversity, lifespan of the oaks, and the amount of acorns they produce. This study looks at how oaks respond over ten years to the invasion of Douglas-firs being removed. There were four different methods of release measured: Full release, or full removal of douglas firs in a plot, half release, thin only, and control in which there was no removal. Growth of oaks in plots where full removal of Douglas-firs was done was significantly greater than in plots where other treatments were done. Acorn production was also handily influenced by full removal of Douglas-firs, however, height and crown area growth was not influenced. Acorn production in thinned and half released plots also improved, but not as high as full release areas. Treatments indicated that removal of encroaching fir trees highly influenced oaks to grow rapidly and oaks showed no negative effects due to a dramatic change in environment.

Data needed for this study was behavioral because the forest ecologists were determining how oaks responded in growth to a change in surroundings. This is simply observing the tree’s behavior, but can be confusing because you are not testing human subjects. Data was collected by measuring plots that had 18 oak trees each with a wide range of DBH (diameter at breast height) with varying degrees of suppression. Data was analysed by a generalized, randomized, complete-block design analysis of variance (ANOVA) model. The experimental unit was the center oak of the plot.

Devine, W. D., & Harrington, C. A. (2013). Restoration release of overtopped Oregon white oak increases 10-year growth and acorn production. Forest Ecology & Management, 29187-95. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2012.10.053

Maria Ruane author of “ Economic Development Prospects for a Small Island Economy: The Case of Guam.” This journal article talks about the developing economy of my little island, Guam. It is an article on the environmental factors of Guam’s economy, and the analysis in the relationship that they have to it. The factors are: Guam as a small island economy, the economy being relatively open and lacking economic diversification, Guam having lots of natural resources, and a multicultural society. The case discusses employment stats, gross domestic products, Guam’s lack of economies of scale and its limited productive resources. It discusses imports for Guam, that around 36% of its GIP, making Guam vulnerable to external shocks that effect tourist markets. It discusses that military and tourism as the most significant income for Guam. Then the case goes over geographic isolations challenges, absence of mass production, and the governmental involvement: which has shifted Guam towards privately owned businesses. Which in my experience has proven to connect to family/ governmental corruption on Guam. Towards the end the article discuses that the current dependency on military and tourism as their main income should be redirected towards increasing standard of living, smart management of the environment to ensure sustainability, resurgence of pride in their indigenous culture, high productivity and value-added, intensive use of human capital and technology, use of “green” technology and practices, non-carbon printing and finally, intensive use of indigenous resources including human talents and local materials. “This paper presented an in-depth evaluation of the environmental factors that affect Guam’s economy and its future development prospects.” There were many economic data sets, demographic data sets, some self-identifying data sets (connected to the ethnicity of the Guam population) in relation to this article. There were a few cultural knowledge aspects and a few hidden social patterns revealed. The data-gathering method that Maria used centered on surveys and questioners, public and private records, and content analysis. The method of data analysis is to see the cause and effect of each environmental factor on the economy of Guam. I enjoyed reading this piece; it gave me a more broadened overview of Guam’s economic system than I am used to. I can see how things operate as a resident, but seeing more factors involved into the economics of Guam lets me look at the factors that I didn’t see originally correlating with it. Guam has a fun economy, designed to attract tourist. However, that economy may be fun on the outside, but has been politically corrupt for a long time. Guam’s economy like many island economies have major struggles in self-efficiency, and although to a tourist might look strong, has too much reliance on too few of factors.

Ruane, Maria Claret M. “ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS FOR A SMALL ISLAND ECONOMY: THE CASE OF GUAM.” Journal of Economics and Economic Education Research 13, no. 1 (2012): 15-23, http://0-search.proquest.com.books.redlands.edu/docview/1037693072?accountid=14729 (accessed February 20, 2017).