Purpose:
To create a research proposal (either qualitative or mixed methods) that will highlight learned
components of this course. Students will provide a clear statement of a public health problem,
review of literature, explain how the literature relates to a proposed study, develop formal
research statement/questions and/or hypotheses, and synthesize a full methods section.
Instructions:
Part of the final course project is a written paper (Research Proposal) that focuses on a health
issue, among a priority population, and a behavior of interest to the student. You will be required
to submit the topic for approval, please see due date below.
The Research Proposal must be prepared based upon the following guidelines:
• Entire proposal must comply with APA guidelines, 7th edition (including cover page, abstract,
in-text citations, references, figures, and tables).
• No Quotes allowed in this paper.
• The font can be no smaller than 11 point, no larger than 12 point.
• The font must be a standard publishing font (Times New Roman, Calibri, etc.).
• The paper should be free of spelling and grammatical errors.
• All pages must be numbered.
• Paper must have one-inch standard margins.
• Paper must be double spaced.
• A table of contents must be included.
• Figures and tables (if any) should be added to appendices and not within the body of the
paper. So, created survey(s) and interview/focus group questions should be added to
appendices.
The Research Proposal will be the result of information provided throughout this course. The
proposal must be at least 10 pages in length (excluding cover page, abstract, reference, and
appendices) and contain the following sections:
1. Cover Page – The cover page should contain the title of your proposal and identifies your
partner’s name and your own name, course number, professor, and date of submission.
This APA Guideline could be helpful for setting-up your paper in adequate APA format.
2. Abstract – This section summarizes the content of the Research Proposal and is no
longer than 150 words. The abstract is written after the proposal is completed, thus
providing an overview for the entire paper. It is situated at the beginning of the paper after
the cover page, in its own page, and is not indented as a normative paragraph would.
3. Statement of the Research Topic – In this introductory section, the research problem and significance will be established. This section answers the following kinds of questions: What exactly do you want to study? Why is it worth studying? Does the proposed study have theoretical and/or practical significance? Does it contribute to a new understanding of a phenomenon, an area where research is limited, does it explore familiar area in a new way, does it challenge an existing understanding, or extend existing knowledge?
Note: This section should include some combination of national, state, and/or local demographic and statistical supportive information for the health topic, population, and behavior selected. Examples, include the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Institute of Medicine (IOM), Health People 2020, Los Angeles County of Public Health data, etc.
