research proposal
Guidelines on writing a research proposal
by Matthew McGranaghan
This is a work in progress, intended to organize my thoughts on the process of formulating a proposal. If you have any thoughts on the content, or even the notion of making this available to students, please share them with me.
Introduction
This is a guide to writing M.A. research proposals. The same principles apply to dissertation proposals and to proposals to most funding agencies. It includes a model outline, but advisor, committee and funding agency expectations vary and your proposal will be a variation on this basic theme. Use these guidelines as a point of departure for discussions with your advisor. They may serve as a straw-man against which to build your understanding of both your project and of proposal writing.
Proposal Writing
Proposal writing is important to your pursuit of a graduate degree. The proposal is, in effect, an intellectual scholastic (not legal) contract between you and your committee. It specifies what you will do, how you will do it, and how you will interpret the results. In specifying what will be done it also gives criteria for determining whether it is done. In approving the proposal, your committee gives their best judgment that the approach to the research is reasonable and likely to yield the anticipated results. They are implicitly agreeing that they will accept the result as adequate for the purpose of granting a degree. (Of course you will have to write the thesis in acceptable form, and you probably will discover things in the course of your research that were not anticipated but which should be addressed in your thesis, but the minimum core intellectual contribution of your thesis will be set by the proposal.) Both parties benefit from an agreed upon plan.
The objective in writing a proposal is to describe what you will do, why it should be done, how you will do it and what you expect will result. Being clear about these things from the beginning will help you complete your thesis in a timely fashion. A vague, weak or fuzzy proposal can lead to a long, painful, and often unsuccessful thesis writing exercise. A clean, well thought-out, proposal forms the backbone for the thesis itself. The structures are identical and through the miracle of word-processing, your proposal will probably become your thesis.
A good thesis proposal hinges on a good idea. Once you have a good idea, you can draft the proposal in an evening. Getting a good idea hinges on familiarity with the topic. This assumes a longer preparatory period of reading, observation, discussion, and incubation. Read everything that you can in your area of interest. Figure out what are the important and missing parts of our understanding. Figure out how to build/discover those pieces. Live and breath the topic. Talk about it with anyone who is interested. Then just write the important parts as the proposal. Filling in the things that we do not know and that will help us know more: that is what research is all about.
Proposals help you estimate the size of a project. Don't make the project too big. Our MA program statement used to say that a thesis is equivalent to a published paper in scope. That means about sixty double spaced pages, with figures, tables and bibliography, ought to do it. Your proposal will be shorter, perhaps five pages and certainly no more than fifteen pages. (For perspective, the NSF limits the length of proposal narratives to 15 pages, even when the request might be for multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars. It is the merit of the proposal which counts, not the weight.) Shoot for five pithy pages that indicate to a relatively well-informed audience that you know the topic and how its logic hangs together, rather than fifteen or twenty pages that indicate that you have read a lot of things but not yet boiled it down to a set of prioritized linked questions.
Different Theses, Similar Proposals
This guide includes an outline that looks like a "fill-in the blanks guide" and, while in the abstract all proposals are similar, each proposal will have its own particular variation on the basic theme. Each research project is different and each needs a specifically tailored proposal to bring it into focus. Different advisors, committees and agencies have different expectations and you should find out what these are as early as possible; ask your advisor for advice on this. Further, different types of thesis require slightly different proposals. What style of work is published in your sub-discipline?
Characterizing theses is difficult. Some thesis are "straight science". Some are essentially opinion pieces. Some are policy oriented. In the end, they may well all be interpretations of observations, and differentiated by the rules that constrain the interpretation. (Different advisors will have different preferences about the rules, the meta-discourse, in which we all work.)
In the abstract all proposals are very similar. They need to show a reasonably informed reader why a particular topic is important to address and how you will do it. To that end, a proposal needs to show how your work fits into what is already known about the topic and what new contribution your work will make. Specify the question that your research will answer, establish why it is a significant question, show how you are going to answer the question, and indicate what you expect we will learn. The proposal should situate the work in the literature, it should show why this is an (if not the most) important question to answer in the field, and convince your committee (the skeptical readers that they are) that your approach will in fact result in an answer to the question.
Theses which address research questions that can be answered by making plan-able observations (and hypothesis testing) are preferred and perhaps the easiest to write. Because they address well-bounded topics, they can be very tight, but they do require more planning on the front end. Theses which are largely based on synthesis of observations, rumination, speculation, and opinion formation are harder to write, and usually not as convincing, often because they address questions which are not well-bounded and essentially unanswerable. (The old saw about research in the social sciences is: "some do and some don't". Try to to avoid such insight-less findings.) One problem with this type of project is that it is often impossible to tell when you are "done". Another problem is that the nature of argument for a position rather than the reasoned rejection of alternatives to it encourages shepherding a favored notion rather than converging more directly toward a truth. (A good proposal is a boon here, too.)
Literature review-based theses involve collection of information from the literature, distillation of it, and coming up with new insight on an issue. One problem with this type of research is that you might find the perfect succinct answer to your question on the night before (or after) you turn in the final draft --- in someone else's work. This certainly can knock the wind out of your sails. (But note that even a straight-ahead science thesis can have the problem of late in the game discovering that the work you have done or are doing has already been done, this is where familiarity with the relevant literature by both yourself and your committee members is important.)
A Couple of Models for Proposals
A Two Page (Preliminary Proposal) Model
Here is a model for a very brief (maybe five paragraph) proposal that you might use to interest faculty in sitting on your committee. People who are not yet hooked may especially appreciate its brevity.
In the first paragraph, the first sentence identifies the general topic area. The second sentence gives the research question, and the third sentence establishes its significance.
The next couple of paragraphs gives the larger historical perspective on the topic. Essentially list the major schools of thought on the topic and very briefly review the literature in the area with its major findings. Who has written on the topic and what have they found? Allocate about a sentence per important person or finding. Include any preliminary findings you have, and indicate what open questions are left. Restate your question in this context, showing how it fits into this larger picture.
The next paragraph describes your methodology. It tells how will you approach the question, what you will need to do it.
The final paragraph outlines your expected results, how you will interpret them, and how they will fit into the our larger understanding i.e., 'the literature'.
The (Longer) Standard Model
The two outlines below are intended to show both what are the standard parts of a proposal and of a science paper. Notice that the only real difference is that you change "expected results" to "results" in the paper, and usually leave the budget out, of the paper.
A Basic Proposal Outline:
Introduction
Topic area
Research question
Significance to knowledge
Literature review
Previous research
others & yours
Interlocking findings and Unanswered questions
Your preliminary work on the topic
The remaining questions and inter-locking logic
Reprise of your research question(s) in this context
Methodology
Approach
Data needs
Analytic techniques
Plan for interpreting results
Expected results
Budget
Bibliography (or References)
The Basic Thesis Outline
Introduction
Topic area
Research question (finding?)
Significance to knowledge
Literature review
Previous research
others & yours
Interlocking findings and Unanswered questions
Your preliminary work on the topic
The remaining questions and inter-locking logic
Reprise of your research question(s) in this context
Methodology
Approach
Data needs
Analytic techniques
Plan for interpreting results
Results
Discussion and Conclusions
Bibliography
Another outline (maybe from Gary Fuller?).
Introduction
Topic area
Research Question and its significance to knowledge
Literature review
Previous research
Your preliminary work on the topic
The remaining questions and their inter-locking logic
Reprise of your resulting question in this context
Methodology
Approach to answering the question
Data needs
Analytic techniques
Plan for interpreting results
Budget
Expected results
Bibliography / References
Each of these outlines is very similar. You get the idea of what the proposal does for you and organizing your thoughts and approach. The section below goes into slightly more (boring) detail on what each of the points in the outline is and does.
The Sections of the Proposal
The Introduction
Topic Area
A good title will clue the reader into the topic but it can not tell the whole story. Follow the title with a strong introduction. The introduction provides a brief overview that tells a fairly well informed (but perhaps non-specialist) reader what the proposal is about. It might be as short as a single page, but it should be very clearly written, and it should let one assess whether the research is relevant to their own. With luck it will hook the reader's interest.
What is your proposal about? Setting the topical area is a start but you need more, and quickly. Get specific about what your research will address.
Question
Once the topic is established, come right to the point. What are you doing? What specific issue or question will your work address? Very briefly (this is still the introduction) say how you will approach the work. What will we learn from your work?
Significance
Why is this work important? Show why this is it important to answer this question. What are the implications of doing it? How does it link to other knowledge? How does it stand to inform policy making? This should show how this project is significant to our body of knowledge. Why is it important to our understanding of the world? It should establish why I would want to read on. It should also tell me why I would want to support, or fund, the project.
Literature Review
State of our knowledge
The purpose of the literature review is to situate your research in the context of what is already known about a topic. It need not be exhaustive, it needs to show how your work will benefit the whole. It should provide the theoretical basis for your work, show what has been done in the area by others, and set the stage for your work.
In a literature review you should give the reader enough ties to the literature that they feel confident that you have found, read, and assimilated the literature in the field. It should probably move from the more general to the more focused studies, but need not be exhaustive, only relevant.
Outstanding questions
This is where you present the holes in the knowledge that need to be plugged and by so doing, situate your work. It is the place where you establish that your work will fit in and be significant to the discipline. This can be made easier if there is literature that comes out and says "Hey, this is a topic that needs to be treated! What is the answer to this question?" and you will sometimes see this type of piece in the literature. Perhaps there is a reason to read old AAG presidential addresses.
Research Questions in Detail
Your work to date
Tell what you have done so far. It might report preliminary studies that you have conducted to establish the feasibility of your research. It should give a sense that you are in a position to add to the body of knowledge.
Methodology
Overview of approach
This section should make clear to the reader the way that you intend to approach the research question and the techniques and logic that you will use to address it.
Data Collection
This might include the field site description, a description of the instruments you will use, and particularly the data that you anticipate collecting. You may need to comment on site and resource accessibility in the time frame and budget that you have available, to demonstrate feasibility, but the emphasis in this section should be to fully describe specifically what data you will be using in your study. Part of the purpose of doing this is to detect flaws in the plan before they become problems in the research.
Data Analysis
This should explain in some detail how you will manipulate the data that you assembled to get at the information that you will use to answer your question. It will include the statistical or other techniques and the tools that you will use in processing the data. It probably should also include an indication of the range of outcomes that you could reasonably expect from your observations.
Interpretation
In this section you should indicate how the anticipated outcomes will be interpreted to answer the research question. It is extremely beneficial to anticipate the range of outcomes from your analysis, and for each know what it will mean in terms of the answer to your question.
Expected Results
This section should give a good indication of what you expect to get out of the research. It should join the data analysis and possible outcomes to the theory and questions that you have raised. It will be a good place to summarize the significance of the work.
It is often useful from the very beginning of formulating your work to write one page for this section to focus your reasoning as you build the rest of the proposal.
Bibliography
This is the list of the relevant works. Some advisors like exhaustive lists. I think that the Graduate Division specifies that you call it "Bibliography". Others like to see only the literature which you actually cite. Most fall in between: there is no reason to cite irrelevant literature but it may be useful to keep track of it even if only to say that it was examined and found to be irrelevant.
Use a standard format. Order the references alphabetically, and use "flag" paragraphs as per the University's Guidelines.
Tips and Tricks
Read. Read everything you can find in your area of interest. Read. Read. Read. Take notes, and talk to your advisor about the topic. If your advisor won't talk to you, find another one or rely on 'the net' for intellectual interaction. Email has the advantage of forcing you to get your thoughts into written words that can be refined, edited and improved. It also gets time stamped records of when you submitted what to your advisor and how long it took to get a response.
Write about the topic a lot, and don't be afraid to tear up (delete) passages that just don't work. Often you can re-think and re-type faster than than you can edit your way out of a hopeless mess. The advantage is in the re-thinking.
Very early on, generate the research question, critical observation, interpretations of the possible outcomes, and the expected results. These are the core of the project and will help focus your reading and thinking. Modify them as needed as your understanding increases.
Use some systematic way of recording notes and bibliographic information from the very beginning. The classic approach is a deck of index cards. You can sort, regroup, layout spatial arrangements and work on the beach. Possibly a slight improvement is to use a word-processor file that contains bibliographic reference information and notes, quotes etc. that you take from the source. This can be sorted, searched, diced and sliced in your familiar word-processor. You may even print the index cards from the word-processor if you like the ability to physically re-arrange things.
Even better for some, is to use specialized bibliographic database software. Papyrus, EndNote, and other packages are available for PCs and MacIntoshs. The bib-refer and bibTex software on UNIX computers are also very handy and have the advantage of working with plain ASCII text files (no need to worry about getting at your information when the wordprocessor is several generations along). All of these tools link to various word-processors to make constructing and formating your final bibliography easier, but you won't do that many times anyway. If they help you organize your notes and thinking, that is the benefit.
Another pointer is to keep in mind from the outset that this project is neither the last nor the greatest thing you will do in your life. It is just one step along the way. Get it done and get on with the next one. The length to shoot for is "equivalent to a published paper", Forty pages of double spaced text, plus figures tables, table of contents, references, etc. is probably all you need. In practice, most theses try to do too much and become too long. Cover your topic, but don't confuse it with too many loosely relevant side lines.
This is not complete and needs a little rearranging.
The balance between Introduction and Literature Review needs to be thought out. The reader will want to be able to figure out whether to read the proposal. The literature review should be sufficiently inclusive that the reader can tell where the bounds of knowledge lie. It should also show what has been done and what seem to be accepted approaches in the field and the kinds of results that are being gotten.
The balance may change between the proposal and the thesis. It is common, although not really desirable, for theses to make reference to every slightly related piece of work that can be found. This is not necessary. Refer to the work that actually is linked to your study, don't go too far afield (unless your committee is adamant that you do ;-).
Useful References:
Krathwohl, David R. 1988. How to Prepare a Research Proposal: Guidelines for Funding and Dissertations in the Social and Behavioral Sciences . Syracuse University Press.
Recent National Science Foundations Guidelines for Research Proposals can be found on the NSF website, www.nsf.gov.
Chamberlain, T.C. "The Method of Multiple Working Hypotheses", reprinted in Science, Vol 148, pp754-759. 7 May 1965.
Platt, J. "Strong Inference" in Science, Number 3642, pp. 347-353, 16 October 1964.
Strunk and White The Elements of Style
Turabian, Kate. 1955 (or a more recent edition) A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations, University of Chicago Press.
Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren. 1940 ('67, '72 etc). How to Read a Book. Simon and Schuster Publishers. New York City, NY.
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Writing 123 - Cora Agatucci
English Composition [Research-Based Academic Writing]
WR123 Home Page
Syllabus
Lib 127
Course Plan
Assignments
Example Proposals
Links Example Student Research Proposals
http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/wr123/assignments/exproposal.htm
Topic: Japanese-American Internment during World War II (Spring 1999)
More Examples: Lucy Burrows (Spring 2002) | Natalie Lauderdale (Spring 2002)
See also Research Proposal Directions & Evaluation Checklist
http://www.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/wr123/assignments/proposal.htm
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[Name withheld by student request]
WR 123, Prof. C. Agatucci
Research Proposal
13 April 1999
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
I. Research Topic, Projected Value, Documentation Style
A. The research topic I have chosen is the Japanese-American internment in concentration camps during World War II. I am currently taking a United States History class with Nancy Zens, and a research paper is required for that class. The only requirement for paper is that its topic is in the era between the Civil War and 1980. I have chosen to write about the Japanese-American internment, which occurred in the 1940s, because it interests me. In ninth grade I was in a humanities literature class and we read a work by a woman who was in a concentration camp as a young girl in California. I was ultimately shocked that the United States could do such a thing - I was also upset that in all of the nine years I had been in school I had heard NOTHING about it - as if it was on its way to removal from United States history. So, I did a small research paper on the internment my junior year in high school. I feel it is very important for all Americans to know about what our "free" country did and why it was done. I think there is no reason at all to forget about this tremendous mistake our country made. I am sure that there are many people who have never heard about the Japanese-Americans' internment, and it is valuable and important to know about it and learn from it. I hope to learn more about why and how a free country DID in fact imprison people - and why it did so while trying to stop another country (Germany) from interning people in concentration camps (as well as for doing other things).
B. This topic is appropriate for Writing 123 because it is informative to me and my readers. I have previously researched about this topic, but I would like to perform more in-depth, quality, college-level research and learn more about the complete situation. I feel that this will be a challenge and I will learn a wealth of information. Also, there is a wealth of information for and against the Japanese-American internment. Therefore, I can do an in-depth research of the topic using many kinds of sources, and draw logical conclusions as well as fulfill the requirements satisfactorily for this course.
C. The documentation system I have chosen is Chicago-Humanities. My topic's subject matter is history, and historical research papers are usually written with Chicago-Humanities documentation system. I have never used this system, and so I look forward to learning and applying this style. Nancy Zens was not particular as to which system to use.
II. Leading Research Question and Hypothesis
A. The leading research Question that I propose to pursue is: "Was Japanese-American internment during World War II right? Ethical? Justifiable? Was it the correct solution to the problem?"
B. My working hypothesis (I propose) is that the Japanese-American internment during World War II was a result of bad decisions based upon prejudices and was a major mistake for the United States - it accomplished nothing.
III. Research Strategy
A. What do I need to find out through research?
Why did the internment happen?
What drove the government to go that far?
Why were Japanese-Americans the only ones interned? Why weren't other "enemy races" interned?
What led to their freedom from camps?
Has the heavy discrimination stopped? If heavy discrimination against Japanese-Americans has stopped, when did it stop?
Have the former prisoners been reimbursed, apologized to, etc. for what happened to them?
What were conditions like before, during, and after internment?
Why have we as a country tried to hide or forget about what happened?
B. How/where to find information: After looking in Infotrac 2000 and the library catalog, I have come up with some search terms. They are as follows:
Japanese-American internment during WW II
War relocation center
+
World War 1939-1945 Japanese Americans
World War II internment
United States concentration camps
Pearl Harbor
Key answers/ideas gained on topic: I know that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor led to a panic against all of the Japanese race - many thought Japanese-Americans were spies, and thus did not trust them. The "only" solution was to put ALL Japanese-Americans in camps, considering every single person of the Japanese race a suspect. There was not much research or inquiry pertaining to whether or not they were truly spies, and they were not given a chance to speak up or try to prove their innocence.
The types of primary sources that I plan on using are magazines, journals, books, and videos. I have found some magazines and journals that give personal accounts of what the Japanese-American internment victims went through throughout the whole wartime era. One such magazine, called the Booklist, has an article in it titled "Life in a Japanese American Internment Camp." When I wrote my research paper in high school on this topic, I found some books that were written by those who were placed in the internment camps. One that I specifically remember was titled I Am an American. I look forward to finding that book again, as it was very helpful. Also, Cora Agatucci has lent me a video that is titled Japanese Internment; A Family Gathering. This tells of a Japanese-American family that lived in Hood River, Oregon, and how they were treated. It is also very helpful. I plan on searching for other videos that give first-hand experiences. The secondary sources that I plan on consulting are newspapers, magazines, books, and perhaps videos.
While taking Library Skills 127 last term I learned that it is possible to find and read newspaper issues from many years ago. I plan on consulting the library for newspaper articles from that time period. I am not sure if they would be considered secondary sources because they are authentic from that time period that the Japanese-Americans were being interned, but I know they will be helpful to me so I can see what people were reading in the newspapers about the incidents at that time. I also plan on finding secondary sources in magazines. I remember one magazine article from the research paper I did in high school that was very helpful. It was in a National Geographic magazine, and described numerous families' experiences. The article also had many pictures of the concentration camps which told stories in themselves. Also, I have found one article titled "Ansel Adams and Civil Rights" published in Popular Photography. From the article's description, I have found that it is full of photos of the camps. I know I will learn a lot from the pictures alone, because they are not interpreted or warped by any writer, but they show exactly what it was like (a picture is worth a thousand words).
I have found that there are numerous books written about the Japanese-American internment during World War II. I plan on consulting books for the majority of the information that I need for reasons why such actions were taken against the Japanese-Americans as well as information on reimbursement/apologies for the internment.
I plan on using the skills that I learned in Library Skills 127 for research. In fact, I have already ordered a book through the interlibrary loan system and I have found more that I would like to order. Both the COCC Library catalog and the whole library homepage are very helpful to me in leading me to sources.
Finally, if possible, I would like to actually travel to Tule Lake, California, which is the site of a former concentration camp during World War II. The site has become a walk-through memorial for the internment that occurred. By traveling to Tule Lake, I hope to see first hand what the living quarters were like as well as how desolate the camps were. Overall, I am really looking forward to learning more about the Japanese-American internment during World War II, and I know that having good sources is the key to success in doing so.
IV. Sources
NOTE: I realize that the variance of source types is limited here, but I plan on consulting many more source types later, as I have mentioned above.
"The Color of My Skin, The Shape of My Eyes." The Yale Journal of Criticism, Fall 1996, 223. (Journal)
Daniels, Roger, ed. American Concentration Camps. Introduction by Roger Daniels. New York: Garland, 1989. (Book)
Fondiller, Harvey. "Ansel Adams and Civil Rights: An Uncensored Version of a 1944 Exhibit Documents Life in a Japanese-American Internment Camp." Popular Photography, October 1985, 92. (Magazine)
Houston, Jeanne W., and James D. Houston. Farewell to Manzanar; a True Story of Japanese American Experience During and After the World War II Internment. New York, Bantam, 1974. (Book)
"Life in a Japanese American Internment Camp." Booklist, 1 January 1998, 788. (Magazine)
Maga, Timothy P. "Ronald Reagan and the Redress for Japanese-American Internment, 1983-1988." Presidential Studies Quarterly, Summer 1998, 606. (Journal)
Rancourt, Linda. "Remembering Manzanar." National Parks, May-June 1993, 30. (Magazine)
Stromer, Walt. "Why I Went Along: 1942 and the Invisible Evacuees." Columbia Journalism Review, January-February 1993, 15. (Journal)
© Held by student, 1999
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Lucy Burrows
WR 123, Prof. C. Agatucci
Research Proposal: Final Draft
18 April 2002
Research Proposal
1. Research Topic Introduction
(a) The research topic I have chosen for Writing 123 is focused on our mental health system, what services are provided in Bend, and what services are needed. The research question I wish to answer is: Homelessness among the chronically mentally ill is a community problem in Bend as well as elsewhere in the United States: As a community, how can we address this problem? I have chosen this topic partly as a result of my interest developed from my psychology professor last term. She mentioned in class that there are some chronically mentally ill (schizophrenic) people who live in Juniper Park. Additionally, I recently viewed a program on 60 Minutes which profiled a community in Geel, Belgium, that has a unique way to care for the mentally ill in their community. I was intrigued by the total community commitment and support of the mentally ill. In Geel, Belgium, you never see someone sleeping on the street. I wanted to further investigate their system for caring for the mentally ill and see if their methods could be duplicated in other communities, such as in the United States. If some of the methods used in Geel, Belgium, could be used elsewhere, as in Bend, this might have significant implications for the services we can provide in Bend. I feel as a community, we have a responsibility to care for those who are unable to care for themselves. I do not feel it is acceptable to have the chronically mentally ill living in our community parks or on the streets. I think some of our social problems are just accepted as part of living in a community and perhaps they are not addressed as they should be. In my research, I discovered a model program that was started in Long Beach, California, as a result of the frustration and dissatisfaction of family members of mentally ill, as well as professionals and business people who had an interest in improving the mental health system. As a result, the Village Integrated Service Agency in Long Beach, California, has received a growing amount of attention and commendation as a model mental health program. It incorporates a number of innovative approaches that may be valuable in effecting widespread system change.
(b) I believe this is a very appropriate topic for Writing 123. It fits in with the courses I have studied and presents a very real problem in Bend that can be addressed in a research topic. Until I viewed the program that focused on Geel, Belgium, and their unique methods for providing for the mentally ill, I had not considered other community options for addressing the problem of homelessness of the mentally ill. It is a very effective method to view problems from other perspectives to arrive at real solutions that may be helpful and appropriate in our community in dealing with this social problem.
(c) I intend to use the American Psychological Association (APA) documentation system for this research topic. When I consulted our textbook regarding citation formats, I learned that “The APA form is a variant of the author-date system of citing sources, used in the field of psychology and often in other behavioral sciences” (Hubbuch, 2002).
2. Research Question and Working Hypothesis
(a) My research topic is: Homelessness among the chronically mentally ill is a community problem in Bend as well as elsewhere in the United States: As a community, how can we address this problem?
(b) Working hypothesis: This is a problem not only in Bend, but in large, economically sound communities, as well. It is a problem that must be addressed as a community to have a working, caring system to provide for the mentally ill who are homeless. This involves having a community home to provide for these homeless individuals, having a foster care system that supplements a community home and having people receiving these services be treated with “respect, dignity and without labeling or discrimination of any type” (CareLink, 2002).
3. Research Strategy Description
(a) What do I need to discover in my research?
Assumptions
In the US you see many homeless people. In Bend we have homelessness. My psychology professor stated there are probably five or six schizophrenic people living in Juniper Park. Our mental health system fails to care for the chronically mentally ill.
Research Questions
Is our mental health system adequate? What services are provided in Bend? Why are the chronically mentally ill homeless? What services are needed in Bend?
Assumptions
There is a different approach for the care of the mentally ill in Geel, Belgium. You never see a person sleeping on the street there. They seem to have a successful way to care for the mentally ill.
Research Questions
How do the people in Geel, Belgium care for the mentally ill? What accounts for the success of their methods? Would this model be transferable to other places, i.e., cities in the United States? Bend? If not, why not?
Assumptions
The Village Integrated Service Agency in Long Beach, California, has received a growing amount of attention and commendation as a model mental health program. It incorporates a number of innovative approaches that may be valuable in effecting widespread system change. Dr. Mark Ragins, who is involved with the Village Integrated Service Agency, visited Geel, Belgium, and observed their system of care for the mentally ill in his process of gaining a worldwide perspective of psychiatric rehabilitation.
Research Questions
What is the Village Integrated Service Agency? How did it get started and why? What is it doing differently and what is successful, not successful? Would this approach work elsewhere? In Bend?
(b) Where will I look for answers?
I used Ebsco Host database for a web search of key terms: mental health; mental illness; psychiatric rehabilitation, Geel, Belgium. I have also searched Google.com. I have found useful journal articles relating to my topic, including an article in the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, Summer 2000, outlining and describing the Denver approach which combines “the best rehabilitation models and influences into one system of rehabilitation services.” Additionally, I discovered information about The Village Integrated Service Agency in Long Beach, California, which incorporates a number of innovative approaches in care for the mentally ill.
I asked the librarian at the COCC library for sources of information about services provided in Bend. She directed me to the appropriate website and the new Deschutes County Mental Health office located at 2577 NE Courtney in Bend to obtain information on what services are currently available in Bend. I visited the new office in Bend and obtained a pamphlet of information describing the services currently provided.
I have requested two books through interlibrary loan, Introduction to Psychiatric Rehabilitation and The Role of the Family in Psychiatric Rehabilitation, which I hope will offer some valuable insight into how the family and community can integrate care for the mentally ill.
Additionally, I have ordered a transcript of the 60 Minutes program concerning the unique care the community of Geel, Belgium, provides for the mentally ill. Viewing this program provided me with a new awareness and heightened interest to investigate this topic further.
4. Sources Consulted
Anthony, W. A. (2001) Vision for Psychiatricrehabilitation Research. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 25, 1. (Journal Article)
Baxter, E. (1997) An Alternative Approach to Recovery-St. Dimpna.
mentalhealthconsumers.org.
<http://www.mentalhealthconsumers.org/connet/cnn/9711/alternative.htm> [Accessed 4 Apr 2002]. (Article)
Fallot, R. D., Ph.D. (2001) Spirituality and Religion in Psychiatric Rehabilitation and Recovery from Mental Illness. International Review of Psychiatry, 13, 110. (Journal Article)
Hubbuch, S. M. (2002). Writing Research Papers Across the Curriculum. Boston: Heinle & Heinle. (Book)
Principles of Psychiatric Rehabilitation. CareLink [accessed 12 Apr 2002]. (Website)
Ragins, M., MD. History and Overview of the Village. The Village Integrated Service Agency.
Ragins, M., MD. (2000) A Personal Worldwide Perspective of Psychiatric Rehabilitation. The Village Integrated Service Agency.
Shern, D. L.; Tsemberis, S.; Anthony, W.; Lovell, A. M.; Richmond, L.; Felton, C. J.; Winarski, J.; Cohen, M. (2000) Serving Street-dwelling Individuals with Psychiatric Disabilities: Outcomes of a Psychiatric Rehabilitation Clinical Trial. American Journal of Public Health, 90, 1873. (Journal Article)
Smith, G., (Executive Director). Deschutes County Mental Health. N.p.:n.p., n.d.
[Pamphlet obtained 12 Apr 2002]
Spaniol, L., et al. The Role of the Family in Psychiatric Rehabilitation. (Book requested through interlibrary loan 4/12/02)
Spaniol, L., et al. Introduction to Psychiatric Rehabilitation. (Book requested through interlibrary loan 4/12/02)
© Lucy Burrows, 2002
***
Natalie Lauderdale
WR 123, Prof C. Agatucci
Research Proposal: Final Draft
17 April 2002
Dream Research Proposal
1. Introduction of Research Topic, projected value, and documentation style.
A). The topic that I have chosen to research this term is dreams. I have always been very interested in dreams, both my own and those of others, especially in connection with the psychological meaning they represent for the dreamer. A little over two years ago I suffered a tremendous loss when my best friend and two close friends were killed in a car accident. Less than eight months later a fourth very dear friend was similarly killed. In dealing with my loss I found one incredible distraction from the pain- dreaming. Immediately after the accidents I began to notice that my dreams had become more emotional and played a large role in my thoughts and mood for the next day. The night I had my first dream about my late best friend we talked about how the accident impacted me, and how he was always by my side, even when I couldn’t see him. When I woke up I felt like a different person, like the dream had washed away all of my depression. For the first time in months I was able to smile just by thinking about that dream. But when I went to look up the meaning of the dream in one of my dream analysis books I was shocked to find the supposed “inner meaning.” According to the first book I looked in, a dream of visiting a deceased friend meant that I would live a long life. Baffled, I looked in a second dream analysis book. This one said that it meant things were going to change for
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the better for me and good fortune was in store. It was at that exact moment that I realized that dream analysis wasn’t quite as accurate as I had once thought. In fact, many dream analysis books I’ve since encountered have different ideas about what dreams even are. With all the different theories and studies there are out there on sleep and dreaming, I decided that I would just go find the most accurate theory myself. I have a lot to learn about dreaming, and have the desire to learn it. Using this topic as my research subject, I will be able to engulf myself in the incredible amount of information available to me. I believe that every individual can benefit from understanding their dreams, but knowing how to understand them is the first step. I intend for my project to be the stepping stone towards accurate understanding.
B). The research topic of dreams and dream analysis is appropriate for Writing 123 because it requires a college level understanding of theories, studies and research. Readers must be able to figure out the semi complex concepts of brain activity and psychology. Also, very importantly, there are numerous sources to be found on the topic. Virtually every source I’ve come across (journals, books, online references) have something related to the topic. However, it is mainly my desire to research dreams and theories of dream analysis that make the topic an appropriate choice. I have more than enough interest in the topic to take the project from start to finish.
C). The documentation style I have chosen for my topic is the style commonly used by the American Psychological Association, or simply put, the APA form. I feel that this documentation style is appropriate for my topic choice because the main root behind the study of dreams is psychology. Dreaming is a psychological science, and the studies
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done on the subject of dream analysis and interpretation would be best presented in the APA form.
2. Leading Research Question and Working Hypothesis
A). My leading research questions that I propose to pursue are: What are dreams? What are the main functions of dreams? Is dream analysis accurate? And what factors can interfere with accurate dream interpretation?
B). My working hypothesis so far is that dreams are mental images that our brains produce while we sleep to help us better understand ourselves and our feelings. Unfortunately, most forms of dream analysis are not accurate due to numerous factors that can be very influential on dream content, and are usually not taken into account while the dream is being interpreted. These factors can include, but aren’t restricted to physical stimuli (such as noise, light, temperature), hunger, thirst, the culture you live in, and day to day experiences.
3. Research Strategy
A). Through my research I intend to find:
* What are the many theories of the function of dreams?
* Do all people dream?
* How often do people dream?
* What are the different types of dreams?
* Why don’t we always remember our dreams?
* How do different cultures interpret dreams?
* Where did dream analysis originate?
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* Is dream analysis accurate?
* What common factors interfere with the accurate interpretation of dreams?
So far I know that various critical thinkers and psychologists have conflicting theories of dream functions. Some consider them random thoughts of the sleeping brain, others consider them a result of the digestion process, and still others believe that dreams are our soul’s unrestricted out of body travels that occur while we sleep. It is fairly widely agreed by sleep researchers that all people dream every night, with the rare exception of some substance abusers. I have reviewed a few different theories of dream types, such as lucid dreams, telepathic dreams, and nightmares. I have also uncovered some theories of why we don’t always remember dreaming. Most theories have to do with the long and short term memory storage function of our brains, and conditions which limit our abilities. I have collected many sources on dream analysis already, and am confident that I have many more to go.
B). I will look for the answers to my questions in many places. The COCC library so far has produced ten sources that I have deemed appropriate after my exploratory research. The internet site www.psychology.about.com had proven very useful, containing an entire link in the home page for dreams and dream analysis. That website, in fact, has led me to a source I was unable to locate at the COCC library or Interlibrary loan. The search commands that I have used thus far have consisted of: psychology, dreams, dream analysis, and dream interpretation under the keyword search. Under the author search I have used: Freud, Jung, Koulack and Van Eeden (all leaders in the dream analysis field). I haven’t come up empty handed yet. I have already collected enough
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material to support 75% of my paper, all mainly secondary sources. The bulk of my paper will be written based on the my finding in the book To Catch a Dream, and the Sleep and Dream sourcebook. I am still planning to design and implement a survey for my fellow college students that will ask them to: anonymously describe a recent dream, give a few possible reasons for the dreams (why they think that they dreamed it), and suggest a few interpretations of the psychological meaning. This survey is to be my main primary source. I will take the data that I receive and analyze it according to my two dream analysis books to see how closely the given interpretation resembles the students’ analysis. Psychology.about.com will continue to play a major role in the direction my paper goes, seeing as how it is continually updated and I can continually check up on it. I am also trying to locate 10 different issues of the Brain and Behavioral Science Journal, and four issues of the British Journal of Psychology.
4. Sources Consulted in Exploratory Research
“Culture and Dreams.” (2002) Dream Manual. Psychology.about.com. http://www.psychology.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm [accessed 3 April 2002] (online reference)
Eeden, Frederik van. (1913) “A Study of Dreams.” Psychology.about.com, 2002.
http://www.psychology.about.com/library/classics/bleeden_dm0.htm [accessed 3 April 2002] (online reference)
Gackenbach, Jayne. (1987). Sleep and Dreams: A Sourcebook. New York: Garland Publishing Inc. (book)
Hamilton-Parker, Craig. (1999). The Hidden Meaning of Dreams. New York: Sterling
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Publishing Co. Inc. (book)
Hartmann, Ernest M.D. (1998). Dreams and Nightmares: The New Theory on the Origin and Meaning of Dreams. Cambridge: Perseus Book. (book)
Hunt, Harry T. (1989). The Multiplicity of Dreams: Memory, Imagination and Consciousness. New Haven: Yale University Press. (book)
Kemp, Gillian. “The Five Types of Dreams.” Psychology.about.com, 2002
http://www.psychology.about.com/library/weekly/aa010102a.htm [accessed 3 April 2002] (online reference)
Koulack, David. (1991). To Catch a Dream: Explorations of Dreaming. New York: State University of New York Press. (book)
Mattoon, Mary Ann Ph.D. (1978). Applied Dream Analysis: A Jungian Approach. New York: John Wiley and Sons Halsted Press Inc. (book)
Sloane, Paul M.D. (1990). Psychoanalytic Understanding of the Dream. London: Jason Aronson Inc. (book)
Wood S.E, & Green Wood E.R. (2002). The World of Psychology. (4th ed) Boston: A Pearson Education Co. 135-140 (text book)
© Natalie Lauderdale, 2002
علاقه ام به بحث های گروهی و تخصصی به ویژه حوزه ی جامعه شناسی و پژوهشگری است. از منتقدان گرامی درخواست دارم مرا یاری و راهنمایی فرمایند. متشکرم.