Theme: Plan constructing. Writing data in different modes

Activity 4.An Outline for the Research Plan

The information in “Critiquing a Statistical Study” is obviously about studies that have been completed, but the criteria for critiquing a research plan tell you what informa-tion your research plan should contain and how you might organize that information. The information in “Types of Research/Types of Variables” tells you what kind of information you should include when you discuss your procedures. Note that although you have not yet conducted your study, your will write your research plan in the pasttense (when you finish your study, the past will be the appropriate tense for this section). A well-written research plan, it appears, might be outlined as follows:

1. 
   Statement of purpose
   
   1. 
      Purpose for conducting the study
      
      1. 
         The goal
         
      2. 
         The objectives
         
   2. 
      The research question(s) and/or hypothesis(es)
      
2. 
   Method
   
   1. 
      The subjects
      
      1. 
         Who they were.
         
      2. 
         How many of them there were.
         
      3. 
         When and where they were studied.
         
      4. 
         What their significant characteristics were.
         
      5. 
         How they were selected.
         
   2. 
      Materials and Equipment
      
      1. 
         The materials
         
         1. 
            What they were—e.g., teaching materials, questionnaires, or tests.
            
         2. 
            What their characteristics were and what they were designed to do.
            
         3. 
            How they were used in the study.
            
         4. 
            For measures, information about their reliability or validity.
            
         5. 
            For measures, what data they were expected to provide.
            
      2. 
         The equipment
         
         1. 
            What they were—e.g., a tape recorder or a video camera.
            
         2. 
            How they were used in the study.
            
   3. 
      Procedure
      
      1. 
         The variables
         
         1. 
            What they were--independent, dependent, moderator, control, and extraneous--and
            

the
relationships among them.

2. 
   How they were dealt with—manipulated, controlled, or eliminated--in the study.
   
1. 
   The specific steps in the experimental process.
   
   1. 
      What they were.
      
   2. 
      Why they were taken.
      
1. 
   Analysis of the data
   
   1. 
      How they were organized.
      
   2. 
      What steps were taken in analyzing them.
      

4. 
   DATA COLLECTION
   

4. 
   RESULTS & DISCUSSION
   

4. 
   FINAL REFLECTIONS