Title

In 12 words or fewer, what is the working title for this study?

Replace this text with your title.

Supporting Literature

The first step in developing your prospectus is to

search the literature

related to the

general area you want to investigate

(see social problem below).


In your review of recent, empirical literature, what

keywords

did you search and

in what databases

?

The keywords and databases searched includedReplace this text with your response.

Provide at least

10


brief summaries

of recent, scholarly (peer-reviewed) articles or government publications that

support/justify

a current and relevant

business

problem

in your discipline or professional field (

dissertations and doctoral studies are not peer-reviewed

)

. Source(s) supporting your framework should be included. Include the complete,

APA reference entry followed by


(a)

an in-text citation,

(b)

what they studied,

(c)

what they found, and

(d)

why this is important in relation to your study. This evidence provides the justification for your research problem.

NOTE

: The studies you choose should be particularly relevant to your topic, rather than general, so that you are able to provide support for your specific problem. Several should address the conceptual framework.

Replace this text with your summaries.

Rubric Standard | Justified >


Is evidence presented that this problem is significant to the discipline and/or professional field? The prospectus should provide relevant statistics and evidence, document table discrepancies, and other scholarly facts that point to the significance and urgency of the problem.

Problem

What is the




general business problem


that prompted you to search the literature to find out more? Write in complete sentences using a scholarly tone.

The general business problem that prompted me to search the literature is Replace this text with your response.

Now that you have read and summarized recent literature, what meaningful




specific


business problem


have you identified that your study will address? (What is still not known?)

In one sentence, the specific business problem isReplace this text with your response.

Rubric Standard | Meaningful >


Has a meaningful business problem in the research literature been identified? In other words, is addressing this problem the logical next step, given the previous exploratory and confirmatory research (or lack thereof) on this topic? It is not acceptable to simply replicate previous research.

Rubric Standard | Original >


Does this project have potential to make an original contribution? The problem must be an authentic “puzzle” that needs solving, not merely a topic that the researcher finds interesting. Addressing the problem should result in an original contribution to the field or discipline.

Purpose

To address your stated research problem, what is the

purpose of your study

? Will you describe, compare, explore, examine, etc.? Complete the purpose sentence below and be sure to clarify your variables/concepts of interest.

The purpose of this Choose method Replace this text with your design study is toReplace this text with your response.

Framework (Conceptual or Theoretical)

What

theory(ies) and/or concept(s)

support (frame) your study and who are the original authors? Provide an in-text citation with your response, and the complete APA citation with summary in the Background section.

The theory(ies) and/or concept(s) that ground this study include Replace this text with your response.

How do these theory(ies) and/or concept(s) relate to your research problem, purpose, and the nature of your study?

The logical connections between the framework presented and the nature of my study include Replace this text with your response.

Rubric Standard | Grounded >


Is the problem framed to enable the researcher to either build upon or counter the previously published findings on the topic? For most fields, grounding involves articulating the problem within the context of a theoretical base or conceptual framework. Although many approaches can ground a study in the scientific literature, the essential requirement is that the problem is framed such that the new findings will have implications for the previous findings.

Research Question(s) and Hypotheses (if applicable)

List the

question

that will be used to

address the research problem

. Your question must align with your study purpose and include the variables and/or concepts and how they will be examined and/or explored.

Replace this text with your research question(s) and hypotheses (if applicable).

Nature of the Study

What systematic approach/method and research design do you plan to use to address your research question(s)?

To address the research questions in this Choose method study, the specific research design will beReplace this text with your response.

This approach is appropriate for this study because Replace this text with your response.

For your planned research design, what type(s) of data will you need and what data collection tools and sources will provide it?

For my planned research design, I will need Replace this text with your response.

What


limitations, challenges, and/or barriers


might you need to address while conducting this study (e.g., access to participants, access to data, separation of roles or other ethical considerations, instrumentation fees, etc.)?

Replace this text with your response.

Rubric Standard | Feasible >


Can a systematic method of inquiry be used to address the problem? The tentative methodology demonstrates that the researcher has considered the options for inquiry and has selected an approach that has potential to address the problem.

Significance

How will your study address the meaningful, discipline-specific issue that you identified and therefore

contribute

to your field, discipline, professional practice, etc. contributing to

positive social change

?

This study is significant in that Replace this text with your response…