Practicum Outline

Heidelberg University
MAE Program
Practicum Project Suggested Outline

Chapter 1

I. INTRODUCTION (Just write CHAPTER 1 at the top of the page; do NOT write “Introduction” or any other heading; use the inverted triangle model with this chapter providing a general description of your area of interest, then moving more specifically into your area of interest and your research questions and hypotheses)

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A. General Description of Area of Interest (section 1; NO HEADING)

a. No more than 2-3 paragraphs; this should be treated as a very broad description or overview of the general area of research

B. Statement of the Problem/Purpose of the Study (section 2)

a. State explicitly and succinctly

b. Introduction should lead up to and provide support for this section

C. Current Study (section 3)

*In this section, you should discuss what the current study will investigate and what the researcher hypothesizes for the outcomes of the study*

a. Major Research Questions (section 3)

i. State explicitly and succinctly

ii. Be sure that you operationally define your important terms

iii. Remember, each question should only have ONE independent variable

b. Research Hypotheses (section 3)

i. Provide a clear, logical argument based on past research and theory for your hypotheses

ii. Be sure to state a null hypothesis and a research hypothesis for EACH question

iii. Briefly describe

D. Significance of the Study (section 4)

a. Although this section will likely be very short, it needs to be very POWERFUL

b. What theoretical/practical reasons are there for wanting to investigate your questions?

c. Why is it important to conduct the study?

d. How might your results provide a contribution to the field?

Chapter 2

II. LITERATURE REVIEW (write “CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW” as a heading of this section; you will use this section to build a case for your research questions and hypotheses; use the inverted triangle model for this chapter—starting very broad with a general description of previous literature moving into literature review of your variables in general then a literature review of the links between your variables; you should cite at least 15-20 studies within your paper, the bulk of which should be discussed in this chapter)

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A. General Background (section 1)

a. Introduce the MAJOR classic or general issues and research that will provide support for your study. Provide a historical background of previous research on all of your variables

B. Theory Relevant to your Research Questions (section 2, if applicable; you do not need to use this as a title for the section; this section may be broken into subsections)

a. What theory or theories provide support or a framework for your research questions?

b. Describe how those theories relate to your project

C. Current Literature Relevant to your Research Questions and Hypotheses (section 3; you do not need to use this as a title for the section; may be broken into subsections)

a. Explore literature relating to your variables, independently.

i. For example, if you are studying the relationship between parenting style and educational attainment, you need to describe previous research on parenting style (in general) and previous research on educational attainment (in general)

b. Explore literature relating to your combination of variables

i. For example, if you are studying the relationship between parenting style and educational attainment, you need to describe previous research to how parenting style and educational attainment are related.

c. Do NOT just list your studies and describe each of them in a listing order. Rather, identify the common themes and threads within the literature that ties all of them together

d. Identify and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the previous studies.

D. The Current Study (section 4)

a. Summarize the previous literature as it relates to your study

b. Restate your research questions

c. This will provide a transition into Chapter 3

Chapter 3

III. METHODOLOGY (write “CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY” as a heading of this section)

A. Design (section 1)

a. Describe your study design. Is it qualitative or quantitative? Correlational? Experimental? Quasi-experimental?

B. Participants/Sample (section 2)

a. Thoroughly describe your sample/participants

i. number

ii. relevant demographic characteristics

iii. sampling method

iv. attrition rate; description of why they dropped out

C. Instrument/Measurement (section 3)

a. Fully describe the instrument or method of measurement that you used

b. Describe the traits that were measured with the scale, format, and scoring

c. If you used an existing instrument, provide a citation for it and provide reliability and validity estimates.

d. If you created your own instrument, describe it in detail, including sample questions, and scale type as well as reliability and validity estimates

D. Procedure (section 4)

a. Provide a step-by-step encounter of what the participants encountered

b. If using existing data, describe how you accessed the data and what you did with it.

E. Data Analysis (section 5; ONLY FOR THE PROPOSAL; DELETE THIS AFTER YOU RUN YOUR DATA)

a. Describe your statistical analyses

b. Provide a rationale for why you selected these analyses based on your research questions and data types

Chapter 4

IV. RESULTS (write “CHAPTER 4 RESULTS” as a heading of this section)

A. Suggested Outline for Each Research Question

a. Restatement of research questions and hypotheses (in BOLD)

b. Descriptive statistics (e.g., means, standard deviations)

c. Inferential statistics (e.g., correlation, t-test, ANOVA)

d. If applicable, post-hoc results

B. Table and Figures

a. Organize and display results (where appropriate) using graphs and tables

b. Reference each graphic within your text

Chapter 5

V. DISCUSSION (write “CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION” as a heading of this section; brings the paper full-circle and ties the results into previous work; use the triangle model for this chapter—starting specific to the current study and getting more broad as the results are linked to previous work and the general community or field)

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A. Discuss the Results Specific to Your Study (section 1)

a. Summarize the results in non-statistical terms

B. Connect the Results to Previous Studies (section 1)

a. Do the findings of the current study support or disagree with previous work?

b. Provide logical speculation for unsupported hypotheses, based on previous literature

C. Implications of the Results (section 2)

a. How might the results of the current study be used in the field at large, either in practice or within the theoretical realm?

D. Limitations (section 3)

a. Cite the limitations of the current study

i. Sample size? Sample type?

ii. Any procedural issues?

iii. Statistical issues?

E. Directions for Future Research (section 3)

a. Provide suggestions for conducting related research based on the current findings

b. What new questions need to be answered?

c. What new populations might need to be sampled?

d. What changes might be made to the current study?

F. Conclusions and Significance of Study (section 4)

a. Provide a summary of the overall study

b. State the importance of the findings within the general community and field

References

VI. REFERENCES (write “REFERENCES” as a heading of this section)

A. All works cited in the body of the paper MUST be cited on the reference page

B. All works on the reference page MUST be cited at least once in the paper

C. APA format in the references

a. Check APA manual

b. Check www.stylewizard.com

c. Check http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

VII. APPENDIX

A. You will include any instruments, such as interview script, assessments, surveys, informed consent, at the very end of the document in separate appendices.

References: VI. REFERENCES (write “REFERENCES” as a heading of this section) A. All works cited in the body of the paper MUST be cited on the reference page B. All works on the reference page MUST be cited at least once in the paper C. APA format in the references a. Check APA manual b. Check www.stylewizard.com c. Check http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ VII. APPENDIX A. You will include any instruments, such as interview script, assessments, surveys, informed consent, at the very end of the document in separate appendices.