Discuss Research Development

Research Paper Proposals

Throughout the program, you should be thinking of a research topic you would like to explore. In the capstone course (PSY-693), you will create a research proposal. To assist you in the creation of that proposal, you will decide on a research topic and begin collecting empirical studies to support the need for research. Your topic must relate to a basic social psychological principle; however it can fall into one of the applied subfields (forensic psychology, psychology of religion, industrial organization, health psychology, etc.).

For this assignment you will create your research question and at least five scholarly, peer reviewed, empirical studies, all from the past 5 to 7 years. Your articles must support the need for your research.

The following information will assist in the formation of your research question and the beginning collection of literature:

1. Use the empirical checklist (located in course materials) to assure your article is an empirical article.
2. Explore the Center for Innovation in Research and Teaching (cirt.gcu.edu) for information on research topics and literature reviews. From the main page, under Research Development – click on Research Ready. Each section has several bits of information to help formulate your research. Additionally on the right hand side under Development Resources, explore Research Tutorials. This section will assist you in creating your research questions and further information on literature reviews.

Prepare a document that includes your research question(s), including how your research will add to the current research in your chosen field. Your document will include five scholarly, peer reviewed, empirical studies from the past 5 to 7 years. This section should include APA formatted citations for each article, including permalink; additionally a short annotation for each article stating how the literature shows your research is needed.

While APA style is not required for the body of this assignment, solid academic writing is expected, and documentation of sources should be presented using APA formatting guidelines, which can be found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center.

This assignment uses a scoring guide. Please review the scoring guide prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.

You are required to submit this assignment to Turnitin. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.