As the student works through each of the assignment, s/he will find that parts of Assignments 1 and 2 can be incorporated into the final research paper. Be sure to respond to instructor feedback received and incorporate any recommended changes/revisions. Assignment 1: Research Proposal The goal of the first assignment is to present a clear research project. The research proposal must be 4-5 pages (do not exceed 5 pages of text) in length not including title page, abstract, and reference list. The research proposal must be submitted as a Word document through the Assignments section of the classroom by Sunday, 11:55pm EST at the end of Week 2. In the research proposal, the student will: 1) Present the research problem that will be assessed and provide contextual information that helps demonstrate an understanding of the nature of the problem. 2) Clearly state a single SPECIFIC and academically rigorous research question and hypothesis. [Note – ONE academically rich research question]. 3) Explain why this case study is important to investigate. What can be learned from this situation? How the knowledge gained through the research will broaden the research communitys understanding of the topic. 4) Provide a preliminary literature review the includes at least 8 preliminary sources, 6 of which must be from peer-reviewed journals. The literature review will discuss the key concepts, theories, and paradigms related to the issue (case study) by grouping the material in relevant categories. The literature review will not be a simple listing of one article and then another article. The student is to use the Chicago citation method. Please note there are two Chicago styles including the author-date style, and bibliography-notes style. Make sure the citation style is consistent throughout the paper. 5) Discuss the theoretical framework developed out of the literature review. In this section, the student will summarize/synthesize some of the theories/models and concepts such as Grounded Theory, Rational Choice Theory, or Game Theory to assess the research question. 6) Discuss the research design (methodology) that will be used to assess the central research question. Also, the student will state a clear and concise research hypothesis based on the literature review.
