A brief introduction of your topic idea. This should be a paragraph or two that explains your idea, the rationale and purpose statement for your proposed research.
Research questions: You should have 2 to 5 research questions that are in line with your introduction.
Brief literature review: You should have approximately 5 major sources related to your topic that you provide approximately a one-half page summary of each and how that source ties in with your idea.
Hypotheses: Each research question should have at least one hypothesis (this is really a pair, as you will have the null and alternative for each). These hypotheses should be written out in words, not mathematical symbols, and be sure to be as specific as possible. (Refer to the Guidelines for Hypothesis Writing under Student Resources>Guides and Checklists.) Remember that each variable tested needs its own set of hypotheses, even though (particularly with regression or factorial ANOVA) you may well be answering multiple hypotheses with a single test.
Tests: For each set of hypotheses, you will need to identify the statistical test that you propose to use to test it. You should identify the specific test (i.e., exactly what kind of t-test, etc.) and why you believe that is the proper test to address the hypothesis. You may well find that Appendix F in the Cronk book is quite helpful for determining this.
