Chapter 1: Introduction Outline
***Depending upon your topic, you may add/change/rearrange sections. Please ultimately
defer to your chair and committee members.***
Statement of Problem
• What is the problem or issue? (Example: ADHD is a disorder associated with many
negative outcomes for individuals if left untreated. Those problems include…)
• Discuss the prevalence (Try to make it as meaningful as possible…such as 5% or 1 in 20
children are diagnosed with X. This equates to at least one child in the average general
education classroom across the country).
• Discuss the historical background (not a literature review, just discuss the broader
historical context) (Example: There was an increased emphasis on gifted education in the
20th century but this was amidst a sociopolitical context of segregation that extended to
public schools).
• Discuss the federal/state legislative background (or lack thereof…no law).
• Discuss the federal/state/local policy/regulatory background (or lack thereof…no
policies)
• Discuss the role and any positions of national/state/local organizations as applicable
• Discuss the role of any professional learning communities/professional development
providers as applicable
• Discuss the conceptual/theoretical background (again…or lack thereof…could be overly
generalized theories that do not capture the target population, etc.)
Purpose of the Study
• What is the purpose of the study?
• Why do we need this study?
o To maximize positive outcomes (Discuss each of these outcomes)
o To minimize negative outcomes (Discuss each of these outcomes)
Research Questions
• What are the research questions?
Significance of the Study
• Discuss what is currently occurring in the context of the situation (some areas may not be
applicable and feel free to add other sections)
• Media coverage (including viral events on social media)
• Laws/policies being changed/proposed
• Recent case law/litigation
• Political Debate
• Training/Professional Development offerings
• Professional Learning Communities
• National/State/Local organizations
• Discuss changing prevalence rates (if applicable)
• Discuss challenges to prevalence rates (if applicable)
Assumptions
• What are the assumptions of your study?
• These assumptions will range considerably according to study but here are some general
examples:
o Socioeconomic status will impact outcomes.
o Comorbidities will impact outcomes.
o Disproportionality will vary by state and school district.
Limitations
• What are the limitations of the study?
• For each limitation, please discuss how much this limitation influences the broader
impact of your study.
• These limitations will very much depend upon your study but here are some general
examples:
o Traditional public schools only included in the study (no charter or private)
o Smaller sample, may not be generalizable beyond the sample
o Local sample, may be limited to your geographical region
o Only children confirmed to be diagnosed with X disorder were included
o Children with 504 status were excluded from the current study
o Children may have comorbid disorders
o Correlational study, causal effects cannot be examined
o Self-reported data (may not be entirely true and respondents can respond in socially
desirable ways)
o May be a rapidly changing context (Covid-19 issues)
o Potential for study attrition or missing data (sensitive questions may be skipped by
respondents)
o Selection bias (i.e., electronically collecting data may omit those with limited or no
internet access)
o Clinic-based bias (Berkson’s bias; samples from clinics tend to have more severe or
pronounced symptoms and may not be representative)
o Availability bias (literature may be limited for whatever reason…most commonly,
you may only be able to read the literature in English but you may know that there is
a body of literature in another language)
o Publication bias (Statistically significant results tend to get published so there is an
unknown number of studies showing no effect)
Definition of Terms
• Define each term. You could have 5 terms or 20 depending upon your study.
A literacy
study will need to define phoneme while a restraint study will need to define physical
restraint.
Summary
• Please write a one to two paragraph summary
