A.  Identify an education-related research topic (i.e., the broad subject matter area to be investigated) of interest to you that may be used to develop a related problem statement.

1.  Develop a problem statement that addresses the research topic.
 
 

Note: You will need to review professional sources related to your research topic and research problem in order to complete parts B–F.
 

B.  Develop a narrative literature review that logically flows from the broadly defined topic, identified in part A, to the specific research problem developed in part A1. The narrative literature review should synthesize fifteen sources that meet each of the following guidelines:

•  contains relevant academic or professional literature related to the research topic

•  is published by a scholarly source

•  can be retrieved online
 
 

C.  Develop an overall purpose statement for your research, based on the research problem statement that was developed in part A1. The purpose statement must: 

•  communicate the intent or objectives of your research project

•  align with the two research questions, that you will develop in part D

•  Not be biased toward a specific position or anticipate specific results
 

D.  Develop 1 − 2 open-ended research questions that adhere to the following guidelines: 

•  appropriate for one of the major research approaches (i.e., quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, or action)

•  researchable (i.e., you can collect and analyze data to answer it)

•  directly addresses the research problem statement, that you developed in part A1

•  cannot be answered with simply a “yes” or “no” response

•  is not biased toward a specific position and does not anticipate specific results

1.  Justify which major research approach (i.e., quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, or action) you would recommend using to answer each research question.
 

E.  Acknowledge sources, using APA-formatted in-text citations and references, for content that is quoted, paraphrased, or summarized.
 

F.  Demonstrate professional communication in the content and presentation of your submission.