Research Proposal Review of the Literature The research

Research Proposal Review of the Literature The research proposal dose not include an exhaustive review of the literature. This is presented in Chapter II of the research report. However, within the proposal the researcher may include a very brief section that allows the reader to better understand the research problem in terms of historical background, theoretical framework, and current research developments or trends. This section may be called by any one of a number of names: Review of Related Literature, Historical background, Theoretical Framework, and Current Literature may be the most common. In conducting the Review of the Literature, the researcher must utilize a wide variety of resources.

Major Useful Recourses Indexes Current Index to Journals in Education Dissertation Abstracts Education Index New York Times Index Psychological Abstracts Recourses in Education (ERIC) Social Science Citation Index Social Science Index

Journals/ Periodicals Academic Therapy American Education Childhood Education Early Years Education Leadership Harvad Educational Review Instructor Journal of Educational Psychology Journal of Educational Research Phi Delta Kappan Teacher

Reference Books Mental Measurements Yearbook Dictionary of Education Dissertation Abstracts Education Almanac Encyclopedia of Educational Research A Guide to Sources of Educational Information Handbook of Reading Research Handbook of Research on Teaching Handbook of Research on Teacher Education Handbook of School Psychology Measures for Educational Assessment Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors

Research Problems A research problem is exactly that-a problem that someone would like to research. A problem can be anything that a person finds unsatisfactory or unsettling, a difficulty of some sort, a state of affairs that needs to be changed, anything that is not working as well as it might. Problems involve areas of concern to researchers as educators, conditions they want to improve, difficulties they want to eliminate, questions for which they seek answers.

A good research problem is: 1 - of interest; 2 - embedded in theory; 3 - likely to have impact; 4 - original in some aspect; 5 - & feasible-possible within existing conceptual, resource, ethical, and institutional limits.

Characteristics of Problem Statement: 1 - The problem statement should be written in clear, nontechnical language, should not contain jargon, and should stimulate the reader’s interest. 2 - The problem should be sufficiently limited in scope to a manageable problem; the study implied by the problem should be feasible-capable of being investigated with available resources. 3 - The problem should be carefully fitted into the broader context of current theory and relevant research; assumptions and unsupported claims or statements should be avoided. 4 - The problem should be of significance; that is, it should be made clear that the proposed study-in addressing the problem-will be answering an important question, meeting a recognized need, or making a useful contribution. 5 - The problem should be clearly and logically related to research question that follows