In this assignment, you will draft a brief research paper on a scholarly topic of interest to you. The ultimate goal of this 2- to 3-page paper, not including the
title and references page, is for you to demonstrate your understanding of the parts of a research paper. You do not need to include an abstract. You will edit,
proofread, and finalize your research paper proposal in Module 5.
Aside from the title page, abstract, references list, and appendices, a research paper simply includes a more refined version of the classic five-paragraph
structure: an introduction, literature review, methodology, results and discussion, and a conclusion. The problem statement and purpose may be part of the
introduction. However, at ACE, these two components are addressed in separate paragraphs as described below:
The introduction is a summary that explains the contribution and importance of the research questions with respect to literature, theory, policy, and/or
practice.
The problem statement addresses a problem or issue in need of a solution and its background.
The purpose states the reason(s) the research is being conducted.
The literature review identifies research that others have completed and provides an analysis of all currently available information relevant to the topic. For
the proposal, you may use the literature review (Module 3) or modify it for the proposal.
The methodology section explains to readers how the information will be gathered and presents a recipe for obtaining trustworthy evidence to address
research questions. In this section, you also will describe the selection of participants in ways ethical and appropriate to the study.
The research results and discussions section consists of an analysis often illustrated by data in tables and figures. For this section in the proposal, you will
describe a plan for analyzing and representing the data.
The conclusion informs the reader of how the results apply back to the research questions, reiterating the contribution and importance of the research
questions with respect to literature, theory, policy, and/or practice (Parks, 2016).