Instructions for the APA Style Research Proposal
What you need to do:
Select a topic. Think about a topic in the field of psychology that has always interested you, whether as a matter of curiosity or importance. An example topic
would be psychological well-being. One possible proposed research would be to examine “The role of mindfulness and family support on psychological wellbeing”, where mindfulness and family support would be the independent variables and psychological well-being would be the dependent variable. These
terms should be familiar to you. If not, refer to the appropriate sections in your textbook to refresh your memory.
Do a literature search/review to see what is currently known about your topic by finding and reading the relevant peer-reviewed journal articles on your topic. I
recommend using “Web of Sciences” or “PsychInfo” available on the UCF library website for your search. If you are not familiar with how to use these tools, I
have provided a link called “Research Guide” where you will find resources that are available to you through the UCF library as well as for instructions that will
help you with learning how to effectively and efficiently utilize the numerous services available to you from the UCF library.
Select at least three peer-reviewed journal articles to read and to use to support and to motivate your topic. You need to write at least one paragraph for each
article in your introduction summarizing the content of each article.
Upon reviewing the literature, you will learn what is known about your topic. Your goal is to be able to identify a gap in the current knowledge if one is
interested in studying the same topic using a different combination of independent and dependent variables.
Write your proposal. In addition to the material that we will be covering in class, I have provided links to resources to help with various steps involved in
writing your proposal using the APA style.
Remember, you will have many opportunities and resources to learn how to do the above steps, effectively. For example, “Presenting Results” in your
textbook (page 523) is very helpful in this regard. I recommend highly that you read “Presenting Results” as soon as you can to help you with developing your
paper.
Recommended timetable:
Select a topic, do literature search/review (week 1,2, & 3)
Write the introduction section (week 4,5, and 6)
Write your method section (week 7)
Write your results section (week 8)
Write your discussion section (week 9)
Review and finalize your final paper (week 10 & 11)
Submit your proposal (week 12)