Qualitative Research Plan - PSY
Department of Psychology
RESEARCH PLAN—QUALITATIVE
COLLOQUIUM TRACK 3
Scientific Merit
At Capella University, the following criteria will be used to establish scientific merit of all
dissertations. Each School uses their own form for that purpose. In the Colloquia, we use a
generic form called the “Research Plan,” but it contains all elements of the Department of
Psychology’s Scientific Merit Review Form (SMR).
A dissertation is said to have scientific merit when the study:
1) Advances the scientific knowledge base in the field and your specialization area.
2) Makes a contribution to research theory.
3) Meets certain “hallmarks” of good research methodology.
Using the Research Plan during and between Colloquia, you will progressively answer all the
questions required of the scientific merit review process. When you come to the dissertation
phase, you will transfer from the Research Plan all the necessary information to the
Department of Psychology’s SMR.
The Colloquium Process
Before coming to Track 3’s Weekend Experience, copy the information from the Track 2
Research Plan into the same items in this form. In Track 3, you will complete the remaining
items (and probably refine and improve the older items). Ultimately, the completed Research
Plan will be transformed into your Scientific Merit Review Form (SMR). In fact, the Track 3
Research Plan is identical to the Psychology SMR, except that all instructions to mentors and
reviewers have been removed.
General Instructions
1. For Track 3, complete all the items of the Research Plan. Please copy and paste
information from the items completed in Track 1 and Track 2 into the equivalent items
on this form.
2. You will find that the numbers of the items have been changed. They now match the
items in the official department of psychology Scientific Merit Review Form (SMR).
Use the titles of each section to guide your copying.
3. Complete the remaining items in the order of their presentation in Track 3 Courseroom.
This may not be in the same order as items appear in the research plan. Do not attempt
to complete a later item until you have fully developed and evaluated the previous item,
and don’t try to complete one until instructed to do so in the Courseroom.
4. Be sure to update your reference list in the reference list at the end of the Research
Plan.
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The questions appear in bold black font (like this). Your answers should be in regular (notbold) font (like this). Please insert your answers directly into the expandable boxes that
have been provided.
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Section 1: Learner and Topic Information
1.1 Learner Information
Learner Name:
Learner Email:
Learner Phone number:
Specialization:
Specialization Chair:
1.2 Research Question (What do you really want to know? The rest of this form derives
from and should constantly be guided by your research question. Always consider your
research question in addressing all following components of this design form.)
List the primary research question. A qualitative study should answer the question:
What is it like…? (A. Giorgi, personal communication, October 11, 2010). A qualitative
study should be led by one open-ended question. Then, define the terms used in the
research question citing the psychological literature.
1.3 Proposed Dissertation Title: (Usually a statement based on the research question-short and to the point.)
1.4 Research Topic
Describe the specific topic to be studied in a paragraph. (Be certain that the research
question relates to the topic.) Then, in a second paragraph describe how this topic is
related to the field of Psychology and your specialization area.
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1.5 Review of the Research Literature
Provide a brief (3 paragraphs) review of the research literature on the topic. This should
indicate that you have performed a full review of the literature on the topic by providing
a statement about the body of existing literature on the topic with appropriate citations.
Then, you should summarize recent research findings on the topic, highlighting the
findings that are most relevant to your proposed study and demonstrate how your
proposed research could add to the existing literature on the topic. Be sure to provide
appropriate in text citations and include references in the reference section.
1.6 Need for the Study
In a paragraph, describe the need for the study. Provide a rationale or need for studying
a particular issue or phenomenon.
Section 2: Methodology
2.0 Methodology
Provide an overview of the research methodology that you are proposing and how you propose to
conduct the study. The qualitative approaches accepted for psychology are ethnography, case
study, grounded theory, phenomenology, heuristics and generic qualitative research. Describe
the qualitative methodology (for example phenomenology) and research model (for example
Giorgi – empirical phenomenology or Moustakas – transcendental phenomenology) you propose
to use.
Briefly identify the method(s) you will use to collect the data, such as: open-ended conversational
interviews, journaling, letters, pictures, observations, field notes, focus groups – focus groups are
only used for ethnography, grounded theory, case study and generic qualitative research only.
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Section 3: Advancing the Scientific Knowledge base
Your study should advance the scientific knowledge base in your field by meeting one or
more of these four criteria:
A. The study should address something that is not known or has not been
studied before.
B. The study should be new or different from other studies in some way.
C. The study should extend prior research on the topic in some way.
D. The study should fill a gap in the existing literature.
Specifically describe how your research will advance scientific knowledge on your topic by
answering all of these 3 questions. Include in-text citations as needed.
3.1 Advancing Scientific Knowledge
Demonstrate how the study (a) will advance the scientific knowledge base; (b) is grounded
in the field of psychology; and (c) addresses something that is not known, something that
is new or different from prior research, something that extends prior research, or
something that fills a gap in the existing literature. Describe precisely how your study will
add to the existing body of literature on your topic. It can be a small step forward in a line
of current research but it must add to the body of scientific knowledge in your
specialization area and on the topic.
To respond to this question you will need to:
1. Provide a paragraph that describes the background for your study and how your
research question relates to the background of the study.
2. Then, in a second paragraph discuss previous research and demonstrate exactly how
your study (answering research question) will advance the scientific knowledge base
on this topic. Include in-text citations and place the references in the reference section.
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3.2 Theoretical Implications
Describe any theoretical implications that the proposed study may have for understanding
phenomena. For example, will the study generate new theory, provide a description of the lived
experience of the participants or provide a description of a cultural phenomenon?
3.3 Practical Implications
Describe any practical implications that may result from your research. Specifically, describe
any implications the research may have for understanding phenomena for practitioners, the
population being studied, or a particular type of work, mental health, educational, community,
stakeholders or other setting.
Section 4: Contributions of the Proposed Study to the Field
4.1 Contributions to the Field
Your study should make a contribution to your field based on the approach used to
conduct the research:
A. Ethnography – The study should produce a description of some
psychological dimensions of a culture.
B. Case Study - The study should develop a psychological or psychosocial
lesson to be learned from the case.
C. Grounded theory - The study should generate new psychological or
psychosocial theory or an emergent psychological or psychosocial theory.
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D. Phenomenology - The study should yield a description of the lived
experience of the participants.
E. Heuristics - The study should yield a description of lived experience which
includes the experience of the researcher as well as those of the
participants.
F. Generic Qualitative Research – The study should answer the question using
qualitative data.
Describe how your study is grounded in and/or adds to knowledge in the field of
psychology.
Section 5: Methodology Details
5.1 Purpose of the Study
Describe the purpose of the study.
Why are you doing it? (The answer must be grounded in the literature in what has been
done--hasn’t been done or needs to be done.)
How will the methods to be used actually answer the research question?
Does the study address something that is not known or has not been studied before?
Is this study new or different from other studies in some way?
Does the study extend prior research on the topic in some way?
Does the study fill a gap in the existing literature?
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5.2 Research Methodology
The qualitative methodologies accepted for psychology are ethnography, case study,
grounded theory, phenomenology, heuristics and generic qualitative research. Describe the
qualitative methodology (for example phenomenology) and research model (for example
Giorgi – empirical phenomenology or Moustakas – transcendental phenomenology) you
propose to use, supported and referenced by primary sources. Describe in detail the
method(s) you will use to collect the data, such as: open-ended conversational interviews,
journaling, letters, pictures, observations, field notes, or focus groups – focus groups are only
used for ethnography, grounded theory, case study, and generic qualitative research only.
Briefly describe how the study will be conducted. (Describe how you are going to carry out
the study.)
5.3 Population and Sample
Describe the characteristics of the larger population from which the sample (study
participants) will be drawn. Next describe the sample that will participate in the study and
the sample size. Justify the sample size with support from the literature.
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5.4 Sampling Procedures
Describe how you plan to select the sample. Be sure to list the name of the specific sampling
strategy you will use. Describe each of the steps from recruitment through contact and screening to
consenting to participate in the study
5.5 Data Collection Procedures
Describe where and how will you get the data and describe the exact procedure(s) that will be
used to collect the data. This is a step-by-step description of exactly how the research will be
conducted. This should read like a recipe for the data collection procedures to be followed in
your study. Be sure to include all the necessary details so that someone else will be able to
clearly understand how you will obtain your data.
5.6 Guiding Interview Questions
Describe the interview method will you use and how you will conduct the interviews. List
the guiding interview questions to be used to guide the open-ended qualitative interviews
with the participants. Provide a rationale for how and why you are using the interview
technique you will use to address the primary research question. Be sure to discuss the
results of any field test that was conducted as a part of the process of developing the final
version of the guiding interview questions.
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5.7 Other Data Collection Procedures
For those studies in which alternative data will be collected and used such as: archival
data, pre-recorded data, sent or unsent letters, journaling, poems, passages from
literature, descriptive essences, objects or images, etc., describe the methods you will
use to collect and analyze this alternative data. Provide a rationale for how and why
you are using this alternative data.
5.8 Proposed Data Analyses
Provide a step-by-step description of the procedures to be used to conduct the data analysis.
Support this process by identification and reference to primary descriptive sources, such as
Moustakas, Giorgi, Stake Yin, Charmaz, or Braun et al. Check that that the data analysis
process is consistent with the accepted analytical steps for the specific qualitative
methodology chosen to conduct this study. If you plan to use Qualitative data analysis
software, list the software you will use and describe how it will be used.
5.9 Role of the Researcher
Provide a description of the researcher’s pre-understandings, preconceptions and biases
about the topic and about how the researcher will set them aside?
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5.10 Credibility, Dependability and Transferability
5.10 Credibility, Dependability, and Transferability
Present a strategy to ensure credibility, dependability, and transferability in the proposed study.
Because the researcher is the primary instrument of research in qualitative studies, describe how you
will establish credibility for the research. Describe the training and experience you have in regards to
your methods for collecting and for analyzing your data. Credibility refers to confidence in the
accuracy of the data as reported as well as a systematic and thorough interpretation by the researcher.
Credibility involves carrying out the study in a way that enhances the believability of the findings of the
data over time and over conditions. Credibility is assessed by how well you demonstrate your
understanding of your research methodology and how well you apply the methodology to data
collection and data analysis. Credibility is assessed by how well you demonstrate your understanding of
your research methodology and how well you apply the methodology to data collection and data
analysis. Describe how you will demonstrate your expertise in regards to your research design.
Transferability is demonstrated by showing that the sample fairly represents the target population, as
well as by showing that the sample participants have the knowledge, experience, or expertise necessary
to provide information that the discipline or field and the target population would find meaningful in
regard to the topic. Dependability is demonstrated by providing clear, detailed, and sequential
descriptions of all procedures and methods, such that another researcher could repeat each of them
faithfully.
6.0 References
Provide references for all citations in APA style. Submit your reference list below.
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