RESEARCH PROPOSAL ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS
Research Proposal (3 Parts, Completed Paper, Presentation)
Students will be putting together a research proposal that utilizes a flexible design about a
problem they would like to explore. Students are encouraged to choose a topic related to their
doctoral program project so that the research completed will contribute to their overall applied
project. Applied Research projects often are designed to answer practical questions and involve
applying specific theories (Fixed Designs /Quantitative Studies) and findings to a specific real-
world problem that a specific organization is experiencing. This course focuses on the use of
flexible designs utilizing Qualitative methods of Phenomenology, Narrative, Grounded Theory,
Case Study and Ethnography. While fixed designs and Quantitative methods will be reviewed,
your proposal should be a flexible design using a Qualitative method of study.
The Doctor of Strategic Leadership (DSL) culminates in a Case
Study that is comprised of three parts to include:
1. Foundation of the Study
2. The Project
3. Application to Professional Practice
To be clear, for the purpose of the Doctor of Strategic Leadership (DSL) degree, you will be
writing a single Case Study for the Doctoral Research Project (DRP).
As a side note, PhD dissertations in some schools traditionally have five parts to include: 1.
Introduction 2. Background (Literature Review) 3. Methods 4. Results 5. Conclusion. Textbook
readings for this class generally will follow the traditional concept of the five-part dissertation.
In this class, students are going to complete parts 1 through 3 (Introduction,
Background/Literature Review and Methods). Specific to this class, part 1 deals with the
Introduction, part 2 deals with the Background (Literature Review) and part 3 covers Methods.
The students will complete a proposal only and will not actually complete the research project in
this course. Students should incorporate the Merida: Christ-centered Exposition: Exalting
Jesus in 1 & 2 Kings text in parts 1 and 2 of this paper as it relates to the chosen applied
research topic. Each area of the project proposal will be discussed in further detail in class and
will relate to the textbook chapters.
Regarding the textbooks chosen, Robson & McCartan: Real World Research and Creswell &
Poth: Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing Among Five Approaches, each will
use slightly different terminology in their writings. Robson writes of flexible and fixed designs
whereas Creswell references Qualitative and Quantitative methods. Generally speaking, flexible
designs are aligned with Qualitative methods and fixed designs are aligned with Quantitative
methods.
Part 1 – Project Justification (Introduction): Students will submit their research topic, problem
statement, purpose statement, the importance of the study, the central question for conducting
Page 2 of 2
the research, research questions, nature of the study and definition of the key terms. Part 1 will
be between five to eight pages in length. Reference to the Read: Simple but Effective Problem
Statements and Research Questions White Paper will be of great assistance.
Part 2 – Background (Literature Review): Students will discuss the search strategy and then
conduct a review of the existing literature about this topic and write the literature review in APA
format. The background will consist of 15 pages in length using a minimum of 10 academic
references. Students should start researching and collecting scholarly references as soon as
possible as this can be a very time-consuming process.
Part 3 – Project Approach (Methods): Students will identify the research process, how they will
collect data, how they will analyze data, and the instrumentation used. This can include selecting
what Qualitative research method to use, the research target (population and sample). Through a
flexible design, using qualitative methods, a concept will be discussed. The methods sections
will consist of five to eight pages and will include two additional academic references on the
methods chosen in addition to the textbooks.
Completed Final Project – Students should combine the previous three parts of the paper into a
final research proposal. Students should update the sections based on the feedback from their
instructor.
Final Project Presentation – Students will put together at least ten slides that discusses the major
components of their presentation. A title slide and references slide are required utilizing APA
format
Read: Creswell & Poth: Chapter 3, 6
Read: Merida: pp. 35 — 70
Read: Robson & McCartan: Chapters 3 – 4
Read: Simple but Effective Problem Statements and Research Questions 2nd Edition
Read: Read: 1 Kings 12:1 – 16:34
Read: Chapter 5 – The Introduction
Read: Chapter 6 – The Purpose Statement
Read: Chapter 3 – The Purpose Statement
Read: Chapter 7 – Research Questions and Hypotheses
Read: Chapter 4 – General Design Issues
Watch: Top Tips for First Time Researchers Links to an external site.
Watch: Literature Review and Research Designs Links to an external site.
