The purpose of this assignment is to identify a potential
research topic, draft a problem statement, and outline the
significance of your study.
Using the background readings, write a 3 page paper with the
following components:
1. Briefly discuss a potential research topic.
1. Why is this important to you?
2. Complete the Checklist entitled “Questions to Ask Yourself
When Deciding on a Topic” from the Byrne (2017) text.
Respond “yes” or “no” to each question and provide any
additional clarification for your responses as necessary.
1. Are you interested enough in the topic? You
need to be motivated to start your project,
carry out the research, and see it through to
the end.
2. Do you know enough about the general
context of the topic you want to work on?
You need this to be able to develop a
decent account of what you are looking for
in your research. If you lack this
knowledge, yo will need time to develop it.
3. Can you refine your topic down to a
description of doable research?
4. Do you know how you will actually do the
research? You will need the appropriate
data-gathering skills and competencies—or
the time to learn them before starting your
research.
5. Do you know what resources you need to
do the research? You will also need to know
how and where to get them.
6. Do you know what kind of ethical approval
you need? You will need to get this
organized in time to start the research.
7. Can your project be done in the time
available?
8. Can you get access to the research
context? You also need to know how you
will get that access.
9. Can you work out a timetable for getting the
research done and written up?
3. Refer to p. 88 in the Ayiro (2012) text and draft a problem
statement that includes the five components listed.
1. The topic, the problem, justification of the
importance of the problem, deficiencies in
current knowledge, and the audience(s)
who will benefit from the study.
4. Draft Significance of the Study
1. Describe how your study will contribute to
the understanding of the problem and who
will benefit from your study. Reflect on how
the proposed study may (when applicable)
impact practitioners in the field of
educational leadership, students, or
education policy.
2. Discuss how the findings may result in
real-world application to practice (e.g., new
curriculum or training, handbooks, or
reference guides, etc.)
Important: Your instructor will provide you with feedback for
each element of your research proposal (i.e., Statement of
Problem, Purpose Statement, Conceptual or Theoretical
Framework, Research Questions, and Significance of Study). It
is an expectation that you incorporate your instructor’s
feedback and revise these sections accordingly. In SLP 5, you
will be asked to provide one cohesive document which
includes revisions based on the instructor’s feedback
throughout this course. Please note that you will continue
developing your research proposal in EDD 614.
