The American Psychological Association (APA) format is commonly used when proposing a research topic or developing a research proposal in the social sciences. When formulating an APA research proposal, there are key elements that must be included to successfully pitch your research topic or idea. This article will outline the essential components of an APA formatted research topic proposal and provide examples of each section.
Title Page
The title page is the first page of a research proposal or report. On this page, include a running head and page number at the top left of the page. The running head is a shortened version of the title in all capital letters that is no more than 50 characters, including spaces. On the title page and subsequent pages, the running head should appear in the header.
On the title page, center your full title 15-20 words in length using title case (only the first letter of the first word and proper nouns capitalized). Below the title, type your name and institutional affiliation, also centered.
Abstract
The abstract is a single paragraph, normally between 150-250 words, which provides a brief summary of the key points of the proposed research. This includes the research problem or issue being addressed, the participants, methods, and anticipated findings or results. The abstract should not include any citations or references. Write the abstract in a concise, declarative style with the following sections:
Research topic: State the specific research problem or issue being explored.
Participants: Describe the type of participants involved in the research including population characteristics.
Methods: Specify the main research methods and design that will be used such as questionnaires, experiments, or observations.
Anticipated results: Note what the research hopes to find or conclude.
Introduction
The goal of the introduction is to establish the rationale for the research. Begin with a hook to draw the reader in and establish why this topic should be explored further. Provide background and context on the research problem and summarize relevant previous studies on the topic. Identify a gap in the current literature that the proposed study will address or aim to expand upon. Formally state the purpose of the study and specific research questions and/or hypotheses. End with a brief overview of how the rest of the proposal is organized.
Methods
In this section, thoroughly describe how the research will be conducted to address the research questions. Provide a detailed description of the following:
Research design: Identify if the proposed study uses qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods designs (e.g. experimental, quasi-experimental, case study, phenomenological).
Participants: Specify the characteristics of the intended participants including the population of interest, sampling strategy, sample size, inclusion/exclusion criteria if applicable, and any vulnerable populations. Note how participants will be recruited.
Materials/measures: List and describe any instruments, tools, surveys, interviews, or measures that will be used to collect data. Cite scales and provide examples of items. Attach copies of materials as appendices if appropriate.
Procedures: Provide a step-by-step description of the procedures for participant recruitment and data collection including permissions, location, times, instructions, duration, compensation, debriefing etc. Consider ethical issues.
Planned analysis: Specify the statistical tests or qualitative data analysis approaches that will be used to analyze the data and address the research questions/hypotheses such as thematic analysis, correlations, ANOVA, regression etc.
Potential Results
This optional section can highlight 2-3 key findings or results that are anticipated or considered most likely based on previous research. Provide a short paragraph on each potential result discussing how it will add to the field or address the research questions. Avoid stating definitive conclusions that have not been found yet.
Discussion
In this section, first reiterate the main goals and importance of the proposed research as discussed in the introduction. Then focus on discussing how the anticipated or potential results sections fit with previous literature, expand understanding, or address gaps. Also consider how the study may be limited or what possibilities exist for future research in the discussion section. Wrap up by emphasizing how the research will advance knowledge in the field.
References
The references section follows APA publication manual format for reference list entries. Provide full references for all in-text citations included in introduction and methods sections. List references alphabetically by author’s last name. Follow the author-date format and provide all necessary elements for each type of source such as books, articles, websites. References should only include sources that were actually cited in the text of the proposal.
This covers the essential components of an APA formatted research topic proposal that should be included to thoroughly pitch your research idea or plan for a study. Following the APA style guidelines will help structure a strong proposal that justifies and clearly outlines how the research will be conducted to address important questions. With the key elements of title page, abstract, introduction, methods, and references sections, a researcher has the foundation to present and receive support for pursuing their proposed study in a compelling way.
Andrew Stroud