Developing a Research Proposal 4

Part 1

 Identify at least one hypothesis involving what you expect is a causal relationship. 
Identify key variables that should be controlled in your survey design in order to increase your ability to avoid arriving at a spurious conclusion about the hypothesized causal effect. Draw on relevant research literature and social theory to identify these variables. 
Add a longitudinal component to your research design. Explain why you decided to use this particular longitudinal design. 

Part 2

Design a laboratory experiment to test one of your hypotheses or a related hypothesis. Describe the experimental design, commenting on each component of a true experiment. Specify clearly how the independent variable will be manipulated and how the dependent variable will be measured. 
Assume that your experiment will be conducted on campus. Formulate recruitment and randomization procedures. 
Discuss the extent to which each source of internal validity is a problem in the study. Propose procedures such as process analysis to cope with these sources of invalidity. 
How generalizable would you expect the study’s findings to be? What can be done to increase generalizability? 
Develop appropriate procedures for the protection of human subjects in your experiment, including a consent form. Give particular attention to any aspects of the study that are likely to raise ethical concerns.