1)Abstract (about .5 page) – 150-250 words

2)Introduction and Statement of the Problem (about 1.5 pages)

– Students should briefly introduce their topic and state the social problem to be studied. Students should discuss how this problem relates to the family studies field. Your instructor will approve your topic during the first few weeks of the semester.

– Students should use empirical evidence from the literature to support the need for study in this topic area.

Some helpful hints for citing evidence:

(1)Discuss the history of the topic (how long has this been a problem)

(2)Provide statistics or other epidemiological information to support your argument.

3)Literature Review (3-4 pages)

– Students are expected to write a literature review that includes at least 8 empirical research articles from professional journals (must be peer-reviewed and discuss original research). These articles must be referenced in the text of the final paper to be counted towards your grade. Students may choose to include articles from class to include in their literature review, if they are related to the topic. Students may review additional articles to support their ideas.

– Students must reference all citations (quotes and paraphrased material) and articles used in the text. Students must also list all sources used in the paper on the final reference page, following strict APA style. Students must turn in copies of their articles with their final paper. Upload any additional ones to Blackboard discussion (annotated bibs)

4)Research Hypothesis (about .5 to 1 pages)

– Students should clearly identify their research question and hypothesis statement. Students should clearly identify the independent and dependent variables in their study. The hypothesis should be based on the literature and clearly relate to the introduction/statement of the problem.

– The independent and dependent variables should be clearly stated.

5)Methodology (2-4 pages)

a)Setting – Students should describe where the research study took place.

b)Population and Sample – Who is your population?

– How were participants selected for your sample? Discuss what sampling method was selected and give a rationale as to why researchers selected this sampling method over other possible methods.

– If using volunteers, how were people recruited to be in this study?

c)Ethical Issues

– Identify major ethical issues/IRB

– Discuss anonymity versus confidentiality – which was assured?

– What were the potential benefits and risks?

d)Procedures and Data Collection

i)What type of research study are you conducting – name the research design and describe why you chose this research design over other designs studied in class.

ii)Describe the research data collection procedures from start to finish. Remember that all research is systematic and nothing is left un-planned.

How will you operationalize your variables? You must select at least one standardized measure for this study (i.e. a survey or other instrument). Describe what you will use to measure your independent and dependent variables and why you selected such measures. What are the reliability and validity issues related to your measures?

6)Results (about .5 pages)

a)Statistical analysis

– What statistical analysis was conducted?

– What is your rationale for this analysis?

b)Table (do not need to include Table – just refer to it)

Based on the analysis, did you find support for your hypothesis? Refer to Table 1 (that you will not include) that reports the analysis.

7)Discussion (2 page)

– Summarize findings and link to previous studies

-Strengths and Limitations (1)

i)What are the major strengths and limitations of your research?

ii)Be sure you focus on the research methodology when writing this section.

– Make suggestions for future research.

8)Citations

– All citations must follow strict APA 6^th edition style.

– Be sure to cite your standardized measure and include on the reference page.

Be sure to cite the article on the Satisfaction with Family Life Scale (Zabriskie & Ward, 2013).