NOT TO EXCEED 5 PAGES (NOT INCLUDING COVER) APA FORMAT

compose a first draft of your thesis proposal. Submit including a title page and three references related to your proposed topic. Ensure that the references are from peer-reviewed journals, government sources, other appropriate academically acceptable sources, or some combination thereof. The formal proposal should not exceed five pages (title page not included).

The proposal should explain the question or problem to be investigated and convince the thesis professor that the question or problem merits investigation. It should show that the student has read the relevant and recent literature on the subject, and it should contain a list of academically appropriate resources consulted during the preliminary stages of research. In general, the thesis proposal should include background information related to the research topic, purpose of the research, methodology, and analytic procedures to be used.

AGAIN:

Ensure the proposal includes the following :

• Explain the question or problem to be investigated and convince the thesis professor that the question or problem merits investigation.
• It should show that the student has read the relevant and recent literature on the subject, and it should contain a list of academically appropriate resources consulted during the preliminary stages of research.
• In general, the thesis proposal should include background information related to the research topic, purpose of research, methodology and analytical procedures to be used.

topic choices.- chose one of the five, if you do the first draft well enough I will use you for the entire assignment. be mindful of the topic choice on factors such as resources and content length. The future paper will be about 60 pages so choose a topic that will be able to extend this long.

1. what is the relationship between mental illness and crime?

2. Is there a relationship between social class and crime?

3. What is the effect of wrongful conviction?

4. Are there any benefits to legalizing marijuana?

5. Has capital punishment deterred crime?

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For an overview of the required components a thesis should contain, see Appendix 1 BELOW

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Appendix 1: M.A. Theses

M.A. theses are expected to contain the following elements:

Abstract: Includes the following components: purpose of the research, methodology, findings, and conclusion. The body of the abstract is limited to 150-200 words.

Introduction: Identifies student’s specific research question and sets the general context for the study.

This section should include • a statement of the problem or general research question and context leading to a clear statement of the specific research question; • background and contextual material justifying why this case or topic should be studied; and • a purpose statement.

Literature Review: Reviews the literature on a specific research question. The literature review focuses on discussing how other researchers have addressed the same or similar research questions. It introduces the study and places it in larger context that includes a discussion of why it is important to study this case. It provides the current state of accumulated knowledge as it relates to the student’s specific research question. • Summarize the general state of the literature (cumulative knowledge base) on the specific research question: o Study one: summarize to include researcher’s findings, how those findings were obtained, and evaluation of biases in the findings. o Study two: summarize to include researcher’s findings, how those findings were obtained, and evaluation of biases in the findings. o Include a minimum of at least three of the most important studies. • Include a short conclusion and transition to the next section.

Theoretical Framework/Approach: The theoretical framework section develops the theories or models to be used in the study and shows how the student has developed testable research hypotheses.

This section should include • an introduction discussing gaps in the literature, how this study will help fill some of those gaps, and justification for the theory or model to be used in study; • a summary of the theory or model to be used in the study, including a diagram of the model if appropriate; and • a statement of hypotheses to be tested. Research Design/Methodology: Describes how the student will test the hypothesis and carry out his/her analysis. This section describes the data to be used to test the hypothesis, how the student will operationalize and collect data on his/her variables, and the analytic methods that to be used, noting potential biases and limitations to the research approach. It should include • identification and operationalization (measurement) of variables; • a sampling plan (i.e., study population and sampling procedures, if appropriate); • justification of case studies used; • data collection/sources (secondary literature, archives, interviews, surveys, etc.); • a summary of analysis procedures (pattern-matching, etc.); and • the limitations of study and bias discussion.

Findings/Results/Discussion: This section describes the results of the study. Keep in mind that the “results” are the direct observations of the research, while the “discussion” is the interpretation of the results and research. This should include, as appropriate: • results, including tables, graphs, statistics; • significance and interpretation of the results; • discussion of results as they relate to thesis statement/research question; • discussion of results as it relates to the theoretical framework/approach; and • directions for future research.

Reference List: References the works the student has cited (direct quotes or paraphrases) in the text.