NOT TOEXCEED 5 PAGES (NOT INCLUDING COVER) APA FORMAT

composea first draft of your thesis proposal. Submit including a title page and threereferences related to your proposed topic. Ensure that the references are frompeer-reviewed journals, government sources, other appropriate academicallyacceptable sources, or some combination thereof. The formal proposal should notexceed five pages (title page not included).

Theproposal should explain the question or problem to be investigated and convincethe thesis professor that the question or problem merits investigation. Itshould show that the student has read the relevant and recent literature on thesubject, and it should contain a list of academically appropriate resourcesconsulted during the preliminary stages of research. In general, the thesisproposal should include background information related to the research topic,purpose of the research, methodology, and analytic procedures to be used.

AGAIN:

Ensurethe proposal includes the following :

• Explain thequestion or problem to be investigated and convince the thesis professorthat the question or problem merits investigation.
• It should showthat the student has read the relevant and recent literature on thesubject, and it should contain a list of academically appropriateresources consulted during the preliminary stages of research.
• In general, thethesis proposal should include background information related to theresearch topic, purpose of research, methodology and analytical proceduresto be used.

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

1. whatis the relationship between mental illness and crime?

2. Isthere a relationship between social class and crime?

3. Whatis the effect of wrongful conviction?

4. Arethere any benefits to legalizing marijuana?

5. Hascapital punishment deterred crime?

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

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Appendix 1: M.A. Theses

M.A. theses are expected to contain the followingelements:

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

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

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

Literature Review: Reviews the literature on a specificresearch question. The literature review focuses on discussing how otherresearchers have addressed the same or similar research questions. Itintroduces the study and places it in larger context that includes a discussionof why it is important to study this case. It provides the current state ofaccumulated knowledge as it relates to the student’s specific researchquestion. • Summarize the general state of the literature (cumulative knowledgebase) on the specific research question: o Study one: summarize to includeresearcher’s findings, how those findings were obtained, and evaluation ofbiases in the findings. o Study two: summarize to include researcher’sfindings, how those findings were obtained, and evaluation of biases in thefindings. 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 frameworksection develops the theories or models to be used in the study and shows howthe student has developed testable research hypotheses.

This section should include • an introduction discussinggaps in the literature, how this study will help fill some of those gaps, andjustification for the theory or model to be used in study; • a summary of thetheory or model to be used in the study, including a diagram of the model ifappropriate; and • a statement of hypotheses to be tested. ResearchDesign/Methodology: Describes how the student will test the hypothesis andcarry out his/her analysis. This section describes the data to be used to testthe hypothesis, how the student will operationalize and collect data on his/hervariables, and the analytic methods that to be used, noting potential biasesand limitations to the research approach. It should include • identificationand operationalization (measurement) of variables; • a sampling plan (i.e.,study population and sampling procedures, if appropriate); • justification ofcase 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 theresults of the study. Keep in mind that the “results” are the directobservations of the research, while the “discussion” is the interpretation ofthe results and research. This should include, as appropriate: • results,including tables, graphs, statistics; • significance and interpretation of theresults; • discussion of results as they relate to thesis statement/researchquestion; • 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.