Project: Research Strategy Proposal
The goal of this course is to equip you with the tools necessary to read and critique scientific literature, and to develop a working knowledge of the "anatomy" of a research project. To assess these skills the final project for this course will be the the creation of a Research Strategy Proposal.
In this final paper you will pull together all of the work you have done in the course toward developing a research concept. This assignment is based on the same guidelines (known as the SF424) you would use if you were to submit a research proposal to NIH or other federal HHS agency. Note: Though you will be learning about qualitative and quantitative designs, this project is designed to be completed using a quantitative design.
In this assignment, you will only be writing specific aims and research strategy sections. Below is a simplified version of the SF424 guidelines. The list below includes all of the items that are required for your Research Strategy Proposal.
- Specific Aims (1 page max.)
State concisely the goals of the proposed research and summarize the expected outcome(s), including the impact that the results of the proposed research will exert on the research field(s) involved.
List succinctly the specific objectives of the research proposed, e.g., to test a stated hypothesis, create a novel design, solve a specific problem, challenge an existing paradigm or clinical practice, address a critical barrier to progress in the field, or develop new technology.
- Research Strategy (5 pages max.)
Organize the Research Strategy in the specified order using the instructions provided below. Start each section with the appropriate section heading - Significance, Innovation, Approach. Cite published experimental details in the Research Strategy section and provide the full reference in the Bibliography.
Significance
- Explain the importance of the problem or critical barrier in the field and how it is addressed in the proposed project.
- Explain how the proposed project will improve current scientific knowledge, technical capability, and/or clinical practice in one or more broad fields.
- Describe how the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this field will be changed if the proposed aims are achieved.
Innovation
- Explain how the application challenges seek to shift current research or clinical practice paradigms.
- Describe any novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation or interventions to be developed or used, and any advantage over existing methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions.
- Explain any refinements, improvements, or new applications of theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions.
Approach
- Describe the overall strategy, methodology, and analyses to be used to accomplish the specific aims of the project. Include how the data will be collected, analyzed, and interpreted as well as any resource sharing plans as appropriate.
- Discuss potential problems, alternative strategies, and benchmarks for success anticipated to achieve the aims.
- If the project is in the early stages of development, describe any strategy to establish feasibility, and address the management of any high risk aspects of the proposed work.
- If the research involves human subjects, comment on how data collected on subjects will be protected.
- If the research involves vulnerable populations, provide a justification as to why that is necessary.
Guidelines for Submission: Use a standard font and size of at least 11 points, and minimum 1 inch margins. Your submission should be single spaced and all bibliographic entries need to be in AMA format. Please do not exceed the section page limits. An actual proposal that goes over the page limit by one word might not be reviewed! However, your bibliography does not count toward the page limits, and you may also include a 1 page appendix if additional charts or tables are necessary.