Final Project
Introduction
The purpose of the final project is to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate:

Your familiarity with the topics discussed in this course;
Your ability to apply this knowledge to a real-world issue;
Your capabilities to gather and analyze readily-available information about a public affairs problem; and
Your competence in developing a plan of action that could serve as a proposal for further research on a selected issue related to your program of study.
The goal you should focus upon in the final project is to develop a well-organized document that serves as a proposal for examining a public affairs problem related to your program of study. Your proposal should serve as the preliminary document that you might submit to a government agency to seek support for a research project. Please note, you are not being asked to actually complete an original research project.

Your assignment is to construct a Research Proposal related to a public affairs problem related to your program of study (a problem in your primary or secondary areas of emphasis). This proposal could be a community-based problem or an organizational-based problem, utilizing case study methodology. The community or organization you select could be one in which you currently live or work in or have previously lived or worked in. You should have some familiarity with the community or organization you select. For example, you will use commonly available data about your selected community (economic development data, census data, or government records) to establish the need for research. Additionally, you will provide a review of the relevant literature from sources you select that support your research proposal. Again, keep in mind that you do not have to actually conduct the research project, but rather you are creating a rationale for why such a research project is needed.

The following elements must be included in your proposal, arranged as suggested by Creswell (2014) in Chapter 4.

Introduction    Literature Review    Procedures    Other
Statement of Problem (may include literature review or mini review)

Purpose of the Study 

At least one research
question, with at least two subquestions

May be included in another section

Must include 10-12 reputable sources

Qualitative or mixed- methods research strategy

Role of the researcher

Data collection procedures

Definitions as needed

Anticipated ethical issues

Significance of the study



Final Project: Research Proposal and Research Presentation
Research Proposal
Students select a topic to complete a qualitative or mixed methods research proposal, utilizing case study methodology. Creswell, Chapter 4, especially example 4.1 (p.78), provides the general required components of the research proposal. In addition, the proposal is required to have:

12-15 double spaced pages of research
10-12 literature review sources
Reference and title pages (do not count toward page count)
Appendixes as needed (do not count toward page count)
Headers and subheaders are encouraged