Research Proposal Instructions

Create a 2,100-word research proposal that includes an abstract, introduction, literature review, rationale, methodology, significance/conclusion, and references (the last of which not counting towards the word count).**** Reuse previous assignments in this assignment, but those assignments should be modified and updated as per instructor feedback.

Prompt: In 2,100 words, create a research proposal for your research topic that includes an abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology, rationale, conclusion, and references (the last of which not counting towards the word count) in that order. 

Requirements:

1. You may use first person, but not second person. Only use first person when absolutely necessary to talk about the fact that you are proposing research. Some sections like the literature review should not have any at all, but you will likely need it in the methodology. 

2. Your grammar, spelling, and punctuation should be flawless. *****

3. You must use APA formatting. 

4. When proposing that you will be doing an action if your proposal is accepted (like in your methodology), speak in the future tense. 

5. Use Level 1 APA headings to differentiate between main sections where appropriate.

6. Your abstract should be a general, 150-250-word **summary of what sections and topics are contained in your research proposal; avoid arguing or going into detail there. 

7. Remember to look over the comments your instructor has made on your other related assignments and be sure to update sections of your research proposal for this assignment. Learn from past mistakes and successes. 

Additional Suggestions:

1. Keep your audience in mind throughout. While your professor will grade your essay, remember that your audience will likely be someone who can grant money to support your research. Assume that person, committee, or organization is somewhat interested in your research topic. How can you show them that your plan to study it is a good one that deserves financial support? It will be easier to convince them if you can show youve done your research, your reasons for studying this topic lines up with theirs, and your plan to study it will be effective. 

2. Remember that the introduction of your literature review is not the same as the introduction overallthe overall introduction usually focuses on the topic and segues into introducing the research hypothesis or question, which is typically the last sentence of the introduction.

3. In your conclusion, summarize your main ideas and emphasize the importance and future helpfulness of what you are doing.

4. Once you have put together all the pieces, read through your proposal several times to make sure that tone, ideas, and arguments stay consistent throughout. Youve sorted out the puzzle pieces, but you need to make sure they all fit.  

****Here are 2 of   Reused Assignments*** 

**Research proposal; improving outcome of depression in primary care: recurrent prevention *******************

Chronic depression is a highly prevalent mental illness with major health, economic and social consequences. According to WHO, depression is a mental disorder characterized by sadness, disordered sleep, guilt, appetite loss and decreased energy. WHO projects a rise in depression in the next ten years? Chronic depression is often recurring and may impair individuals ability to perform normally. The general objective of the research is to assess the impact of Depression Recurrent Prevention (DRP) – an enhanced care for chronic depression with a continuation-phase compared to the usual course- care oriented treatment of chronic depression. 

The primary intervention program under study is the Enhanced DRP treatment program is a structured treatment program that focuses on psycho education thus improving patient resilience (NIHCE, 2004). The research involves the use of both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. A randomized trial study will be conducted for 5 years i.e. from 2020 through 2025. 267 patients diagnosed with DSM depression will be assessed through a structured interview. The interviews will be in-depth and psychiatric in nature and will be administered on a bimonthly basis through the telephone. The interviews will be randomly administered to the three treatment options including the usual course oriented treatment approach. A total of 72 patients (n=72) will receive usual care that will be deemed fit. The other (n=195) will receive the enhanced treatments options including DPR treatment (treatment program under experiment). DPR will be administered alone to patients (n=112), it will be administered along psychiatric consultation to patients (n=39) and alongside Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for 10 sessions to patients (n=44) 

Participants (patients) will have an average age of 40 years. Of the total number of patients, 60% will be female 65% will have experienced chronic depression with 30% having experienced more than four episodes previously. 

Additionally, a review of literature will be performed from Web of Science, PubMed and PsycINF databases. Only article comparing enhance treatment to usual cause-oriented treatment will be reviewed. These articles will be extracted based on their quality. This will be done using the MSTAR score.

This research topic is quite important because its findings will not only inform healthcare practitioners but also contribute to the literature of mental illness treatment. The design- pragmatic trial explains what constitutes usual cause- oriented treatment (the treatment as usual) of depression over a period.

Most patients diagnosed with depression disorders in the United States are treated by general practitioners in different health care settings; therefore, there is need for a more effective treatment program. However, little empirical studies have been conducted to ascertain the most effective treatment method. Few studies which have attempted to determine the most effective method of treating chronic depression have ended up with mixed and sometimes contradictory results. There is need for a research that will clarify these issues to come up with a long-lasting solution. Although depression is constantly in the rise due to its high prevalence, a significant number of people are adamant to seek professional care treatment. This is attributed to the fact that the public have little information pertaining to causes, symptom and effective treatment options for the 

disorder. There is limited literature on treatment of chronic depression. This study will contribute immensely to literature pertaining depression.

Treatment of chronic depression is broad and multy- faceted; most of its aspects are not currently well understood. A lot is still unknown about other chronic depression treatment options. This research hopes to open a more rigours discussion that will lead to further enquiries into the topic. The study will highlight critical issues that concern enhanced approaches and generalist approach to treatment of chronic depression in the primary healthcare

Work Cited 

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (2004). Depression: management of depression in primary and secondary care. 

World Health Organization (WHO, 2015). Mental health: new understanding, new hope. 

******Synthesis Essay ***Introduction

Having done a degree in Interdisciplinary Behavioral Sciences, I believe I have a lot of skills that will enable me to pursue a masters degree in your institution. When dealing with human service in the areas of substance abuse and mental health, you are required to have a couple of skills. I have learned most of these skills as I was doing my undergraduate and I am sure that they will score me a position in a school where I will enroll in a masters program, (Bowe, & Sellers, 2018). Some of the skills that I have include social and cultural diversity, communication, qualitative and quantitative research, legal and ethical issues and leadership. 

Skills that I learned

Leadership

I did a unit in leadership which means that I have enough skills to deal with people. The best thing about leadership skills is that, even when you are not in a leadership position, management of the position you are at is not a problem. With the masters program that I want to enroll in, I know that there will be no specific issues I will not be in a position to handle because one of the qualities of a leader is creativity and the ability to think critically, (Hollingsworth, 2017). Decision making will not be a problem for me, and I will be sure to make sound decisions. Leadership skills enable you to consider a lot of factors before coming up with a conclusion and for one to undertake a masters degree in human services you must be familiar with this fact and you must be in a position to consider all the possible factors before making a decision.

Communication 

When in a human service line of career, one of the things you need to have is good communication skills. Communication does not necessarily mean speaking to people or writing. It goes all the way to observing a persons feelings and how they are handling things. As I mentioned the main reason why I want to take this course is so that I can help people with issues of drug abuse and those with mental issues. My communication skills will go a long way to facilitate this. This is because it is very important to note that people going through such problems require persons that understand and help them open up about their issues. Although it might seem like a small issue, communication has never been something easy, (Dice, & Rehfuss, 2017). Possessing such skills means that you understand a person on a level that not so many people can, and you help them without showing them that you judge them. The way you communicate with a person really contributes to the kind of relationship that you establish with that person.

Social and cultural diversity

This is one of the units that I learned in my course. Appreciating that different people have different beliefs and views on life is one of the most significant things a person can do, (Roets, & Maritz, 2017). This is because the people that I will be dealing with will not be from my culture. This means that I will encounter so many different cultural beliefs when I pursue this career. Some cultures will even contradict what I believe but because I am well aware of cultural diversity and I know that we all do not share the same cultures I know that this will not threaten my career. If anything, I believe that to take this course, cultural diversity is one of the things that I should appreciate. The same thing applies to social diversities. The fact that our cultures are different, the environments where we have been brought up in and our social norms make our social habits very different, (Sanchez, & Guerrero, 2018). Because I understand this fact, I know that most people I will deal with will have different kinds of social lives and practices. This will help me even as I pursue my career because I will be able to handle different people differently and I will not expect them to behave in a certain way.

Qualitative and quantitative research

In my undergraduate, I conducted a lot of research. This is a very helpful skill because when I enroll in masters, I know that I will have more research to conduct and I will be more than ready, (Ayala, 2019). There are cases of so many students being unable to conduct researches because as they were doing their undergraduate, they did no researches which become an issue in their future. Being able to acquire both qualitative and quantitative information is very important. I have not only done research methods, but I can also analyze collected data. This means that I can get inferences from any kind of data and because knowledge is power, my career gets to be at an advantage. Unlike so many people I can get retrieve data from any sources and if it is a research, I am dealing with I will be sure to come up with valid information.

Legal and ethical issues

This is also another unit that I did in my undergraduate. Not only is it applicable to a masters degree in human service but to any course that a person is undertaking, (Sanchez, & Guerrero, 2018). I am aware of the importance of legal issues and I would not do anything to violate them. I am well disciplined and responsible enough to know the things I should and should not do. That applies to ethical issues too. As a person, I have been taught moral ethics and, in my degree, I tackled ethical values which are very important when undertaking any course.

Conclusion

As discussed, when dealing with human service in the areas of substance abuse and mental health, you are required to have a couple of skills. The best thing about leadership skills is that, even when you are not in a leadership position, management of the position you are at is not a problem. It is very important to note that people going through such problems require a person that understands and helps them open up about their issues. Appreciating that different people have different beliefs and views on life is one of the most significant things a person can do. Being able to acquire both qualitative and quantitative information is very important. I am well aware of the importance of legal issues and I would not do anything to violate them.

References

Ayala, G. (2019). A Life Skill Workshop for Youth on Probation. Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/caps_thes_all/478/ 

Bowe, M., & Sellers, T. P. (2018). Evaluating the Performance Diagnostic ChecklistHuman Services to assess incorrect errorcorrection procedures by preschool paraprofessionals. Journal of applied behavior analysis, 51(1), 166-176. Retrieved from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/jaba.428 

Dice, T. F., & Rehfuss, M. C. (2017). Human Services Students Preferences for masters Level Training. Journal of Human Services, 37(1). Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/chs_pubs/16/ 

Hollingsworth, C. P. (2017). Defining Social Justice through Service: Implementing Social Justice Curricula in a Human Services Context. Retrieved from: http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-11212017-113224/ 

Neukrug, E. S. (2016). Theory, practice, and trends in human services: An introduction. Cengage Learning. Retrieved from: https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=R3QcCgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR4&dq=skills+for+a++Master%E2%80%99s+Degree+in+Human+Services&ots=h-kHlMDlB4&sig=ZfxghT3WRrddFaq8bVw9gymxsng 

Roets, L., & Maritz, J. (2017). Facilitating the development of higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) of novice nursing postgraduates in Africa. Nurse education today, 49, 51-56. Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0260691716302593 

Sanchez, G., & Guerrero, S. G. (2018). MASTER OF SOCIAL WORK STUDENT COMPETENCY IN SPANISH SKILLS AND THE SUPPORT THEY RECEIVE. Retrieved from: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/697/