I. First, you should include a brief introductory paragraph that broadly covers your topic before specifically defining the research problem. This introduction may seem redundant from the content in your literature review; that is acceptable and commonplace. Then you should list your research questions. My research questions are 1. Are college students GPA higher or lower during their competitive season? How do practice hours affect student-athletes GPA, class participation, and study hours?
3. How can teachers and coaches help support students with the best academic and athletic success? ( This question needs to be developed further. It is too broad. )4. How does the longevity of playing a sport and balancing school can affect a student’s athlete mental health over time? ( This question needs to be answered with more clarification. 5. When does a lack of social life start impacting student-athletes? ( This question needs to be more specific).
II. Next, focus on the type of data you will collect. This step should start out by distinguishing whether you are collecting qualitative versus quantitative data, but it should not end there. You need to describe your overall population, your sampling type (e.g. purposive, convenience), and your desired sample size. Furthermore, you must provide a thorough and supported justification as to why the data you are collecting will directly address the research questions you posed. I will be using quantitative data using an online survey. My data will include the freshman, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. I will be using both male and female student-athletes. I will be using all EIU athletics sports teams. I will collect my sampling, which will be convenient because EIU athletics is the only sample size I can access. I am collecting data why because it will be more convenient to get a large sample size of results by doing an online survey compared to in-person interviews
III. Third, you must describe the process you will use for data collection. This step should include things like your recruitment email/message to potential study participants (included in the Appendix), the number of recruitment emails/messages/contacts you made, and the dates you made these contacts. This step should also include your informed consent form (included in the Appendix, see separate instructions below), the specific scales or instruments you will utilize in your study (including a list of research/interview questions in the text), your plan for administering a survey/test (e.g. in-person, over the phone, sent via email), brief explanation and citation of things like Likert scales, acknowledgement and explanation of any omissions or alterations to these scales, and an elaboration on any mixed methods approaches (e.g. qualitative and quantitative). I will be sending out my online survey through email. I will have the two athletic academic advisors at EIU help me send it out to all student-athletes. I will be asking student-athletes 25 questions about how sports participation affects college students’ academic performance. You need to create the 25 survey questions.
IV. Lastly, you should explain your process for data analysis. This step should include what tools you will utilize to evaluate your data. For quantitative data, this should include any mathematical formulas or calculations that will be utilized. It should also include the statistical software you plan to utilize (e.g. Microsoft Excel, SPSS) with proper citations. For qualitative data, you must explain your process for coding and analyzing the results (e.g. thematic analysis, narrative analysis) with proper citations. For all personal or sensitive data/identifying information, you must describe the steps you will take to protect your study participants’ privacy. I am using quantitative data I will be using Microsoft Excel to get the calculations of my data after getting the results of my online survey.