Skip to Main Content

CRJ 418/518: Criminal Justice Research Methods

Research Guide for CRJ 418/518

Putting Together Your Research Proposal (518 students)

Your Research Proposal should be formatted in ASA Style and include each of the following sections:

Project Title​

Project Summary: a brief overview of the research design, goals, and merit

Biographical Sketch: your biography and relevant experience

Project Description: a clear statement of the work and its merit

Relevant Literature and Theoretical Frameworks: Bring together theories and results from a number of studies to describe the "big picture" of your area of research and provide the context for your study. This should be a compelling narrative about the research trails you followed, how they build up to your study, and why your research study is original and important.

  1. Go to Start Finding SourcesSearch Databases, and Browse Journals to find journal articles for your research area.
  2. Go to Analyze Your Sources to analyze your journal articles and Select Your Sources to evaluate and select sources for your project description
  3. Go to Use Your Sources to use your sources to build your hypothesis, arguments, and justifications for your proposed research study.

Research Methods: includes information about how you plan to carry out your proposed research study. 

  • Go to Use Your Sources to use your sources to build your research study design.
  • Go to Find Datasets if you are using datasets as part of your research design.
  • Depending on your project, this section may include information about:
    • populations and sites to be studied 
    • participant recruitment 
    • secondary analysis of datasets
    • protocol for protecting participants
    • survey/interview protocol
    • Informed Consent document.

Data Management Plan: includes protocol covering data collection, storage, and sharing.

Proposal Budget: project costs and justification for each of your project costs

Research Timeline: include deliverables and their expected dates

References Cited: Go to Cite & Write in ASA Style to format your References Cited list in American Sociological Association (ASA) format.

Appendices (if applicable): include additional study components like survey instruments, interview instruments, and/or informed consent documents

For more writing help, contact the Writing Center and make an online appointment to meet with one of their consultants.

University of Michigan - Dearborn Logo
  • 4901 Evergreen Road
    Dearborn, MI 48128, USA
  • Phone: 313-593-5000
  • Contact us