Designing a Translational Research Study

Overview

In the Week 5 assignment, you created a brochure that discussed a specific behavior to increase, the current applied literature that used a specific behavior analytic theory to inform interventions to change that behavior, and the ethical considerations of intervention. For this week’s assignment, you will be using the information from our previous assignments to create your own translational study proposal.

Instructions

In this assignment, you will devise a translational research study proposal using the Week 7 Translational Research Design Template [DOCX]. Your research proposal should include the following components:

Literature review: Summarize the existing literature related to your research topic including the both the EAB and applied literature citing specific gaps and how the specified theory can inform interventions that fill them.

Summarize the existing literature related to your research topic. Provide an overview of relevant theories, concepts, and empirical findings.

1. Identify the gaps or limitations in the existing literature that your research aims to address.

Justify the need for your proposed research by highlighting how it will fill those gaps or address the limitations identified.

Discuss how the identified theory informs the intervention(s) discussed in the literature.

1. Introduction to the Research Study.
2. Research Problem: Clearly state the research problem or question that your study aims to address.
3. Significance: Explain the significance of your research, including the potential contributions to theory, practice, or policy in behavior analysis.
4. Research Objectives: Clearly state the specific objectives of your research. What do you aim to achieve through this study? Ensure that your objectives are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
5. Research Question(s) and Variables.

Research Question(s): Clearly state the research question(s) that will guide your study. Ensure they are aligned directly to the research objectives you discussed in the previous section.

Variables: Operationally define your Independent and Dependent Variables.

1. Research Methodology.
2. Describe the research design you will use and explain why it is appropriate for addressing your research questions. Remember that you must use a single subject method for this analysis. Group design, correlational research, or qualitative studies will not be accepted.
3. Participant and Sampling Methods: Provide information about the target population for your study, including relevant characteristics and sampling methods. Include specific inclusion and exclusion criteria.
4. Measures, Data Aggregation, and Visual Inspection: Describe the measurement system you will use in the study including the relevant dimension(s) of the dependent variable. Discuss how the data will be collected, how it will be aggregated, and the type of graph you will use to visually inspect the data. Finalize this section with a discussion of how you will evaluate the validity and reliability of the data.

Implementation Guidelines: Outline the step-by-step procedures you will follow to conduct your research. This should be a task analysis that a research assistant could use to guide their implementation if you were not there to provide assistance. This can be written as a narrative, but you may find that creating a numerical list would likely be easier.

Ethical Considerations.

1. Discuss any potential ethical issues associated with your research and how you will address them.
2. Explain how you will ensure the confidentiality and anonymity of participants, obtain informed consent, and comply with relevant ethical guidelines and regulations.Make sure to cite specific alignments from The Belmont ReporLinks to an external site., the BACB Ethical Code of Conduct
3. Timeline and Expected Outcomes.

Provide a timeline that outlines the various stages of your research, including data collection, data analysis, and completion of the final report or thesis.

Describe the anticipated outcomes of your research. What do you expect to find based on your research questions or hypotheses?

1. Limitations: Identify potential limitations or constraints that may affect the validity or generalizability of your findings.
2. Additional Requirements
3. Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
4. APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to current edition APA style and formatting

References: At least five scholarly resources.

1. Length of paper: There is no specified page limit.

Refer to the rubric to ensure you understand the grading criteria for this assignment.

Competencies Measured

1. By successfully completing this assignment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:
2. Competency 1: Evaluate research in the experimental analysis of behavior.

Summarize the existing literature related to your research topic including both the EAB and applied literature citing specific gaps and how the specified theory can inform interventions that fill them.

Competency 2: Distinguish features of experimental analysis of behavior (EAB) research from applied behavior analysis (ABA) research and identify features of translational research that bridge both types.

1. Describe the aims of the research study including objectives, questions, and operationally defines all relevant variables of interest.

Summarize the research design methodology including target population, sampling methods, research design, and measurement system.

Create a procedural task analysis that could be used to train a research assistant to implement the procedure.

1. Competency 4: Evaluate the core ethical requirements of behavior analytic research.
2. Discuss the most relevant ethical considerations of the research study.
3. Provide a theoretical timeline for the duration of the study and discusses any limitations that exist within the study.

Competency 5: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly and consistent with expectations for professionals in the field of psychology.