An approved Chapter 1 is required to complete this course

An approved Chapter 1 is required to complete this course. Chapter 1 is the foundation of your entire study and introduces your research topic. You will spend a considerable amount of time developing and refining your statement of the problem in this course because this is the heart of your study. You will need to identify tangible evidence that illustrates that the problem exists and then identify why this problem must be studied. For an applied degree, the problem should be based on practice, and for a PhD the investigation of the problem needs to add to the body of knowledge.

The literature you present in Chapter 1 should focus on presenting background information on the problem and should build the case using evidence to prove the merits of researching the topic. Describe and frame the problem with a theoretical/conceptual framework and develop the research questions for the study.

The required components (and approximate length guidelines) of Chapter 1 include:

• Introduction (2 pages)
• Statement of the Problem (maximum 250 - 350 words)
• Purpose of the Study (less than one page)
• Theoretical/Conceptual Framework (2 pages)
• Research Questions (less than 1 page)
• Nature of the Study (2 pages)
• Significance of the Study (2 pages)
• Definition of Key Terms (1 page)
• Summary (1 page)