Student name:

Celestine H
Project #: (please use the project # that youve been using for this project
throughout this process)
2
Working version of project title (try to be creative while somewhat descriptive in
your project title)
Silence is Golden: An Investigative Study On Introverts and Class Participation in High
School
****Rationale: In 1-2 sentences, describe why you made the decision to pursue this
project and shelve the other one.
I have chosen Project #2 because in the end, I am more passionate about learning more about
introvert-ism because I myself am an introvert and I want to discover more about myself.
Because I feel more passionately towards this project, I will be more motivated to complete the
project to the best of my ability and thats extremely important in the long run.

Research Proposal--FINAL draft

1. State the essential question
How does ones personality affect his/her performance and learning experience in an
academic setting in high school?
2.

State the primary research question

How does being introverted affect either positively or negatively on a students GPA and
learning experience in a discussion based class in secondary school and how can teachers
help mitigate these effects in a comprehensive manner?
3.
State the secondary research questions you have (make sure these are fairly
comprehensive and extensive).

What does being introverted mean?

What is the definition of a discussion based class?
How can one measure how introverted one is?
Why do many teachers count participation as an important part of their grading
systems?

Is an introspective disposition valued in high schools today?

What are ways to demonstrate understanding other than speaking out loud in class
that can fulfill the participation requirement?
Does a students participation level decrease as the day goes on?
Is it a teachers job to go out of their way to accommodate students needs?
Do teachers base their judgments of a student on how much they speak in class?
(for example, more likely to write recommendations?)
Can you suppress your introversion?
Can you suppress your introversion for longer periods of time as you grow older?
(i.e. force yourself to speak more)]

4.
Description of what the final product will look like. (Be sure that you are
very thorough here. Take us through the entire process from now until the final
product. If it would be helpful to you, number the steps and proceed through them
through and including your final product. In short: you MUST describe the process
here. This is vital to the approval process on your research proposal.)

Wk Week of
#

What I am planning to accomplish during that

week

11/3/14

Research current body of knowledge and find ways

to access those sources. Go to library to borrow
necessary literature.

11/10/14

Ask teachers who teach D1R6 classes if I am able to

observe their classes. Create surveys that measure
introvertism to hand out to teachers. Narrow down
list of teachers classes and hand out surveys to those
who agree to let me observe. Surveys will be an
introvertism measurement and also ask about
logistics such as schedules, availability, etc.

11/17/14

Read surveys and base my choice of two classes

from the data collected from the survey. Choose
students to observe: need to have matching studies to
be able to observe other classes.

11/24/14 (Thanksgiving
week)

Read literature!! Schedule interviews with students

who have agreed to be present in my study.

12/1/14

Start to interview students who I have chosen. Start

my first observation on Monday. Contact Ms. Moran
to see if she is willing to sit down and talk about my
project. If she agrees, I will keep her posted on what

I am doing and schedule a sit down discussion after

the observation period has concluded.
6

12/8/14

I will observe my two classes and take notes. From

the data collected from the surveys, I will keep a list
of how introverted/extroverted a student is and keep
track of his/her participation, leadership, and
presence in class. Film if classes agree to be filmed.

12/15/14

I will observe my two classes and take notes.

Continue to film, if allowed.

12/22/14
Dec break

Enjoy Christmas vacation. Continue reading

literature, researching body of knowledge.

12/29/14
Dec break

Enjoy Christmas vacation. Continue reading

literature, researching body of knowledge.

10

1/5/15

I will observe my two classes and take notes. Send

email out to all appropriate teachers to see who
would be interested in being interviewed from a
teacher perspective.

11

1/12/15

term 2 ends on 1/16/15

I will observe my two classes and take notes.

12

1/19/15

I will observe my two classes and take notes. Start

teacher interviews.

13

1/26/15

I will observe my two classes and take notes.

Continue teacher interviews.

14

2/2/15

I will observe my two classes and take notes.

Continue with teacher interviews if necessary.

15

2/9/15

Start to schedule and conduct final interviews with

students. I will observe my two classes and take
notes.

16

2/16/15
Feb break

Start looking at the data collected, looking for

patterns.

17

2/23/15

This will be my last week of observations and final

interviews. Tie up all loose ends. Thank classes and
subjects.

18

3/2/15

Completely go through all the data collected

including interviews from teachers. Look for

patterns, conduct statistical analysis.
19

3/9/15

Sit down with Ms. Moran to discuss observations and

patterns for one day. Other four days start
formulating comprehensive plan to help mitigate
effects of introvertism on class participation.

20

3/16/15

Work on the comprehensive plan, drawing

information from data collected. Start working on
mini video from footage (Story-Boarding)
accumulated from the observations to show the
process and present information in a comprehensive
manner if results are not conclusive.

21

3/23/15

Work on the comprehensive plan or the mini

documentary (Editing)

23

3/30/15

DEADLINE FOR FINAL PROJECT

term 3 ends on 4/2/15
FINISH all work on the comprehensive plan or
documentary.

5.
State how this research will advance the frontiers of knowledge and/or
matter and be significant in a meaningful way.
The world is obsessed with people who can dazzle and talk confidently to a crowd.
Introverted people are often pushed aside because they dont enjoy such public speaking
or socializing. Through my research, I hope to provide teachers at BLS with data that
proves that participation doesnt necessarily equal content understanding and help them
accommodate for their introverted students. Introvertism is a trait similar to that of a
persons hair color or eye color. High school students shouldnt be penalized for an
innate trait that they dont have control over.
6.

State anticipated potential pitfalls or problems of this research effort

One potential problem could be not reaching conclusive data. Because this project is an
observation based project, I will not be able to come up with a comprehensive plan to
help students if my data does not have a conclusive answer. However, I have left myself
all of March to sift through the data and make changes. If my data is inconclusive, I will
change my objective of the project to a more research-based paper and a short film
highlighting introvertism in high school. This way my project will be more versatile.
7.
State your a tentative plan to locate and review the literature related to your
project. This includes printed/published sources and online sources. [The research
strategy, part #1]

The primary research I will do is searching for information about what introvertism really
is, why extrovertism is so glorified, and if there have been previous plans of helping
introverts out. To find out this information, I will primarily read scholarly journals and
psychological books on introvertism from trusted sources. This will include looking on
Google scholar, Psychology Today, the available library databases, and other sources that
are available.
8.
State a tentative plan for research and data collection. (Data collection can
take multiple forms--surveys, test groups, interviews, observations, etc etc. This will
differ from project to project. [The research strategy, part #2]
My project will mainly be an observation-based project. Because of this, data collection
will take the bulk of my time. To prep for observations, I will ask all teachers that teach
D1R6 classes if I can observe their classes. From there,
I plan on observing two classes, preferably one in the twelfth grade and one in sixie year
for three months: the beginning of December to the end of February. I plan on sitting in
on each class twice a week during the Capstone period, leaving Friday as a catchall day.
This will equate to around 40 days of observation, 20 class periods per class. I will have a
list of criteria that I will be looking for (see description of final project) and will note
down. Twice a month I hope to follow four students into their science/math based classes
during my studies and note the differences there. (24 total visitations, 6 per student). This
is feasible given my current schedule which includes three studies.
9.
State a tentative plan for research and data analysis and
interpretation. [The research strategy, part #3]
Data interpretation will occur in the beginning of March after my three month period of
observation. I will shift through mountains of data and look for similar trends. Because I
do not know what data I will be able to collect yet, how exactly I will interpret the
analysis will be up for discussion.
9.
List the tools you will need to complete this effort. Identify (with an asterisk
*) tools that might currently be unavailable to you
I will need two willing classes to participate in my experiment and four willing students
from those two classes to be observed. I have not reached out to teachers yet but I am
hoping that they will be willing to allow me into their classrooms. Besides that I will
probably need paper to take notes on and pass out surveys, camera, and editing for
software. I have an available camera at home which is why I did not include it in the
budget below.
10.
Budget: what materials do you anticipate needing for your project? Please
provide a list with quantities and an approximate cost per item, along a brief
description of why you need this for your project.
Do some research and find out the actual cost of the items you need. Be as specific
as you can. Please add cells/rows if you need them. These are the budgets we will
use to determine the allocation of funds, so take time to be thorough and specific

about this.

item
(pleas
e be
specifi
c-brand
, if
releva
nt,
and
item #

quant
ity of
this
item

cost
per
item

retailer where you want to purchase this (and

the source of your price)

why you
need this
item for
your
project

Drago
n
Dictat
e for
Mac

$199.
99

http://www.nuance.com/for-individuals/byproduct/dragon-for-mac/index.htm

To help
with
documen
ting
interview
s

iMovi
e

$14.9
9

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/imovie/id408981
434?mt=12&ls=1

To edit
potential
videos

11.
Bibliography- early draft. This bibliography must include at least 5 books, 5
scholarly journal articles, 5 websites, and least one potential source who you might
interview. Use proper bibliographic citation (MLA or APA format; your
choice). You are welcome to use EasyBib or refer to the formatting template
created by Purdue University: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ Explain why
you anticipate (at this point) that these sources would be relevant.
Please be sure that your entire bibliography is readable in this box; some of your
earlier versions were cut off.

Books
Cain, Susan. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. New
York: Random House, 2013. Print.
Dembling, Sophia. The Introverts Way: Living a Quiet Life in a Noisy World. New
York: Penguin Group, 2012. Print.
Laney, Marti. The Introvert Advantage: How to Thrive in an Extrovert World. Canada:
Thomas Allen & Son, 2002. Print.
Paster, John. Success as an Introvert For Dummies. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons,
2014. Print.
Wagele, Elizabeth. The Happy Introvert: A Wild and Crazy Guide for Celebrating Your
True Self. Berkeley: Ulysses Press, 2006. Print.
Websites
"Introversion: The Often Forgotten Factor Impacting the Gifted SENG."SENG. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2014.
Lahey, Jessica. "Introverted Kids Need to Learn to Speak Up at School." The Atlantic.
Atlantic Media Company, 07 Feb. 2013. Web. 17 Oct. 2014.
"On Education." On Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.
"Introvert." Introvert. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.
"Intriguing and Intelligent: Three Ways to Nurture the Introverted Teenager."Aspen
Education Programs. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.
Articles
Luchins, Abraham and Luchins, Edith. Conceptions of Personality and Order Effects in
Forming Impressions. The Journal of General Psychology 110.2 (1984):165-196. Print.
Bosworth, David.The effect of personality on success. Education + Training 13.4
(2005): 116-120. Print.
Thorne, Avril. The press of personality: A study of conversations between introverts and
extraverts. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53.4 (1987). Print.
Snyder, Mark and Swann, William. Hypothesis-testing processes in social interaction.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 36.11 (1978): 1202-1212. Print.
Sanford, Clive, Yellen, Richard, and Winniford, MaryAnne. Extraversion and
Introversion in electronically-supported meetings. Information & Management 28.1
(1995): 63-74. Print.
Potential Source
Mr. Oakes mentioned that he would be willing to let me observe his Day1R6 class.