| Course | PHLT 8046 Grant Writing and Review for Public Health Research |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 8 |
| Paper type | Budget justification |
| Length | About 1,010 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | PhD in Public Health |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PHLT 8046 Week 8
Budget Justification for a Detailed Budget: Tying Every Line of the HEPA Air Cleaner Trial to the Aim and Task It Pays For, From Coordinator Effort to Replacement Filters to Indirect Costs
Student Name
Walden University
PHLT 8046: Grant Writing and Review for Public Health Research
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Budget Justification for a Detailed Budget: Tying Every Line of the HEPA Air Cleaner Trial to the Aim and Task It Pays For, From Coordinator Effort to Replacement Filters to Indirect Costs
Why a Detailed Budget, and How This Justification Is Organized
The trial's direct costs exceed $250,000 in at least one year, so the application uses a detailed rather than modular budget, as federal research funding policy requires above that threshold (National Institutes of Health [NIH], 2024). Reviewers do not need categories explained; they need to see why each amount exists. Each line below therefore names the aim and task it supports and the basis for its size. All costs must be allowable, allocable and reasonable under federal cost principles (2 C.F.R. § 200.403). Amounts are illustrative for a composite institution and county and are shown for the five-year total unless a year is named.
Personnel
The two community health workers are the largest personnel cost after the coordinator and are essential to enrollment in Spanish-speaking households and to the quarterly home visits that sustain filter replacement and masking. The field technician is limited to the two fire seasons, when sensors are deployed. The analyst's effort begins in year 2, when data begin to arrive, and continues through the follow-up of claims in years 4 and 5.
Table 1
Personnel Effort, Role and the Aims Each Position Serves
| Position | Effort | Years | Role | Aims served | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Principal investigator | 25% | 1-5 | Scientific direction, protocol, safety oversight, dissemination | All | |
| Co-investigator, environmental epidemiologist | 10% | 1-5 | Smoke-day definition, exposure analysis | 1, 2 | |
| Co-investigator, pediatric pulmonologist | 5% | 1-5 | Eligibility review, adverse event review, clinical interpretation | 2 | |
| Biostatistician | 15% | 1-5 | Randomization, analysis plan, Aim 2 models | 1, 2, 3 | |
| Project coordinator | 100% | 1-5 | Recruitment, scheduling, regulatory files, data quality | All | |
| Community health workers, bilingual, two positions | 100% each | 1-3 | Outreach, enrollment visits, installation, filter visits | 1, 2, 3 | |
| Field technician | 100% | 2-3 | Sensor deployment, co-location, replacement | 1 | |
| Data analyst | 50% | 2-5 | Sensor data processing, claims linkage, cost data | 1, 2, 3 | |
Note. Salaries follow institutional scales and the federal salary cap; fringe benefits are charged at the institution's negotiated rates.
Supplies
Portable HEPA air cleaners: 320 units, 300 for participants and 20 spares, at about $280 each. Every family receives the same model; sham units are created by removing the HEPA filter, so the cost is identical across arms and supports masking (Aim 2). Replacement HEPA filters: four per intervention home across the two seasons, plus spares, about 650 filters at $55 each (Aims 1 and 2). Particle sensors: 620 low-cost optical sensors, two per home plus 20 spares, at about $230 each; because each unit costs far less than the equipment threshold, they are budgeted as supplies (Aim 1). Cellular data plans for sensors: 600 lines for ten months across two seasons (Aim 1). Runtime meter adapters for cleaners lacking built-in meters, if the chosen model requires them (Aim 3).
Participant Costs
Electricity reimbursement: $15 per month for the ten fire-season months, paid to every family in both arms. Running a cleaner adds to household electricity costs, and pilot interviews with county families named electricity cost as a likely reason to switch cleaners off; reimbursing both arms equally protects masking and supports the use measures in Aim 3. Participant incentives: $40 for each of four data collection visits, to compensate families for time in their homes, at a level the institution's review board considers non-coercive.
Data Costs
Medicaid claims extraction and linkage fees charged by the two managed care plans, for baseline and two follow-up periods (Aim 2). Health center data extraction for unscheduled visits not captured in claims (Aim 2).
Travel
Local mileage for community health workers and the field technician for enrollment, installation, quarterly filter visits and sensor replacement across a county roughly 60 miles across (Aims 1-3). One national scientific meeting per year in years 4 and 5 for the principal investigator and one trainee, to present results.
Other Direct Costs
Translation and back-translation of consent, assent and survey materials into Spanish (all aims). Community advisory board stipends for eight members meeting quarterly, required by the funding announcement's community engagement provision. Reference monitor rental for sensor co-location each season (Aim 1). Data safety monitoring board honoraria for three external members.
Facilities and Administrative Costs
Indirect costs are charged at the institution's federally negotiated rate on modified total direct costs. Under federal rules, items such as participant incentives and electricity reimbursements are excluded from the base for many institutions' rate agreements, which reduces indirect costs on those lines; the budget applies the institution's agreement as written.
Costs Deliberately Left Out
The budget includes no equipment line, since no single item exceeds the institution's equipment threshold, and no consortium costs, since all sites operate under one institution. It does not pay for air cleaners for sham-arm families after the trial; instead, the team has secured a commitment from a county foundation to provide active cleaners to all sham-arm families when follow-up ends, which is described in the human subjects plan.
Choices Made to Contain Cost
Several design decisions keep the budget lower than it might be. Using low-cost sensors with field calibration, rather than research-grade monitors in every home, reduces sensor costs severalfold while keeping data quality adequate for the indoor-to-outdoor ratios Aim 1 requires. Drawing outcomes from claims and health center records avoids the expense of daily symptom diaries and the staff time to collect them. Hiring community health workers rather than research assistants for home visits lowers personnel costs and improves retention in the communities served.
How the Budget Matches the Timeline
Year 1 costs center on the coordinator, community health workers and preparation of materials and data agreements. Years 2 and 3 carry the supply purchases, field technician, sensor data plans and the peak of participant costs during the two fire seasons. Years 4 and 5 shift toward analysis, claims follow-up and dissemination. This pattern, front-loaded supplies and back-loaded analysis, is typical of field trials and matches the approach section's timeline (Gerin et al., 2017).
References
Gerin, W., Kapelewski, C. H., Itinger, J. L., & Spruill, T. (2017). Writing the NIH grant proposal: A step-by-step guide (3rd ed.). SAGE.
National Institutes of Health. (2024). NIH grants policy statement. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, 2 C.F.R. § 200.403 (2024).
What the PHLT 8046 Week 8 instructions ask for
The eighth assignment usually asks for a budget justification to accompany a research budget. Faculty expect each cost to be explained by the work it supports, with the aim and task named, rather than by restating the category. Personnel justifications should state effort, years and role; supplies should give quantities and unit costs; participant costs and data fees should be justified by the study's needs. Students should show understanding of modular versus detailed budgets, allowable costs and how indirect costs are charged. Strong justifications explain choices that keep costs down and say what the budget deliberately excludes. Consistency with the approach and timeline is checked. Dollar figures should rest on a stated basis, such as quoted prices or institutional salary scales. About four pages is common for a detailed budget.
How this PHLT 8046 Week 8 example is built
An opening section explains the detailed budget threshold and the principle of tying lines to aims, citing federal cost principles. A personnel table lists eight positions with effort, years, role and aims, followed by a paragraph on the community health workers, field technician and analyst. A supplies section gives quantities and unit prices for cleaners, filters, sensors and data plans. A participant costs section justifies electricity reimbursement in both arms and incentives. Data, travel and other direct costs follow, including translation, advisory board stipends, reference monitor rental and monitoring board honoraria. An indirect cost section explains the base. A section lists choices made to contain cost, another states what the budget excludes, and a final section matches spending to the timeline.
Reading the PHLT 8046 Week 8 rubric
Graders look for every amount justified by the work it buys. Justifications that describe categories in general terms, or list costs without linking them to aims, earn less. Credit goes to quantities and unit costs that follow from the design, to participant costs that serve both ethics and science, here electricity reimbursement in both arms, and to correct handling of equipment thresholds and indirect cost bases. Explaining cost-saving choices and what the budget leaves out shows judgment reviewers value. The budget should match the approach and timeline. Accuracy about federal budget rules, such as the modular threshold and cost principles, is checked. Clear organization that a reviewer can scan quickly is part of the grade.
PHLT 8046 Week 8 help from the desk
Budget justifications fall short when they explain what a category is instead of why a cost exists. For each line, name the aim and task it serves and the basis for its size. Check that quantities match your design, such as one sensor indoors and one outdoors per home. Justify participant payments on both ethical and scientific grounds. State what you are not paying for and why. Make the budget's timing follow the study's. Justifications for other projects can follow this aim-by-aim structure.
Get a PHLT 8046 Week 8 example written to your instructions
Where a draft budget or a set of cost categories came with the assignment, send it along with the prompt and rubric; a justification tying each line to its task follows in 24-48h, the first free. Every cost and effort level described belongs to a made-up study; the lines in your justification must match the work your own approach commits to.
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PHLT 8046 Week 8 questions, answered
How does a modular budget differ from a detailed one?
Federal research sponsors allow smaller requests to be budgeted in standard modules with only a brief narrative, while larger ones require line items and a full justification. The example uses a detailed budget because the course asks for each cost to be explained. Your assignment will say which format applies, and the depth of your justification should follow that choice.
Should the justification include actual dollar figures?
Most class budgets do, and each figure should rest on a stated basis, such as a quoted unit price or a salary scale, rather than an estimate with no source. This page describes the example without reproducing its amounts. What matters for grading is that every figure in your budget can be traced to a task and that totals agree with the budget form.
Why explain indirect costs at all?
Because reviewers and course rubrics both check whether the author understands them. Indirect costs, also called facilities and administrative costs, reimburse an institution for shared infrastructure at a negotiated rate applied to a defined base. The example names the rate as negotiated and describes the base without inventing figures. Calling them optional overhead in your justification would suggest the concept has not landed.
Where can I find a free PHLT 8046 Week 8 sample paper?
This page reproduces the complete Week 8 budget justification for a HEPA air cleaner trial, tying personnel, supplies, participant costs and indirect costs to the aims they serve.
Why reimburse electricity in both arms?
Running a cleaner raises household electricity bills, and families concerned about cost may switch units off. Reimbursing both arms equally supports use and keeps families from guessing their assignment.