Overview:
Your research proposal should meet the following basic expectations:
B
Overview:
Your research proposal should meet the following basic expectations:
Be speculative in nature – you need not, and should not, have answers yet.
Be approximately TWO PAGES, single spaced, or 500-600 words.
Address each of the FIVE CATEGORIES detailed below in paragraph form.
The Research Proposal should be written with headings and divided into FIVE 5 parts as follows:
TOPIC
Orient the reader. Explain relevant background information and demonstrate your basic command of the subject gained through reconnaissance and early research. Your topic should provide a general overview of the problem, question or issue you plan to address. When describing your topic, you should specify what is controversial or contentious about the topic as well as detail the stakeholders and/or constituents of the problem. Be sure to define or describe any relevant important terms, events, statistics, landmark studies, books, or relevant biographical information. If applicable, describe the historical context of your topic and any points of discussion that can narrow the topic down. If there is already a scholarly, popular, cultural, or ethical debate about your topic, present it with sourced data. Aim to define the location, time period, cultural context, etc., and to cite specific sources to illustrate the SCOPE and SIGNIFICANCE of the topic.
RESEARCH QUESTION
Ask a speculative question that stems from your background findings. Your question(s) should not be immediately answerable. They should require original investigation. Your question(s) should also lead to analysis rather than summary [Ex: What difficulties do female musicians face? Answer: Book Report! Such information belongs in “Background and Introduction.”] Here you should also include any related questions that will help guide and focus your research.
METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH
Your account of your methodological approach should specify key terms and concepts for your project, name relevant case studies, and explain your proposed theoretical framework.
A. CASE MATERIAL
This is generally non-scholarly. Simply indicate some examples: people, organizations, historical figures, cultural referents, current events, etc., that you will analyze. Be as specific as you can at this point – some of your cases might be vaguer than others at this point.
B. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK(S)
Present a potentially useful or interesting critical approach to the topic. This could be from psychology, science, anthropology, ecology, theology, ethical philosophy, specific movements such as revolutions, or other cultural studies drawn from scholars you discovered in reconnaissance. You may use any of the fames from the readings for the Analytic essay. You must have this element to pass the proposal. It is important because it will give you a point of departure, a way of analyzing your topic.
PRELIMINARY BIBLIOGRAPHY
Aim to identify FIVE (5) potential sources you might use. You may include sources from your Source Evaluations, but you will also need to include citations for other texts, films, documentaries, albums, primary sources, etc. At least THREE (3) of these sources should be scholarly. And if you are using an assigned text, that does not count toward your total at this point. Include and identify at least one frame and one case.
TENTATIVE HYPOTHESIS (OPTIONAL)
Consider attempting to formulate a tentative hypothesis in response to your primary research question as articulated in the second category.
When commenting on the final draft of your proposals, I will focus on 3 items:
(1) The viability of the project and theoretical approach;
(2) Your articulation of questions that lead to analysis (not summary) to avoid your approaching the paper as an informational report;
(3) Seeing that you have an (anticipated) theoretical frame and potential case studies (instances, examples) for the final draft of your proposal.