Research Proposal

Proposal

As you gear up in working on the research project and looking for material, you need to write an informal proposal to me on your project. According to our schedule, you should have your topic pretty well established today. I hope you've already made sure that it's going to work by finding a range of materials. The proposal should come out of looking at the materials available on the topic--web-based sources and other sources as available. Your focus will change as you continue to find materials, but you want to articulate the idea as clearly as possible early on. Essentially the proposal says, "Here's what I want to try to research and why."

I'd like you to write a brief proposal identifying the nature of your project. It should be no more than a page or so long--200-250 words. Email it to me (nelsonj@pluto.dsu.edu). The proposal should address three things:

1. What is the topic and why is it significant enough to spend a significant amount of time working on it? You should define the question that your research seeks to answer. What is that question, and why does it matter? Make sure it's a question that needs analysis or explanation. It's not one of fact: "How many people are killed in car crashes every year?" Nor one of a simple yes/no type: "Is the death rate rate from car accidents rising?" It should be something you need to explain and examine: "What is being done to prevent deaths from car accidents?" As you consider the question, identify as well why it matters. It doesn't have to be earth-shaking in terms of importance, but you need to consider why it would matter to a reader. For some of you addressing the significance of the question will be fairly simple--you've chosen topics that obviously matter. For others, you'll need to think a bit about what makes your topic significant. Just say what the question is and why the topic matters (and not just to you).

2. Is there material available to answer the question? You'll need to have done your homework to answer this portion of the proposal. Tell me about some of the materials that you've found. Be specific. Mention particular articles, where they're from, and what appears to be in them. There should be some variety there (articles, newspapers, books, and online sources from different places). You should have some good idea of sources by now. Mention the range of material that's available, even if you haven't got it all yet. Just answer that basic question in order to make it clear to me that the topic is going to work.

3. Finally, tell why you should do the paper. Why is it a good topic for you? Why are you interested in it? If you've got some personal interest that is driving you to looking into this question, tell me.

If you have any questions, you can email me.