Research brainstorming assignment
In 2-3 pages, outline what you're interested in researching and how you want to go about researching it.
- What is the general topic? Why is it important, interesting, etc.?
- What are some possible questions that are worth asking about this topic? Have these questions already been asked?
- What kinds of evidence would you need to answer these questions? Where can you find this evidence?
- What will give you confidence in this evidence (whatever it turns out to be)?
Prospectus, rough draft
In 15-20 pages, develop your prospectus. Structure your draft in the following way:
- Introduction (1-2 pages)
- General topic
- Why is it important?
- What more do we need to know about this topic?
- Research question
- Possible answers to your research question
- Literature review (4-5 pages)
- How have other authors talked about your topic?
- Have other authors tried to answer your research question? What is lacking in their answers?
- How would your project contribute to the literature?
- If no one else has posed your research question, then you need to justify why it needs to be asked in the first place.
- Methodology (8-10 pages)
- Choose a methodology and its corresponding methods from among those that we have covered (some can be combined, but not others).
- How would this methodology enable you to answer your research question?
- Discuss the specific evidence that you would need to collect and analyze.
- Why would other methodologies not allow you to answer your research question?
- Conclusion (2-3 pages)
- Provide a reasonable timeline for completing the project
- Discuss practical, methodological, ethical, etc. challenges that you would need to overcome
