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Objectives

Objectives. Learn the characteristics of a good research paper proposal Learn the characteristics of a good research question Write potential research questions for your topic. Paper Proposals. A research proposal is the presentation of an idea you wish to investigate.

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Objectives

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  1. Objectives Learn the characteristics of a good research paper proposal Learn the characteristics of a good research question Write potential research questions for your topic

  2. Paper Proposals • A research proposal is the presentation of an idea you wish to investigate. • A GOOD proposal should show that you have already thought about your topic and questions, and devoted some effort to finding sources, reading, and organizing your thoughts. • This should NOT be thrown together at the last minute off the top of your head

  3. Research Questions • The foundation of a good proposal is a good analytical research question. • An analytical question is different from a descriptive question. A descriptive question merely probes the “what” of a topic. An analytical question probes the “how,” “why,” and “so what” of the topic.

  4. Research Questions Continued • The more initial research you do on your topic, the easier it will be to formulate a good research question. However, it can be helpful to begin formulating questions in advance of any serious research, just to get the gears turning. • A good research question should make others interested in your research as well.

  5. Common Pitfalls of a Proposal • Your proposal fails to convey your enthusiasm and persuasiveness. Don’t write your proposal in haste or use simple wording. Try to deploy the vocabulary used by knowledgeable scholars in the field of your chosen topic. • Be sure your proposal has a keen focus. It is good to start with a broad topic initially, but the proposal you turn in to me should be quite focused and have clear direction

  6. Pitfalls Continued • A poor proposal will have language that is unclear, repetitious, boring, simple, and may contain proofreading errors and other such marks of carelessness. • A poor proposal will have sources that are either all gathered from the internet, poorly evaluated, untrustworthy or unauthoritative, thus demonstrating a lazy research effort.

  7. Proposal Template • See our class website for the proposal template. All you need to do is plug in your information. • Read the paper grading guidelines also posted on our website

  8. My interests and why I’m writing on this topic • If you are not vested in your topic, chances are your incentive to write about the subject will be weak. If you are interested in the topic you will probably write a better paper.

  9. My Thesis • This section may not become entirely clear until the 3rd six weeks when you will finally be able to write a paper declaring and defending your own position. • The thesisis generally a sentence or two, which comes after the introductory material and states the main point/s in your paper.  It is NOT a question. If your subject is fertility treatments, for example, your thesis might be "The high number of multiple births is forcing society to examine the ethical issues that are caused by fertility drugs and invitro fertilization. 

  10. Approach to the subject of my paper • Try toenvision a logical way in which to present your material. In what order will you present your material to best address the issues? Will you have to define any terms? If so, which ones? Will you have to clarify terms and concepts? Do you think that inserting anecdotal evidence, for example, high profile stories of people who have had multiple births, as in the case above, will help your reader understand your paper? Will you show opposing viewpoints? Will you discuss the plusses and minuses of different platforms that perform similar functions? Will you be comparing and contrasting? Will you be categorizing some information? Perhaps you will be using a number of these approaches in your paper. Let me know where you think you are headed.

  11. Intended Audience • Your readers should not be specialists in your field. Assume that your readers have, in general, your level of education, but are not necessarily majoring in the same subject. You will have to define terms and explain concepts. But beyond these obvious ground rules, discuss what people or group of people might benefit from reading your paper. For example, in the multiple birth example, might prospective users of fertility clinics, childless husbands and wives, benefit from the information in your paper?

  12. Kinds of sources I will use and why they will benefit my paper • Do you have a balanced variety of sources?  What strengths will they lend to the paper?  How will they help clarify points you want to make?Use a combination of sources. Do not use all Internet sources. Some of your sources must be from a professional journal in your field, such as a nursing journal, a computer science or engineering journal

  13. Bibliography • For the proposal you need 3 potential sources, and you must include at least one NON-internet source • The final paper will include 10-15 sources

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