Research Proposal Spring 2010 Tosspon English 155

What is a Research Paper  analyzes a perspective or argues a point  present your own thinking backed up by others' ideas and information.

Types of Research Papers Analysis  break a topic or concept down into its parts in order to inspect and understand it  Then to restructure those parts in a way that makes sense to you.  For example, you could analyze the role of the mother in the ancient Egyptian family. You could break down that topic into its parts--the mother's duties in the family, social status, and expected role in the larger society--and research those parts in order to present your general perspective and conclusion about the mother's role.

Types of Research Papers Argument  Support your stand on an issue.  analytical, but uses information as evidence to support its point, much as a lawyer uses evidence to make his case.  For example, you might try to find research to back up the stand that ancient Egyptian women were the first feminists. Notice that this is a very different focus than an analytical focus on the role of the mother in ancient Egyptian society--argument uses evidence to take a stand on an issue whereas analysis uses evidence to support a perspective on a topic.

Proposal (continued).  The core of a good research proposal is a good idea.  It is essential not only to have a "good idea", but also to communicate it early on in the proposal.

The Proposal  Research Paper Proposal:  a document that puts forth a plan to conduct research (i.e., carry out a research project).  Research also implies that something is being "investigated" to produce new knowledge. Your proposal should pass this test.

 Primary Research/Original research  Surveys, interviews, focus groups  Secondary Sources:  journal articles  archival sources,  newspapers,  novels,  government documents,  the world wide web. Expectations

Topics  You are free to select any topic for your paper as long as it is appropriate.

Advice on selecting a topic:  Select a topic that interests you.  Not too broad, not too narrow  Institutional boundaries can often be very useful in setting limits (What can you access)

Three tests to help in determining whether your question is specific enough:  The one sentence test: You can phrase your interest in a sentence that brings together key terms and citations in the field.  The embarrassment test: Your study is so specific that you are actually embarrassed to tell people exactly what you are looking at because you are afraid that they will say, “That’s all?”  The grandiosity test: It’s so broad that it can’t credibly be done without writing a book.

Your Topic  General idea of your topic by the end of tonight  Clear idea of your topic by next week (when the topic proposal is due).

Here are some examples of paper topics that might help guide you:  “We can, I can’t”—Margo Lyon  Different valorization of skills: “secretaries” vs. “IT people”  Confidence in facing technical support staff  How are technologies engendered?  The sociology of the keyboard  Different employer expectations of women and men in tech fields  How does innovation reconfigure and re- gender skills?

Paper Proposal  Due next week.  This written proposal should include a statement of your topic  Use the worksheet  Topic  Question to be answered  A model proposal is at:

Research Strategies  Bibliographic: how do you define what’s hot or interesting and research it?  Chase leads, following links and references  Talk with experts  Learn what you need to;  for example, if you need to know how production managers decide when/who to hire, maybe learn some basic accounting principles

Final Paper:  There is no required length for the paper  Between 8 and 20 pages is typical.  The paper should present your methodology, sources, findings and conclusions.  The paper is due June 16 (06/16/2010).

Topic Ideas – From our book  Stereotypes (pg , )  “38 who saw murder” ( )  The Jeaning of America ( )  Conflicting Positions, Gun Control ( )

Topic Ideas –  Price gouging (gasoline)  Is there a middle class anymore?  Is public or private better?  Voting: is it worth our time?  Farm subsidies: should they continue?  Global warming  Federal spending  Lawsuits  The negative side of technology

Off-Limits topics  Issues that are too controversial  Abortion  Religion  War in Iraq  Obama