RHET201 FALL 2011 Drafting a Research proposal

Functions of a Research Proposal The PRIMARY FUNCTIONS of your proposal are to clearly articulate your research idea, and to prepare yourself to do the research in a systematic way. Presents the question you will investigate. Give an overview of the context, debates and conversations about your topic Explains the significance/importance of the research

Functions of a Research Proposal Explains your research methods—how you will approach this project Suggests anticipated difficulties or obstacles and possible solutions Lists preliminary sources for investigation, in an Annotated Bibliography.

Brainstorming—Questions/debates What is your topic and how might you state it as a question? How might you state it as an argument or a thesis? Make a list of possible questions associated with your topic Make a list of possible arguments/debates/controversies related to your topic.

Brainstorming/Knowledge 2. What do you already know? Write down everything that you can think of that you already know about your topic and categorize this information in ways that make sense to you (For example: history, current issues, personal experience, possible experts, possible sources, related examples) Where are the holes in your knowledge? What are the highest priorities for further investigation? Where will you look to find this information?

Brainstorming/Goals & Importance List your personal reasons for doing this research List all the ways you can think of that this research also might be important/helpful/interesting to others Who are the different individuals, groups, institutions, etc. that could be interested in this research and/or benefit from it List any ways that you can think of that your research will contribute to existing conversations (scholarly, popular, political, etc.) about this topic SELL your project!!

Brainstorming What methods will I use to research this topic? Be creative in this brainstorming phase—you may eliminate some methods later. List all the possible ways you might research your topic— under each method list possible sources and the kinds of information and evidence you might find using various sources?