Presentation
This assignment gives you the opportunity to present information
to the class about your research project and to receive feedback
from others that will help you. The idea is to draw on the ideas
and the expertise of your classmates in order to enrich your research
project.
In your presentation, you must
- provide your classmates with information about
your research project, including either a handout or an overhead;
and,
- request feedback from your classmates on a specific
question, issue, or problem related to your research project.
You also must schedule a meeting with me before your
presentation.
Plan to talk for no more than 5 minutes and expect
to receive 5 to 10 minutes of feedback. This is not a lot of time,
so you have to be focused in the information that you present and
in the feedback you request.
Presentations will be scheduled throughout the quarter,
and the content of your presentation will be strongly influenced
by when you give it.
During weeks 4 and 5, presentations will likely focus
on the following topics:
- Deciding on a research project
- Deciding on a method for your research
- Finding secondary (library and Web) sources to
inform your research
During weeks 6 and 7, presentations will likely focus
on the following topics:
- Evaluating and testing your research instruments
(e.g., questionnaires, observation protocols)
- Writing and revising sections of the Research Report
- Reviewing drafts of your résumé
During weeks 8 and 9, presentations will likely focus
on the following topics:
- Analyzing data
- Writing and revising sections of the Project
Report
Research Project Proposal
The purpose of a proposal is to inform your audience about a project
that is still in the planning stages, often in order to secure funding
for this project. In this sense, proposals have a persuasive function
and must convince readers that the research being undertaken is
interesting and worthwhile, and that you have the necessary expertise
to complete the project.
Your proposal should be at least 5 pages. It should
include discussion of a minimum of 4 academic (i.e., peer-reviewed)
sources.
Use the following sections to organize your proposal:
Statement of the Research Topic
Briefly, provide a summary or overview of your proposed research,
along with a clear statement of its importance and potential benefits
of your research.
Background/Literature Review
In this section, you place your proposed research within the context
of scholarly theories and/or previous research done on the same
topic or related topics. Your discussion should demonstrate that
other researchers consider your topic important and that they haven’t
yet effectively answered the research question that you are proposing
to answer. In other words, you need to establish that there is a
gap in the current research and that your project will fill this
gap. The discussion of existing research should also serve to establish
your expertise on the topic by showing that you are very familiar
with the work of other researchers in the field. End this section
with a paragraph that summarizes the research gap and that restates
the problem or issue that you intend to study.
Research Question
In this section, provide a more detailed explanation of your research
question. Discuss as well any sub-questions that may emerge from
your central question. If you are planning to offer any hypotheses,
discuss them here.
Study Plan
Provide a narrative in which you describe the research you plan
to conduct. Explain and justify the method(s) you plan to use to
gather information. Provide a clear timetable explaining when you
will begin and complete your research. If there is additional secondary
research that you plan to conduct, include this in your timetable
as well.
Works Cited
Make sure your Works Cited section follows APA citation style. Include
only works that you actually cited, and do not include any works
that you did not actually read yourself.
Due Date
This assignment is due at the beginning of class on Wednesday, November
1.
Project Report
This is the major assignment for the course, toward which most of
the reading and writing assignments build. The report presents the
results of the original and secondary research you have conducted
throughout the quarter.
Use the following sections to organize your report (and subsections,
where appropriate):
Cover Page (optional)
The cover page should include the title of the report and a relevant
image.
Title Page
The title page should include the title of the report, your name,
my name, the name of the course, and the date on which you submitted
the assignment.
Table of Contents
List all the headings and subheadings from the document accompanied
by the page number indicating where the section or subsection begins.
Graphically distinguish headings from subheadings (for instance,
by using bold or underlining). The headings should be listed exactly
as they appear within the text. After each heading use a series
of dots to lead the reader’s eye from the end of each item
to the page number; align the dots vertically. List Appendices as
well, including the appendix letter and title (e.g., “Appendix
A: Questionnaire”).
Abstract
The abstract presents a capsule version of the full report. Its
purpose is to help potential readers decide if they are sufficiently
interested in the topic to read the report. Therefore your goal
should be to present an accurate and concise summary. Abstracts
are usually between 150-200 words and should be written after the
report is finished.
Introduction
The Introduction sets up the rest of the report in that
it contains a clear statement of the issue or problem being investigated
and a discussion of why this topic is interesting and important
Background/Literature Review
The Background section places your proposed research within
the context of scholarly theories and previous research done on
the same topic or related topics. The idea is to cite relevant literature
in the process of presenting the underlying theoretical and methodological
rationale for your research. End the Background section with a statement
of your specific research question and hypothesis and a brief overview
of your study.
Method
This section should state clearly and accurately how the
study was done (use the past tense). If appropriate, use the following
subsections:
- design:
Tell what type of study this is (experiment, survey, field research,
etc.). You may want to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of
the type of study you chose, making clear how you compensated
for whatever weaknesses existed. Place detailed elements of your
research design in appendices, which might include questionnaires,
sampling procedures, timetables, instructions to research assistants,
information letters to participants, observation recording sheets,
etc.
- subjects: Indicate who participated
in the study, how they were selected, and who they are intended
to represent. You may want to discuss any problems with sampling
procedures or representability, or you can include this information
in the Discussion section (described below).
- procedures:
Present a summary of the various steps in the research process.
This is especially important in experiments and field research,
which should give a chronological or step-by-step account of the
process used in gathering information.
Results
The Results section presents the results of your research,
emphasizing patterns and significant findings. Key results are often
presented in the form of tables, charts, and graphs, which should
be titled and labeled appropriately and accompanied by textual explanation.
Discussion
This is often the heart of the research report, in that
the Discussion section analyzes the results and explains how they
answer the research question or confirm or confound the hypothesis.
This section can also offer alternative interpretations of the results
of your research. An evaluation of research methods and procedures
can be included in this section, or it can comprise a separate section
(Evaluation—see below).
Evaluation (optional)
The Evaluation section provides a place to point out the
shortcomings of the research, including inconsistencies and anomalies
in the results. You can suggest improvements in the research design
in this section.
Conclusion
Begin this section by briefly restating the hypothesis,
results, and analytical highlights of your research. Continue by
placing the whole project into broader perspective. Discuss the
theoretical and/or practical implications of the study as well as
any possible future work to be done on the topic.
Works Cited
Make sure your References section follows APA style. Include
only works that you actually cited, and do not include any works
that you did not actually read yourself.
Appendices
Each of your Appendices should begin on a separate page, contain
its own page numbers (beginning with page 1) if it is longer than
one page, and contain a title. The appendices should be lettered
in alphabetical order, and should appear in the order that they
are mentioned in your proposal. All appendices must be specifically
mentioned somewhere in the proposal.
Formatting and presentation
Make sure your typefaces and margins are consistent
throughout the report. Use bold, italic, and/or larger print where
you feel appropriate (e.g., for the title and section headings).
Number the pages consecutively beginning with the first page of
the Introduction and ending with the Works Cited. Run the sections
together on pages; that is, don’t begin a new page with each
new section.
Due Date
This assignment is due at the beginning of the last class
on Wednesday, December 6.
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