Research Proposal

DescriptionInteresting title; double-spaced; 1 inch margins, 12 font; Works Cited page in MLA

This assignment asks you to produce a formal proposal of describing the research project you will pursue this semester. The proposal builds on your Exploratory Essay.

In completing this assignment, you will do the following:
Develop an effective research plan for a research project, considering context, research questions, sources, timeline, and the larger implications of your project
Practice working with the Research Proposal as an academic genre
Identify research methods and tools that will allow you to explore the issue, phenomenon, or problem you are working on in greater depth, and to begin to develop a sense of the greater significance of your research, and why it matters.
Apply your existing knowledge of rhetorical analysis and effective communication strategies in a new context and try out new ones
Evaluate and synthesize information from multiple sources
Use writing as a means of learning, not just as a means of showing what you have already learned

This assignment is primarily text-based in nature and uses an essay format.

You can begin developing your Research Proposal by responding to these steps, using the headings provided below to organize your document:

Introduction. This introduction should interest your reader in your issue, problem, or phenomenon from the very first sentence and provide some historical/cultural context for your project. It should also describe in some detail the issue, phenomenon, or problem you will investigate. Your introduction should also include a tentative thesis to indicate to your reader that your project uses a critical, analytic len. If you are not ready to construct a hypothesis or an argument at this point, be sure to include at least one well-thought-out research question to indicate what line of inquiry you’re going to use in your research to explore the issue, problem, or phenomenon you will explore.

Research methods and sources. In this section, you should discuss the methods and sources you will use to conduct your research, including specific references to websites, databases, key texts, or authors that you feel will be important to your project. Include here also reference to other research methods like fieldwork, interviews, surveys, social media, platforms. This is also the section in which you might weigh the benefits and drawbacks of certain types of sources. Make sure your reader understands how the methodology and sources you have chosen are appropriate to your specific topic.

Timeline. Include a brief timeline for your project. Use these dates from the syllabus as the foundation for your plan and add in your own milestones that you will accomplish to keep yourself on track. Be sure that your timeline reflects the demands of your time, and the different stages of research.

Conclusion. In your conclusion, address the “So What?” of this research. That is, why does what you are investigating matter? Why should your audience want to read about it? Why does it matter?

Section: “About the Author” section. At the end of the proposal, create a biography of yourself as a researcher. Here, you can establish your persona and your ethos as a knowledgeable student-researcher. Please include an appropriately sized photograph of yourself alongside your bio. Practice using the third person in your biography, since it is conventional in academic writing that Bios are not written in the first person. The rest of your research project proposal can use the first person, or “I.”

Works cited or Preliminary Bibliography. If you cite any sources, you’ll also need to have a works cited at the end of the proposal, with the citations in MLA format. Any parenthetical citations in the text itself should also follow MLA guidelines. include the end of your proposal containing at least 3 sources.