Writer's Blog: Chapter 3

This chapter is about expanding and creating your research question and proposal. The first step in this process is to reflect on your writing situation. Is it an issue you are interested in or have any background knowledge about? What do you want to accomplish in your paper? Are you biased in anyway toward your position on the issue? Many times, your initial idea or issue will change a few times before you settle on the right one for your paper. By asking questions as you progress, you can be aware of these changes. The next step is to think about possible research questions. To do this, you start by making a list of questions that your issue can address. They can be questions about the history, outcomes, goals, assumptions, and just basic information. Also, these questions that you generate can lead you to thinking processes such as evaluation, comparison, and defining. Step 3 is to look at the research questions that you just though about and to decide on one that you are interested in and that matches up with the criteria for this assignment. For this project, we obviously need to pick a research question that can be used with persuasion. Now you can chose the research question that seems to fit with your purpose for the paper and that also addresses the interests of your readers. You can then refine or make your question more specific (use "qualifying words and phrases, refer to past information about your topic, call attention to assumptions made about your topic") Page 47 has a good step by step example of how to refine your research question by using the first one you picked. Make sure your research question is focused!!!! The last step to developing your research question is checking online libraries and catalogues to make sure there is enough information for your question. If there is not, you may need to adjust it again.
The second part of this chapter is about creating the research proposal (or a "prospectus") after you have decided on your research question.It is a formal presentation of your plan for your writing project. It isn't, however, just a research plan. It is proposed to someone else like your professor. You will have a title page and an introduction to provide the reader with an overview of what your paper will address. You will also include a review of literature, which will have key info, ideas, and arguments from sources you have used so far. Can the sources be put into groups with similarities? Next, you will explain how you will collect information. You will name the types of sources you plan to use, types of search tools (prints, online, field studies), research methods, and strategies you want to use, as well as a schedule you will use along your writing process. You will also provide your reader with a timeline for your paper. It can be either detailed down to every activity you will be doing each day or as vague as listing the number of days a week you will work on it. Lastly, you will need a working or annotated bibliography, which lists all of the sources you have used. An additional option to be added to the proposal is a summary of your paper or a key challenge or a funding request. Not only is a research proposal beneficial to get feedback from someone else, but it also makes you look at it from another perspective and really reflect on the work you have done.