English 201 Home | Research Site Index | Latest update: 07 November 2001

THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL. The thinking and drafting you did for RA1 will be refined here in a proposal (500-700 words) that says the research topic you have chosen is doable. The research proposal is a typed document that generally contains the parts explained below:

Part I: A General Framework. Identify your topic and tell why you want to research it. Explore your own frame of reference in relation to the topic you are proposing to research; tell how your topic relates to you in a specific and personal way (e.g., your interests, major, talents, experiences, values) to establish your authority, and explain how the research will be of use to others. Tell how you will use the book you selected for your previous book paper in the general research on your topic.

Part II: A Specific Focus. Provide 2-3 questions you would like to answer in relation to your research topic.   Explore the ways you will limit your topic so that you can fully explore, within the page-limit set for you, the questions you have framed and adequately clarify, support, and prove any answers you discover (or claims you make based on the research).  Propose an hypothesis and a method of study that will control the project.

Part III: A Working Bibliography.  After you have described your search process so far, make a listing of 6-10 of the sources you have determined will be useful.   Use MLA bibliographic format.  At the end of each bibliographic citation, provide a brief annotation telling how and where you found the resource: e.g., terminal and/or browsing, reference section, periodical indexes, personal library, Internet, etc.   Separate listings into three working categories, labeled "books," "articles," and "other."  Include at least one Internet/WWW source, in addition to BOL/DI.  [N.B., The purpose of the working bibliography is (1) to establish that there are enough sources available to do a research project on the topic; (2) to scan through some or all of these materials at this time to evaluate the usefulness of the items to the examination of your specific research interest and to the fulfillment of your goals in this research project (it's not necessary to have read these books and articles yet, only to have learned enough about them that you know they may be useful in your research); and (3) to improve your skills in finding and evaluating information available in libraries.]

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RESEARCH CONSULTATIONS. You will have several consultations with me during your Project 3 research process. First, we’ll meet to discuss possibilities for a topic that you can make your own and get excited about. My aim is that you find a project that will allow you not only to learn about scholarly research, but also to discover the joy of independent research and study. Then, after you have completed RA1, we’ll touch bases in class, via E-mail, or over the phone to check on your progress; you’ll schedule another conference during the 2^nd and 3^rd weeks of the project, at which you’ll submit RA2, the typed Research Proposal (an essay-form revision of the draft work you do in RA1). At this time, you will present your ideas and questions to me, and I will give you suggestions on strategy and research design.

You’ll continue to consult with me and with your classmates throughout Project 3 to get ideas, help, inspiration, and support for your research project. Top of page

Early planning is your ticket to smooth sailing in your research.