The Research Proposal: How do You Create One?

When your group turns in a propsal along with your genre juxtaposition piece on Friday, what exactly should the proposal look like? Well, it should contain these parts. How your group wishes to format these parts is up to you. But, the simpler, the better when it comes to research proposals. Be clear and concise, but remember to give enough detail so that readers of this proposal can understand what you are planning to do and where potential pitfalls may lie.

Group members names
Tentative Title

1. Statement of the "Problem"

• This is a description of the context of your study
• Explain to me what genre juxtaposition you are working with
• Tell me how this piece "normally" works or is set up within particular rules or constraints: The "problem" that exists surrounding this piece

2. The Purpose of the Study

• Why are doing this?
• What are you trying to figure out?
• Essentially, you've changed something about a piece of writing. Why choose that one particular constraint to change? For what purpose?
• You may want to begin with:  "The purpose of this study is to..."

3. The Research Question(s)

• What central queston are you asking/trying to text within this writing research for English 101?
• Hypoetheses won't come into play here... that's generally only with quantitative research

4. The Research Design/Method

• This section will be expanded for the actual, more detailed researcin design (which is due after spring break)
• But here, at this point in the project: Give as much as you can about wha tyou are thinking/how you plan to go about testing your research question(s)

r. Significance of the Stufy

• You may think that tthere's not signifance, that you're only doing this for a class assignment.
• But think about what you are contributing to the study of writing, particularly writing as it relates to context.
• How will this study help to educate people about how writing works in context and across various situations?
• What are you, as a group, hoping to get out of this project?