NEXT PHASE RESEARCH PROPOSAL PROJECT:

THIS WILL BE DUE THE MONDAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING (22 NOVEMBER)

For this phase of the project you should:

1) Focus on one research question.  Refine it so that it is clearly and sharply focused.  That means that the question should address some very specific aspects of the processes or mechanisms you’re asking about.  In addition to a clear statement of the problem, you should be able to propose some concrete potential answers (or hypotheses).

2) Part of this development may include references to relevant material in the literature (either primary or secondary).  The bearing may be direct or indirect.

3) You should now be able to use your hypotheses to generate the framework of a study or experiment.  What kind of predictions do your hypotheses yield?  What kinds of data do you need to collect, what kinds of experiments might you conduct, to test these hypotheses.  And what would the potential results tell you.  You might want to use diagrams or figures to illustrate expectations or relationships.

WRITE THESE THINGS UP as a ‘synopsis’, or brief summary/outline of your research proposal.  It might amount to 1-2 pages at this point.  AS ALWAYS, bring questions to me.

After Thanksgiving, there will be a chance for you to present your research proposal to the class for discussion.