Course Textbook
1. Aaron, J. E. (2010). The Little, Brown compact handbook with exercises (2nd custom ed.). New York, NY: Longman.
2. Lester, J. D., Lester, J. D., Reinking, J. A., & von der Osten, R. (2010/2011). Strategies for writing successful research papers (2nd custom ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Learning Solutions.
Research Proposal
Purpose:
The purpose of the Research Proposal is to mold the preliminary ideas you have about your topic and to develop them in an academic manner. This development occurs as a direct result of your research on the subject. Therefore, this is your first formal articulation of your project. The Research Proposal is the next step towards writing assignments that will help you construct your Research Paper.
Description:
In this 500-600-word, essay-style Research Proposal, you will develop the project that you intend to write about for your final Research Paper for this course. If your Research Proposal is less than this word count, then it is likely you have not fully developed your proposal or adhered to the assignment appropriately, which can severely impact your grade for this assignment. Your Research Proposal will include the elements listed below.
Your Research Proposal should also include a list of references in APA style and should adhere to APA convention throughout for in-text citation and style. When you write for academic or public audiences, it is imperative that you are supported by voices other than your own. In other words, even if you are an expert, you still must support your assertions.
In a Research Proposal, the same is true. For this assignment, you will include at least one source in your description of your tentative argument. The source cannot be yourself, an interview, or your text book. You must research your topic in order to gain a valid academic source that speaks to your topic in some way.
Elements:
Your Research Proposal grade will be largely based on your inclusion of the elements listed below, as well as your development of the project. For assistance, you might want to refer to Chapter 1, Section 1a, of The Little, Brown Compact Handbook with Exercises (pp. 3-4). Your Research Proposal must contain the following elements:
1. Cover page and APA formatting:
You will include an APA-style cover page for your Research Proposal. See the example on page 16 of The CSU APA Guide (6th edition). Your cover page should include the following: the title of your future Research Paper (this may be changed as your project develops), your name, and the name of your university (Columbia Southern University). The cover page must also include a running head which should include up to 50 characters from the title of the paper, along with a sequential page number in the upper right-hand corner. You can find instructions for formatting the running head on pp. 9-11 of The CSU APA Guide.
2. Purpose:
Review the purpose statement on p. 333 of Strategies for Writing Successful Research Papers. You may also want to refer to Chapter 1, Section 1c of The Little, Brown Compact Handbook with Exercises (pp. 6-7). The following questions should be addressed in the first paragraph of your Research Proposal, which should be dedicated to establishing your purpose for doing this particular project.
• What is your rationale for this project?
• What do you hope to learn from the project, or what to do you want to see happen as a result of it?
• Who is your audience for this project? Section 1d, of The Little, Brown Compact Handbook with Exercises.
• What role will you play in this project: investigator or advocate?
3. Statement of qualification:
Address the following questions as they are applicable to your project.
• What is your investment in the topic?
• What personal experience do you bring to the topic?
• What special qualities do you bring to the project?
• How might your investment, experience, and special qualities make you particularly apt at developing this project?
English Composition
4. Tentative argument:
Your final Research Paper for this course will be an argumentative, research-based, academic paper. While it is unlikely that you will have a concrete idea of what your entire argument will be at this point in the writing process, it is necessary for you to articulate your argument as you understand it to be right now. Address the following questions.
• What is the context surrounding your topic? In other words, is there some event that was a catalyst for bringing your topic into the public eye? (Optional)
• What is your explanation or definition of the topic?
• What is your analysis of the specific issue surrounding your topic?
• What is your tentative thesis statement or hypothesis?