ENGL 1301 Taggett

ENGL 1301

Assignment 1: Research Question and plan

See Syllabus for due dates and point values

Roughly two pages

Meets all objectives

This assignment, which serves as a precursor to your next three assignments, asks you to formulate a research question, motivation, and plan, so that your research process is that much more effective and focused. You are encouraged to choose a topic you are covering in another class, or one that is relevant to your major.

For this, please turn in a memo (see D2L for various memo templates online) which includes:

• Your specific research question. This can be over any topic you choose, but of course, making it over something that you find interesting is crucial. What do you want to find out? That is your research question.

• Your motivation. What made you choose this topic and this question? This will help me to see what “stakes” you have in this topic.

• Your answer to the “so what?” question. Why should your audience care about this topic? What do you need to consider to involve your audience in your topic?

• The international perspective: What might be the global implications or considerations or ramifications of your research question? Might it be answered differently in different parts of the world? How do you plan to incorporate that?

• Your very general research plan. What kinds of information do you think you will need to find? Where might you find it? What do you expect to need to look up?

This assignment will be the launch pad for the rest of the major assignments for this class, so make sure to put some thought into both your topic and what brings you to that topic (your motivation). Give yourself time to brainstorm a list of topics before you narrow into one. Discuss your topic with friends or family. From there, then, put your memo together, with me as your audience.  There are also a number of resources in our D2L course (Assignment 1) that include strategies for generating a topic. (Note: it is considered plagiarism to use papers from previous classes. Please don’t do this.)

Grading Criteria:

• The assignment meets all five bullet points clearly and concisely.
• The research question illustrates clear thoughtfulness and an international relevance
• The memo demonstrates an understanding of genre, in what is expected of a memo, and audience.
• The paper is clear with few grammatical mistakes. 

Use the links below (some of them are in the Assignment 1 section of your D2L page, too) for help picking a topic, doing preliminary research on it, and writing your research question and plan.

What Makes a Good Research Question?

Handy guide from Duke University to forming a research question that's not too vague or too specific.

Choosing a Topic: Research Questions

This 1-page worksheet helps you figure out your topic, your research question, and its significance.

Choosing a Topic

A quick guide from the Hunter College Libraries with strategies on choosing a topic.

How to Select a Research Topic

Detailed guide from the University of Michigan-Flint to choosing a research topic.

Writing a Research Proposal

USC Libraries' guide to writing research proposals.

Assignment 1 doesn't require you to use and cite research sources yet, but you should do some preliminary research to find out if there is enough information published about a topic you're interested in.

Take a look at this 3-minute video to find out why preliminary research is so important when you're picking a topic and some tips for how to do it:

Once you've watched the video, try a search in the Credo Reference online database. You'll find thousands of specialized encyclopedia articles so you can find background information on your topic and determine if you need to narrow or broaden the scope of your research question:

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE CREDO REFERENCE DATABASE

If you don't find anything searching Credo, check your spelling or try alternate search terms (like 'physician-assisted suicide' or 'right to die' instead of 'euthanasia').

Questions? Having trouble finding background info on a topic you want to write about? Contact Jane the Librarian.