Purpose

This assignment is designed to help you consolidate your research materials and clarify your topic. While you may be continuing with the same general subject and topic you wrote about in the Exploratory Paper, you may be researching something else entirely. The Topic Proposal serves as a blueprint for your major research project. You will identify a research question, provide rationale for the topic, propose the research methods for the project, and provide a preliminary list of sources.

The Topic Proposal should answer the following questions:

• What is your specific proposed research topic and research question?
• Why is this topic relevant to the identified audience/academic discourse community?
• What research methods will be necessary to answer the research question?
• What sources and evidence (both primary and secondary) will be required to complete the project?

Audience

Think of your audience for this paper as a well-informed member of the corresponding academic discipline’s discourse community who may not be familiar with your specific topic. Remember what you learned about perspective and bias to construct your identity as the writer in relation to your imagined readers.

Objectives & Process

1. Identify the academic discipline, subject area, topic, and research question for your proposed research project.
2. Describe your rationale for the research question, focusing on its relevance and appropriateness to the academic discipline and the possible scope of a student research project.
3. Describe the possible methods for the proposed research project. If you are proposing primary research, tentatively identify the types of research you will conduct and your potential subjects. If your project will rely exclusively on secondary research, describe the types of academic journals, books, and multimedia sources that will be necessary to support the project.
4. Provide a tentative list of secondary sources that will support your research agenda.

Format

The proposal document should include the following sections:

• Introduction
• Background
  • Relevance to the Discourse Community
  • Appropriateness to the Assignment Scope
  • Benefits and Feasibility
• Proposed Research Methods
• Preliminary List of Sources (2-3)

The Topic Proposal should be 2-3 typed and double-spaced pages (the title page and preliminary source list do not count toward this requirement).