Monday, December 5, 2011

12.5 Organization for research essay + presentations


The first part of class was spent reviewing the assignment sheet for the research essay - and making a plan for how to write/organize the essay.  Below are the notes from that discussion.


Organization for your essay
1.    Identify your research problem
  • Connect your problem/question to existing research
  • State what you are doing that is different or essential to your project
2.    Describe your research project=> what you want to accomplish with your project

3.    Reflection (focus of the essay).  The order + selection of the points below is not necessarily THE correct order - it is a general suggestion about what to consider.  As discussed in class, the selection of points and the order of your essay will depend on your particular research project.  The real criteria for organization are decisions about what you need to provide as "background" for your reader to follow your line of discussion.

1) Discussion of your choice of method=> Reflect on your choice of methods 

    • choice of background scholarship (what someone else has written on your topic)
    •   number/ identity of subjects
    • location of your observations/identity of  your “group”/who you will talk to
    • choice of research method (why interview/observation/survey/archival etc?)
    • subject/participants selection=> criteria for selection

2) ethical concerns => define the particular ethical concerns for your project + address them

3) feasibility= state timeframe for your projct + how your work will fit, think about whether you have the resources/ access to subjects etc. necessary for your project; "justify" the absence or presence of research methods with respect to feasibility (and the goals of your project).



Presentations on research projects:
We spent the rest of class doing 'quick' presentations to open up/reflect on work you have done so far on your projects.  Hopefully, there will be time for the rest of you to receive input on Thursday. 


For Thursday:
Blog 18: Draft Research Essay


     In class we will continue with research project presentations, and I will answer any question/help with any issues you may have run into while writing your drafts.  I will provide feedback for the draft over the weekend and have them returned with comments as soon as I can so you have maximum time for revising. 

We will also have some discussion about questions for the exam.  As posted on the revised calendar - you will receive a copy of the exam questions an Monday, Dec 12, and your final exam will be due by the end of class on Monday, Dec 19.  

No comments:

Post a Comment