research proposal
With your team, please construct a research proposal describing and arguing the collapse/sustainability problem your team will investigate. The topic you select must use the past (prehistoric to historic) to inform a currently relevant collapse/sustainability problem. Specifically, past cultures and/or technologies are to be used to provide insights into contemporary challenges (see below website resources). This project will be worthwhile and fun if you and your team are interested in the topic you select and there is an audience of people who care about your problem.
With your group, develop an oral presentation that consists of the seven components below. The purpose of the presentation is to convince the class to "fund" your presentation.
1. Question and Problem. Describe the research question and problem your team will investigate. Remember: the more specific the question, the more effectively you will be able to answer it. See Chapter 3, "From Questions to Problems," in Booth et al. for assistance.
2. Broader Impacts, Relevance. Argue WHY your question matters and to whom. In other words, who cares and why? If you are having difficulty answering this question, you've probably got the wrong question and problem. As Booth et al. state (2008:101), "Keep rehearsing that formula, I am working on X to learn more about Y, so that my readers can better understand Z."
3. Audience. Describe the intended audience of your research. What age/s, educational level, occupations, or prior knowledge of collapse/sustainability will your audience possess? As you are conducting your research and writing up your results, you should constantly imagine your audience ---what they need, what they want, what the will be interested in.
4. Potential Arguments. Construct an argument map to demonstrate your research framework, a potential argument reflecting the direction you think the data is pointing, and the evidence you will use to evaluate your hypothesis.
5. Research Plan. List and describe the steps your team will take to move from research proposal to research report. Who will do what?
6. Data Sources. Describe the "raw data" you will rely on to address your research questions. These data are the evidence to support your claim. Secondary sources (e.g., research reports, journal articles) can be used to find data or to inform your argument. Tertiary sources such as Wikipedia are not appropriate evidence to support your thesis but can help you find the primary sources. See Booth et al. Chapter 5, "From Problems to Sources" for an excellent discussion of the appropriateness of different types of sources. Peer reviewed sources are the most reliable and are required to inform and support your research.
7. Team. List team members, roles (Team Leader, other) and the planned contribution of each to the project.
Length: Your written responses to the above questions should be provided as a 1-2 page handout to the rest of the class the day you will present your research proposal. The presentation of your proposal should take no more than 10-15 minutes.
All team members will receive the same grade for the proposal.
Some key resources to review as you consider the type of problem you want to investigate:
Tutt Library Anthropology Resources
7 Critical Issues at Rio+20
IHOPE, Integrated History and Future of People on Earth
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change
With your group, develop an oral presentation that consists of the seven components below. The purpose of the presentation is to convince the class to "fund" your presentation.
1. Question and Problem. Describe the research question and problem your team will investigate. Remember: the more specific the question, the more effectively you will be able to answer it. See Chapter 3, "From Questions to Problems," in Booth et al. for assistance.
2. Broader Impacts, Relevance. Argue WHY your question matters and to whom. In other words, who cares and why? If you are having difficulty answering this question, you've probably got the wrong question and problem. As Booth et al. state (2008:101), "Keep rehearsing that formula, I am working on X to learn more about Y, so that my readers can better understand Z."
3. Audience. Describe the intended audience of your research. What age/s, educational level, occupations, or prior knowledge of collapse/sustainability will your audience possess? As you are conducting your research and writing up your results, you should constantly imagine your audience ---what they need, what they want, what the will be interested in.
4. Potential Arguments. Construct an argument map to demonstrate your research framework, a potential argument reflecting the direction you think the data is pointing, and the evidence you will use to evaluate your hypothesis.
5. Research Plan. List and describe the steps your team will take to move from research proposal to research report. Who will do what?
6. Data Sources. Describe the "raw data" you will rely on to address your research questions. These data are the evidence to support your claim. Secondary sources (e.g., research reports, journal articles) can be used to find data or to inform your argument. Tertiary sources such as Wikipedia are not appropriate evidence to support your thesis but can help you find the primary sources. See Booth et al. Chapter 5, "From Problems to Sources" for an excellent discussion of the appropriateness of different types of sources. Peer reviewed sources are the most reliable and are required to inform and support your research.
7. Team. List team members, roles (Team Leader, other) and the planned contribution of each to the project.
Length: Your written responses to the above questions should be provided as a 1-2 page handout to the rest of the class the day you will present your research proposal. The presentation of your proposal should take no more than 10-15 minutes.
All team members will receive the same grade for the proposal.
Some key resources to review as you consider the type of problem you want to investigate:
Tutt Library Anthropology Resources
7 Critical Issues at Rio+20
IHOPE, Integrated History and Future of People on Earth
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment
International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change
