Problem within the community
Students will produce a research project from their individual fields of study or from fields they are knowledgeable about and interested in. These projects will take one of several possible forms: an article intended for publication, a completion report intended for a sponsoring organization or an informative, interactive website. The precise form of the final project will depend on the research problem to be solved and the audience for which the project is intended. Both primary (e.g. interviews, surveys, questionnaires) and secondary sources are required.

How the project will be evaluated:
The project will be evaluated on many things, but foremost among them are a demonstrated depth of research on and understanding of the subject area, a relevant and thoughtful study that is sufficiently narrowed and focused, appropriateness of tone, especially as to the needs of the audience, and the quality of writing and general presentation.

Finding a topic, then a suitable project:
If you have trouble thinking of subjects to write about, try the following to head you in a useful direction. Think about your field and subjects or problems it is concerned with. And think about subjects that you know a great deal about and find interesting. With each, as a first step, make a short list of problems you would like to explore throughout the term (3-5 topics). Think about what you know and don’t know about them. Once we’ve progressed to Chapter 2 of the text, think about how you would defend them as problems according to the criteria discussed in Chapter 1.

Past students have found it helpful to seek ideas from friends and family members, since they know you and your interests well. Sometimes the issues that are important to us are so obvious to us that we don’t even think about them, but friends and family can help remind us. Also, consider what communities you are a part of (professional, academic, family, civic, volunteer, etc). See if there are any issues within one of those communities you’d be interested in seeking solutions to. Choosing a topic that deals with a community issue means that you will most likely have a sincere desire to find solutions to an issue affecting something you are a part of. It also means that you will probably have an easier time completing your primary research as you most likely already have contacts within that community.

The problem that you ultimately select will have to pass the Four Questions test discussed in Chapters 1 and 2 of the text..

What is wrong?
What is lacking?
What is unknown?
Who needs or benefits from a solution?

The possibilities for your research are endless. Begin with a subject that you are interested in, and take the time to research it thoroughly. Later you can choose a narrowed focus and grapple with the precise form your final project will take.

Traps: Some students forget that the final project should be a thoughtful and substantive contribution to the field you are researching in; it is semester-long and should demonstrate that you have done four months of work; it will be evaluated on substance, depth, and the quality of your writing and general presentation; it is required to pass the course and is worth 30% of your grade.

Tips: Spend the first half of the semester doing the background research necessary to be increasingly knowledgeable about the problem you are working on. By the time you write/complete your proposal, your focus will shift to your own contribution on the subject.

To start your thinking about possible problems to research and the ways to focus them realistically for a semester’s work, we can look at some students’ past projects:

One student researched the general subject of the changing place of women in the military, and then conducted a study of the ROTC program at WSU and the attitudes and experiences of the people in that program have had toward women in the military. His final project was an article on his findings that was suitable for publication in an academic journal in sociology.
Another student did general research on the funding of college athletics nationally, and then narrowed on a specific study of the WSU football program and produced a final report, with recommendations, to the WSU administration as his final project.
A third student wanted to examine college students’ use of email. This was an area that had little direct secondary research written about it. This required broadening the subject of the background research to include email use in general and the forms of communication used by college students in the past; then she narrowed her study to a sample of WSU students’ use of email to communicate with each other.
And finally, one older, returning student took an experience from her personal life to focus on. After her sister had become totally and permanently disabled in a serious car crash, she had to become the legal guardian of her sister and her sister’s children. This took a great deal of time and bureaucratic maneuvering, so she wanted to lay out for others who might some day be in a similar position the steps necessary to get this done more clearly and easily. She had to do research into not only the various regulations and legal requirements to become a legal guardian, but also into the various agencies and services they provide for legal guardians to do their jobs effectively. As her final project, she chose to create a website that took the average layperson through all the steps of becoming a legal guardian and linked them to other pertinent sites and sources of information to make the process easier to understand and more fully informative.

Choices are wide , but you need to do thorough background research so that you understand the conversations in the area you want to participate in. Then you can make later decisions about the appropriate form your final project will take.
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In the Preliminary Research Statement forum on the Discussion Board, please post a preliminary statement of the research problem you would like to work on for the rest of the semester (~200 words). The statement should define the problem/defend it as a problem by answering the questions that determine whether a problem exists. What’s wrong? What’s lacking? What’s unknown? Who benefits from the problem being addressed or solved?

Tip: Remember that the ability to answer two of the four is the test, with one of those two the last question, who benefits? Try to answer all four.

Tip: This thread cannot be completed with only a few words. Each question needs at least 2-3 sentences. Some will have more than that.

Tip: Be realistic from the beginning. You should define problems that you can handle within the (15-week fall/spring, 12-week summer) duration of the course. To tackle more global problems (such as health care or terrorism) would require long-term projects, a high level of expertise, and years of experience. However, if big problems really interest you, consider tackling a local aspect, such as whether there is a health insurance problem in Pullman or what WSU students think of the Patriot Act.

These preliminary statements (definitions) will turn into extended definitions in a couple of weeks, in which, in addition to defining your problem, you will talk about your research strategy (the primary and secondary research you will do) and the audience you will be writing for in your proposal and (perhaps) your project.