Research Project Idea

Project description
Research Topics and Questions Worksheet

Of the three topics/questions that you posted yesterday, choose the topic that you feel most inspired by/drawn to. It’s a good idea to opt for something that you feel excited about and one that has yielded good material after a dirty research. In this exercise, I want you to work through the steps described in the three chapters that you have read today (Planning, From Topics to Questions, From Questions to Problems) in order to formulate a research project.

Step 1: Write about a topic

In the space below, write a few sentences about your research topic. These sentences can be informative (you do not need a research question yet). What is this topic? How did you hear about it? Write a sentence that describes the topic in a detailed fashion (see examples from Pg. 39 in Topics to Questions)

Step 2: Come up with a question for the topic

In the space below, write an -ended question that you think could lead to research for this topic. Write it as a direct question first (e.g. why is the restaurant business dominated by male head chefs?) and then as an indirect question (e.g. I want to investigate whether men dominate the fine dining scene while women are relegated to small businesses like food trucks and small cafes, in order to examine whether gender discrimination exists in the food industry in America)

Step 3: Write about the question’s importance

In the space below, write a few sentences about why a reader would find that question important. Will it impact their lives? Will it help them to understand a topic better? In what way?

Step 4: Put it all together

As today’s readings describe, it can be very useful to come up with a 3-step declaration for your topic (see pgs. 46-48 in Topics to Questions) that can serve as a reminder of your goals as you move through your research. In the space below, using your answers above, follow their 3-step formula for declaring your research topic (I am studying X, because I want to know more about Y, in order to help my reader better understand Z).

This formula might change over the course of your project, but it is good to think about early on.

Start a New Thread and start writing following this prompt. Make sure to number your steps : Step 1, Step 2 etc.