Assignment #1: Brief Paper Proposal
This assignment is the first stage of a research paper that you will work on over the course of the semester. The entire course is dedicated to this paper and to you practicing becoming an independent scholar. Read over all of the assignment instructions (Assignment 1 through 4 and the Meetings instructions) before beginning this Assignment #1 as it will shape what you decide to write about.
Types of Papers Accepted:
***All research involving human participants must adhere to Ontario Tech University’s Research Ethics Board guidelines. Given the timeframe of the course, it is generally not possible to conduct research directly involving human participants. If this is something you are considering, you will need to discuss this with me during the first week of class. Set up an appointment***
1) Qualitative Paper: A qualitative paper generally requires a Research Ethics Board application be completed given that there are few pre–existing datasets to utilize. Types of potential methods include, but are not limited to, interviews, content analysis, and observations.
You will need to collect your own original data if you choose this type of paper.
2) Quantitative Paper: A quantitative paper generally utilizes a pre–existing dataset (e.g. victimization survey). You will need to find an appropriate dataset that is publically available (e.g. Statistics Canada, consult the Ontario Tech library).
3) Theoretical: This type of paper does not utilize data but instead critically reviews the literature on a topic and provides new theoretical insights.
4) Policy Paper: This type of paper does not utilize data but instead critically reviews the literature on a topic and provides new policy insights.
Instructions
Taking the above four paper options into consideration, write a maximum one–page proposal (it can be a paragraph) that outlines the paper you intend to write. This should include a brief description of the topic you intend to research and a preliminary original argument (thesis statement) OR research question(s) if you are writing a qualitative or quantitative paper. You should also include a reference list with a minimum of 10 peer–reviewed journal articles that you used to inform your paper proposal and/or will inform your final paper (note that you will need a minimum of 20 peer–reviewed journal articles for
Assignments #3 and #4). Give some careful thought to your paper topic (it should be of interest to you) because you will be writing about this same topic for the entire semester.
