The goal of this assignment is to set you up for success in designing research inquiries moving forward. Part of a solid research idea and proposal is having a workable research question that is narrow enough that it can be addressed in the space provided (for example a 15-20 page research paper versus a 50-page thesis), and written in a way that is open-ended and free from bias.
1. Start your assignment with an introductory paragraph about your research topic and why it is of interest and a research “puzzle.” You want to guide your reader from your research area to your research topic, then on to your general research question and specific research question.
While there are many ways to frame a research question, at the graduate level, your research questions should be 1) open-ended and start with “How,” “Why,” “What,” or “To what extent;” 2) should incorporate the variables you seek to assess and their relationship; and 3) should indicate how you intend to test the nature of that relationship. You want to make sure that your question has an appropriate amount of complexity so that it requires a significant amount of research and analysis. A simple Google search should not be able to answer your research question.
Next, provide a purpose statement that conveys your intentions about what you hope to produce. See the references in your Lessons for additional insight. Often within the literature, this discussion is usually called out by a phrase like the following: “This paper examines . . .,” “The aim of this paper is to . . .,” or “The purpose of this essay is to . . .”. Remember that a purpose statement makes a promise to the reader about the development of the argument but does not preview the particular conclusions that the writer has drawn. Your purpose statement should demonstrate what you are hoping to find out, and also explain what you want your readers to understand (motivation or argument of the research). Later on, when you go to write a paper, a trick to help keep your paper focused on your purpose or argument is to paste it into the header or footer while you write.
Pull out the dependent (DV) and independent variable(s) (IV) that you are interested in looking at. This needs to be specific and you need to discuss ideas for how you might go about measuring the impact that the IV has on the DV. You need to focus on one or two specific variables (and discuss how they are defined), otherwise, your research will quickly spin out of control as you will not have the capacity to effectively address the relationship between all the variables.