English
102‐Texas
A&M‐Commerce



 
 Spring
2010

WA4:
Research
Proposal



Description:
Your
research
proposal
is
your
plan
for
data
collection.
It
is
necessarily
flexible,
and
things
may
not

always
go
according
to
plan
(that’s
okay!).

Even
so,
it
is
crucial
that
you
have
a
plan.

The
research
proposal
asks

you
to
question
what
you
know,
what
you
don’t
know,
and
what
you
hope
to
know.
Also
crucial
are
the
ways
in

which
you
are
going
to
treat
the
community
you
are
investigating
and
the
data
you
are
collecting
to
represent

them
(all
with
great
respect,
of
course!).




Resources:
Take
a
close
look
at
relevant
Research
Journals,
as
well
as
the
writing
assignments
you
have
created

thus
far.
Certainly
review
all
your
readings
(in
both
textbooks)
and
your
fieldnotes.
Visit
your
classmates
course

blogs
and
scan
those
as
well.
Review
these
items
with
pen
in
hand
(or
cut‐and‐paste
tool
on
your
computer
at
the

ready!)
and
your
Research
Journal
in
front
of
you.
Pause
at
regular
intervals
(perhaps
every
15‐20
minutes
or
so)

to
do
some
freewriting.
Use
Elbow
as
a
guide
for
this
freewriting
(Fieldworking,
page
69).
Then
read
those

freewrites
together
and
generate
a
plan.
Might
even
use
the
fieldnote
technique
here,
expanding
those
fieldnotes

at
your
blog
and
then
entering
your
Research
Proposal
from
that
angle.




Purpose:
To
flesh
out
your
research
plan
and
circumvent
as
many
problems
as
possible
to
ensure
a
graceful

entry
into
your
fieldsite
and
a
productive
experience
all
around.




Components:
Your
Research
Proposal
must
include:



1. a
discussion
of
what
you
hope
to
accomplish

2. an
explanation
of
why
the
research
is
important
to
you
(local)
and
how
you
have
framed
the
central

questions
or
lines
of
inquiry
for
your
research

3. a
statement
describing
the
ways
in
which
you
will
approach
your
data
collection,
analysis,
and
write
up

that
will
ensure
the
participants
in
your
study
will
be
treated
with
the
utmost
respect
and
that
the

process
will
follow
the
ethical
practices
set
by
university
researchers
and
the
Institutional
Review

Boards
that
oversee
such
research
(who
will
you
approach
for
permission
and
why?
How
will
you

approach
them?)

4. a
discussion
of
how
you
will
obtain
signatures
on
the
requisite
forms
and
a
draft
of
the
permission
forms

you
intend
to
use
(signatures
due
very
soon!)

5. a
detailing
of
your
research
plan
(when
and
where
will
you
research,
and
how?)

6. a
description
of
the
methodology
for
your
research
(how
will
you
collect
the
data
and
why
this
method

as
opposed
to
another?_

7. a
discussion
of
how
your
research
connects
to
the
wider
scholarly
community
discussing
such
subjects

(Where’s
the
literacy?
How
will
this
project
contribute
to
the
larger
scholarly
conversation
in
literacy

studies,
especially
as
represented
in
our
required
course
readings?)



As
you
write,
keep
in
mind
that
your
responses
to
the
guiding
questions
listed
above
should
be
integrated
into
a

coherent
essay.
Your
paragraphs
should
not
stand
as
separate,
isolated
responses
to
the
questions
but
should
be

held
together
as
a
cohesive
proposal
by
the
exploration
of
what
you
want
to
research,
why
you
want
to
research

what
makes
it
important,
and
the
connection
you
can
make
between
your
research
in
this
local
context
and
the

larger
scholarly
conversation
in
literacy
studies.




See
http://faculty.tamu‐commerce.edu/scarter/research_proposal
for
important
questions
that
should
help
you

get
started,
provide
a
possible
format
for
this
Research
Proposal,
and
offer
information
regarding
what
I
will
be

looking
for
as
I
evaluate
it.




Constraints:




Page‐length
minimum
for
Peer
Review:
Three
Pages
(double‐spaced,
Times
New
Roman,
12‐point
font)


 Due
date:



Page‐length
minimum
for
Instructor
Review:
Four
Pages
(double‐spaced,
Times
New
Roman,
12‐point
font)


 Due
date: