GC Wk6 SUBMIT Part 1: Informal Research Project Proposal

  Background

Your informal proposal is the beginning phase of your research project where you will choose your research topic. 

• • • Once you submit your informal proposal, you will get feedback on it. 
    • This feedback will include instructions on how to proceed with your Promissory Abstract which will be due in the following two weeks.
      
      

  Tasks

1. Choose a topic

When choosing a topic, keep in mind:

• • • Your topic/subject should be something that you, personally, are interested in
    • Your topic/subject can be almost anything you like, but it must be related to the Global Cultures course
    • Use materials from the textbook, class slides, and class videos--as a starting point to integrate class materials into your Project.
    • But the main focus of your project should be on materials that are not required for the class.
      
      

2. Formulate your proposal using prompts

The informal "proposal" itself can be very straightforward:

The Informal Proposal is a simple statement (preferably in a Word document) of . . .

• • • "Here's what I'm interested in doing. . . ."
    • "Here's why I'm interested in that. . . ."
    • "Here's what I think will be useful for that project. . . ."
    • "What do you think?"

Or . . .

Your Informal Proposal can be something like . . .

• • • "I'm thinking about doing a project on X or Y, but can't make up my mind."
    • "Here's what I'm interested in, and why. . . ."
    • "Here are some things that look like they might be useful for the project. . . ."
    • "What do you think?"

Note: Even though the tone of the informal proposal is less formal, grammar rules still apply. 

3. Include References

Include a list of 3-5 references from a variety of sources (e.g. articles, short videos, photographs, books, interviews, personal experience).

• • • "Items" such as articles, short videos, photographs, books, interviews, personal experience need to be referenced, but at this point they do not need to be formally cited as you would in a research term paper. (Of course, it wouldn't hurt to practice citing your sources using one of the standard general formats below.)
      
      
    • Web links:
      • If you include a reference to a source on the web, be sure to give its full reference (not just the URL), using whatever attribution system you plan to use in your final term paper, such as:
        

• • • • • • APA General Format
          • MLA General Format
          • Chicago-Turabian Manual of Style (CMOS)--General Format

EXAMPLE: A full reference for a webpage link should look something like the one below (include as much of this material as is available for the site[s] you are looking at). Generally, an example reference may look like:

• • • • • • Roufs, Timothy G. and Kathleen Smyth Roufs. Sweet Treats. accessed 8 February 2019. http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anthfood/SweetTreats.html#title.
            
            

  Criteria and Completion

Before you upload your proposal, give your proposal a review. 

• • • Refer to the accompanying rubric for assignment criteria categories: quality of proposal, and organization/style/grammar.
    • Upload your completed informal proposal as a Word document (Word file as a .docx or a .doc or a .rtf file.) 
      • Click on "upload assignment Links to an external site." button at the end of the Canvas assignment page.
      • Note:
        • Once you have uploaded the file you can not re-upload the file unless you first remove the one you first uploaded.
        • For more information regarding how to use the assignment tools, please view the Canvas Student User Guides Links to an external site..