How to Write a Research Proposal Essay

The starting point for every paper, be it a term paper or a finals’ paper, should be a thoroughly worked-out research proposal. Investing sufficient time and thought into writing a research proposal will yield a good return and can save you a lot of time, confusion and disappointment when actually writing your paper. A research proposal serves several purposes: – It gives an overview of the relevance and objective of a research project. – It gives an overview of the content, the procedure and the timing of a research project. It shows whether a research project is manageable in scope and timing. A research proposal has six key components: – A title page – An abstract which summarizes the project – A detailed description of the project – A time schedule for the project – An overview of the structure of the paper (Gliederung) – References The following sections give an overview of each component. Although each research prop osal should follow this guideline, you will find that not all sections are (equally) applicable for each project, since every research project is different. For instance, a paper that focusses on literature review or a theoretical analysis requires a somewhat different research proposal than a paper that reports an empirical study. Identify the aspects in each section that are relevant to your paper. In total, the research proposal should not exceed 4-5 pages. Useful resources are listed at the end of this guideline. I. TITLE PAGE Give the title of your research paper, your name, your student ID, your course of study, the semester you are in, your contact details, and the course details for which you are submitting the proposal. II. ABSTRACT The purpose of the abstract is to give the reader a brief introductory summary of the project. The abstract should not be longer than 100-150 words. It should address the following questions: – What is the topic of research? – What is the research question? – Why is this relevant? – How do I study the topic? – What kind of findings do I anticipate? – How will I interpret the findings? – What are the implications of my research paper? (c) November 2007, Holger Hopp 1 Even though the abstract comes first in a research proposal, it is advisable to write it last, i. . once you have spelt out all information in detail in the later sections. III. PROJECT DESCRIPTION In this section, you give a detailed account of what, why and how you are going to write about. Write this section in a goal-directed manner. Do not attempt to give an exhaustive overview of the literature you have read and do not try to look at every angle of a prob lem. Rather, everything in this section should relate clearly to your research question. 1) What is the research question? In the research question, you succinctly express the objective of your paper. If you feel your project cannot be formulated in a research question, there is something wrong with it. Every suitable project addresses a clear research question! 2) Why is this relevant? In this section, you briefly explain why you consider the research question to be relevant. What does your paper add to previous research in the field? 3) What do you want to study/write about? Here, you zoom in on the particular topic/phenomenon/problem your paper addresses to answer the research question. Make clear why your topic, etc. is suitable for answering the research question. ) What did previous research find? In this section, you provide a brief overview of the relevant literature. Typically, you outline the different positions/approaches/theories in the field, identify flaws or lacunae in previous research, pinpoint open questions and show how your study follows up on or relates to previous research. It is important to keep this section goal-oriented and brief. Typically, you do not ne ed to cite more than 5-7 sources in this section. 5) What is your hypothesis? Formulate a clear and testable hypothesis. Unlike the research question, which is open, a hypothesis is a testable statement. 6) How do you want to test the hypothesis? In this section, you outline the set-up of your study. If you write a paper based exclusively on previous literature, this section should include information about: (a) Sources: Which texts/approaches/analyses are you going to use? (b) Method and Analysis: How are you going to analyze the texts/approaches/analyses? What do you look for? Which criteria do you apply? How are you going to compare several texts/approaches/analyses? c) Procedure: In which order (of research subquestions) do you tackle the texts/approaches? If you carry out an empirical study, this section should include information about: (c) November 2007, Holger Hopp 2 (a) Participants: How many? What are their characteristics or the selection criteria? Where and how are you going to recruit them? (b) Materials: What are your experimental items like? (c) Design of study: How are you going to construct your items? What are the conditions? What is/are the independent variable/s? What is/are the dependent variable/s? d) Method: Name the method and explain why you opted for it. What task are you going to use? (e) Procedure: How does the task work? How do the items get presented? What do the participants do? (f) Predictions: Break down the hypothesis into experimental predictions according to the design, materials and method of your study. (g) Analysis: State how you are going to classify, group and analyze the results. Which comparisons are you going to make? Which statistical analyses, if any, are you going to use (e. g. frequencies, comparison of means, correlations, etc)? ) What are the expected findings? In this section, you anticipate the findings you think you are going to obtain. Typically, these should be consistent with the prediction flowing from your hypothesis. Write this section in future tense. Do not make up fake data or conclusions! 8) How do the findings speak to the hypothesis? In this section, you explain how you interpret the findings in relation to the hypothesis and how they confirm or disprove the hypothesis. It is interesting to think about unexpected findings: What if the findings turn out differently? Are there any alternative interpretations? 9) What is the expected contribution of your study to the field/research question? Here, you briefly summarize the impact you think your project will have. (c) November 2007, Holger Hopp 3 IV. TIME SCHEDULE Many projects fail because they could not be carried out within the set time limit. Hence, working out a time schedule is essential. In most cases, you can use a table for the time schedule as in the example table (Table 1). Your table may contain more or fewer points. Plan backwards form the date your paper is due and allow for enough time. Total time available Activity 1) Finding and reading previous literature 2) Designing materials 3) Learning how to use method 4) Designing questionnaire 5) Finding participants 6) Running tests 7) Analyzing data †¦ †¦ 8) Writing up 9) Rewriting 10) Thorough proof-reading (if possible also by someone else) 11) Submission 4 months (until 31 January 2 ) Time period Dates (from X until Y) 3 weeks 1 October – 21 October 1 week 2 weeks 22 October – 31 October 22 October – 6 November If you work in a team, state how you are going to divide work and who does what when. V. STRUCTURE OF PAPER In this section, you provide a preliminary Table of Contents of your paper that illustrates the structure of the paper. For each section, indicate how long it will approximately be and what the main points are in it. VI. REFERENCES You should list all references cited in the proposal. Make sure these references are up-to-date and conform to the department’s ABC’s of style (see departmental website). The final steps Read through your proposal and use this guideline as a checklist. Make sure you have addressed all relevant points.

How should future generations contend with the French-English divide? Has this divide changed over the past 20 years, if yes how so? Essay

As a part of Quebec’s youth and up and coming younger generation I have witnessed the conflicts between the French- English divide since I could remember and it is important that the needs of both sides are full filled or at least compensated for, future generations need to focus on other issues and need to resolve the French-English divide in a fashionable matter so that both sides can work together and benefit from each other such as the increase of speaking French in schools and businesses. Cleavages are defined as â€Å"a politically significant distinction among identifiable groups in a given population† (L7, S5). Language is an important cleavage in Canadian society (L7, S6), Canada is known to being a diverse country the population consists of many different types of people, cultural backgrounds and value systems each of which should be respected and tolerated by every citizen of this country. The English-French divide has persisted over time as a result of events and decisions by governing bodies that have continued to fuel the divide (L7, S7). There are different solutions to the language issue among French and English speakers but it takes time and although the divide has changed a lot, the past 20 years we aren’t where we want to be just yet and it is up to future generations to solve this problem. Further issues such as the compact vs contract theory will be discussed and also in recent news the dispute over the Charter of values the Pauline Marois government seek to put in effect that has sprung up a dispute other issues that will be discussed are Bill 101 and the disputes over the equalization of payments that has become a major topic for discussion and a large part of the French-English division if future generations were to resolve these topics they would be one step closer to a neutral decision. The language divide has played a key part in intergovernmental policies  between the federal government and the provinces and is therefore an important part to understand. We’ve learnt throughout history that the English have often attempted to assimilate the French (L7, S8) you don’t often see the English trying to preserve the French language and this resulted in a heated battle among English and French especially in the late 1800’s and late 1900’s where the divide had intensified and almost seemed imminent. In a video demonstrated in the lecture slides (L7, S8) former premier of Quebec (2001-2003) Bernard Landry and former leader of the Parti Quà ©bà ©coise points out that 75% of Anglos in Quebec speak both French and English and almost all the younger generations speak both language and admits this is a great improvement. Part of Quebec’s problem is that you can become a citizen by speaking English or French this is a problem for the Quebecoise because people are coming from different countries with just an English background, if there was a divide they would make it so that if you were to become a Quebec resident speaking French would be mandatory. Preserving the French language has been a top priority for Quebec. The French lived in constant fear of losing their language (L7, S8) so in order to preserve the French language and culture the appropriate decision the Parti Quebecoise have decided to do is to promote separatism. There was talk of the separation of Quebec from Canada being more of a sovereignty-association, Quebec would separate but would retain a political and economic association with Canada. They would share the same currency and have some joint governments to oversee their relations. Quebec would not really be independent it would actually rely heavily on both Canada and the United States for trade. Quebec would then be able to change the language laws so that French would be the first language. This could be a good decision but there’s a large amount of English speaking Quebec citizens who disapprove. Bernard Landry points out that Quebec has improved over the years and that he has seen a lot more Anglo’s speaking French as well but he points out that it is a different issue in different provinces. Being an English speaker myself it is very encouraging and helpful that I am perfectly bilingual, being bilingual has helped me in the work force, in my studies and in my social life. These are some factors that have English speaking Quebecers  speak more French and really made an impact among English and French speakers of Quebec. In Bernard Landry’s video he talks about speaking to his cousins that live in British Columbia and displays how they have lost their French Background it is in the Parti Quebecoise best interest to prevent this from happening. As we have seen, la survivance was the notion that fuelled traditional Quebec nationalism. The Quiet Revolution gave rise to a new type of nationalism in Quebec which had a different vision of the state and its ability, through its institutions, to help the French survive (L7, S49). The French-English divide was further aggravated when the Quebec government decided to use its institutions to implement legislation to ensure the survival of the French language in Quebec. This caused a great deal of controversy in English .In an attempt to counter such nationalist language tactics and appease the French, the federal government also used its institutions to enact legislation related to language. There is no doubt that the French-English divide has been fuelled by these issues (L7, S58). After all these events had taken place the French took action into preserving the French language and culture and to implement it on all of Quebec. The Quebec Board of the French Language (OQLF) more popularly known as the ‘language police’ by the English media are probably the most feared people to business owners. In Quebec, Bill 101 implements that all visible form of writing must be in French, there are strict laws that indicate that the French words have to be visually larger than any other language as well as businesses more than 50 employees were going to have to adjust and use French as their language of business (L7, S59). Maintaining the two official languages is not cheap. Even Canada’s current Prime Minister Stephen Harper commented on the cost of bilingualism even before he was elected as the prime minister. These factors have played a major role in the changes Quebec has had over the years and I have noticed it myself. The divide has changed a lot of the years and with Pauline Marois and the Parti Quebecoise who knows what will happen next. The French and English divide is becoming less and less of a problem in Quebec although tensions have been rising lately with the PQ it is in their interest to keep the French population in Quebec happy and to keep pushing new legislations to enforce the speaking of the  French language. Although it is a great approach to preserve the language you could say that the language police have taken it a step too far at some points with disputes and attempted ban of these words in restaurants such as â€Å"pasta† and â€Å"fish n chips†. The Anglo’s have a hard time dealing with disputes such as these knowing our tax dollars are being spent on non-sense such as the banning of those words. In all I think it is important to implement that business owners change their signs and put in place a French first basis and plays a big factor in today’s language battle and it is a large reason why a lot of Quebecers are speaking French first. I myself walk in a place of business and speak French first to the clerk, when I am working myself I introduce myself in French first and I adapt to whomever I am talking too whether or not they are French or English it is important to respect the language of other people. In recent news a large dispute has sprung up with the â€Å"Charter or Values† Pauline Marois and the Parti Quebecois brought up the idea of banning religious symbols and dress codes when at work. This includes the Christian cross, Jewish and Muslim headwear, hijabs, turbans, etc. As the government expected, the plan to introduce the Chater of Value’s created street protests. Situations like these aren’t helping the French and English division it has strung up protests and aggravates the English speakers these aren’t ways to increase French speaking and culture in Quebec it had fuelled the fire in a way and bring us a step back from where we would like to be in the English – French division. The linguistic battle among French- English has improved in Quebec over the past 20 years with French being highly implemented in schools and businesses but I couldn’t say that for the rest of the provinces. These are ways to further increase the population of French speaking Canadians, future generations should focus on increasing French in schools and businesses rather than try to force the language on people with new legislations and fines. We have seen improvements over the past 20 years and that should continue if other provinces were to adapt more the French language in their place of business and in schools you would see a large increase in the population of Canada that speak French rather than just Quebec. Bibliography Bernard Landry, former Premier of Quebec (2001 – 2003) and leader of the Parti Quà ©bà ©cois (2001 – 2005 Brooks, Stephen (2004) â€Å"Canadian Democracy – An Introduction 6th edition† Oxford University Press: Toronto. PP.187-189 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/is-pasta-french-enough-for-quebec-1.1301918

Homeless Symposium Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Homeless Symposium - Essay Example Poor people are not able to pay for housing, and the situation is caused by the increased lack of employment opportunities and a decline in public assistance. Inadequate housing facilities have led to homelessness, as the available housing is too expensive thereby becoming unaffordable to the low- income households. Most women have run away from domestic violence together with their children leading them to homeless housing. Many families have ended in homelessness because of lack of affordable health care. The elderly poor individuals have landed in homeless apartments as their health decline and lack of public assistance increases. Drug abuse especially among the youths has made it possible for them to run away to homelessness as the society acts against their behavior. Homelessness in Indiana has adversely affected families and children in substantial levels. The trends depicted in national levels are trickling down to the local levels. Indiana has been ranked 24th in the number of homeless children in the entire nation. Moreover, Indiana has the high rates on the child homelessness making it 29th in the national ranking according to the National Homeless data. According to the national homeless data, in Evansville and its surrounding areas, more than 400 people are homeless of who one third of them are children. In these locales, at least 120 families are homeless daily. During the census of 2000, Evansville and its environs recorded the highest percent of homeless individuals per capita as compared to the numbers in the Indian county. Access to care that provides financial assistance to the target group would prevent them from eviction and will bolster public assistance thus enabling people to live with others. Access to care will enable a person to afford a rent of $ 457 per month if his or her wage earnings are at 30% Area Meridian Income (AMI). In Evansville and its

On Orientalism Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

On Orientalism - Movie Review Example The theme of Orientalism and empire is rooted in the reasons used to justify the colonization of the East by the European imperial powers (wings.buffalo.edu). The Palestine question is another intriguing aspect of how the orientalist trend by the West has created an ideal middle east in modern Orientalism. The media coverage of Palestinian people gives a distorted image of Palestine, which depicts its inhabitants as irrational, unreasonable and violent people. The practice of irresponsible journalism by the Western media thrusts the stone throwing brand on Palestine as violent country (wings.buffalo.edu). The Oklahoma City bombing is quintessentially a guiding experience of how the West has a misunderstanding of the Middle East as a terrorist region. The media, especially the London Sunday Times portrayed racist phrases. For instance, the attack was described as â€Å"match made in Mecca†. Said explores the impact of Orientalism in the production of information on a restrained framework that ignorant of the diversity of the Islamic world. Furthermore, the Oklahoma City bombing was not Middle East attack. In fact, the attack was reported to be from a deep-seated Christian origin (wings.buffalo.edu). The American Orientalism is rooted in American, foreign policy mainly influenced by political and economic interests in the East. The American Orientalism features along the theme of barbaric stereotypes of the Middle East inhabitants. The U.S views the Middle East with the notion that it is a terror region with the mission of disrupting peace and stability of the American people. Modern America experiences challenging diplomatic relations with the Middle East that began in the twentieth century demonizing the Muslims and Arabs as anti-western terrorists (wings.buffalo.edu). The Palestinian question is quintessentially an enlightening scenario that ushers modern Orientalism

Special Education Practices, Interventions And Strategies Essay

Special Education Practices, Interventions And Strategies - Essay Example The child who is shorter than average may be assumed to possess less physical and emotional ability. It may create a challenge for the educator of students with special needs to develop age and developmentally appropriate learning activities. It is imperative that educators develop strategies for teaching communications skills, reading, what the educator thinks the student’s the developmental stage should be. Each child who receives the special education is unique, with his or her own set of strengths, weaknesses, and abilities. The educator should develop strategies â€Å"for working effectively with community and services that can help meet the needs children with disabilities† (National Evaluation System, 2009). This means strategies should be based on the needs of the individual student, rather than based solely on diagnosis and assessment. Franz Boas (the originator of the four-field approach in anthropology and first chairman of the department of anthropology at C olumbia University) â€Å"demonstrated that all children pass the same developmental milestones, but at a rate affected by heredity, by nutrition, by climate and by interactions of all of these† (Little, 2008). Though two students of the same age may have the same diagnosis, differences in abilities and levels of development will exist, based on internal and external influences. Effective strategies for special education students are based on principles of human growth and development, while taking into account the many variables that influence the development and the uniqueness of the individual student, in terms of personal development.

Gender Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Gender Issues - Essay Example Gender Issues: Basically the story is about a little boy who is depicted as a "typical" little boy. Of course this is a stereotype, because his room is messy, his hair is tussled and many of his toys are on the floor. On the second page, there are three boys sitting at the table and they receive boy toys (a Corvette Sting Ray car kit and a Junior Undercover Agent code ring) in their cereal boxes. In the next pages a mother is driving the kids to school and there is only one girl seen in the entire book. There is a female teacher, an din Alexanders classroom, there are only two girls; there is one girl of color and all the rest of the children are Caucasian. On the next two pages, there are four girls and three boys; there is one boy of color. The next two pages have a girl and three boys, one of the boys is a boy of color. In the dentists office, the dentist is male, and it is the mother who brings the kids to the dentist. On the next two pages, there are only boys. The boys get into a small fight and it is mother who breaks them up. The next two pages show three male children. Towards the end of the book, we finally se a father. It is very apparent that the father is the "bread winner" and the mother is the homemaker. This is shown because dad is in a suit and tie and working in an office. The kids mess up his office and his reaction is "please dont pick him up anymore". This shows that the father does not take equal care of the boys. The story portrays a traditional family with mom taking care of the kids and the home. The father is at work in an office so he is the one who makes money for the family. The written depictions are about Alexander and his day so Alexander is spotlighted. Personal view: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day is a hilarious book. There is charm and with in it. I particularly liked that Alexander was always wanting to move to

Film Analysis on Badlands (1973) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Film Analysis on Badlands (1973) - Essay Example It ends with arrest of Kit while Holly receives probation (Sheen and Spacek 1). Editing The movie is edited in an appropriate and excellent manner because it is based on ancient time. This is apparent from the ancient designs of the houses presented in the movie. The clothing in the film suggests that the story happened in the mid 20th century. The film portrays crime and love as the main themes. In as much as love is a good thing, Kits and Holly’s relationship are characterized criminal activities. Holly narrates the story as it begins with her confession of ignorance on the consequences of her actions as well as Kits. The movie employs narration and flashbacks in presentation of the storyline. At the beginning, Holly confesses her ignorance and then proceeds to explain actions that led to her current state using narration. However, the story does not rely on narration alone but rather takes the audience through flashbacks highlighting activities that took place when Holly me ets Kit (Sheen and Spacek 1). The scenes follow in a successful sequence by portraying the lovable yet precarious situation of Kit and Holly. The audience loves the characters at this stage. The audience’s feelings change as they run from Holly burnt home. The editors made it appear as the expectations of the viewer slowly move from a sweet story to a thrilling encounter that is full of suspense and curiosity. The film portrays arrogant nature of Kit and his antisocial behavior. Holly’s narration uses third person as the subject. Her voice portrays her indifference after developing feelings of romance, violence, fear, hope and the ultimate fate that befalls them. Death does not seem to weigh on the conscience of the two lovers. This comes out in Holly’s passive voice as she describes her father’s reaction when he found out that she was secretly having an affair. In a voice devoid of emotions, she says, â€Å"his punishment for deceiving him: he went and shot my dog. He made me take extra music lessons every day after school, and wait there till he came to pick me up. He said if piano didn’t keep me off the streets, maybe the clarinet would† (Klein 1). She emphasizes her father’s treatment towards her and only mentions the death of the dog as a minor explanation (Klein 1). The film does not offer psychological concepts to explain the actions of the two characters. However, the film edition clearly points out the traits of the two characters. Production of the film is based on narration of Holly’s experience. The story follows the transformation of the girl’s innocence because she eventually realizes the processes in the world and law systems. Consequently, it does not explain Kit’s reasons for behaving in the manner he does. The story’s main setting is the road. Consequently, the film has various characters emerging and disappearing. The story only follows the two characters and touche s on their status at different times. Consequently, the production does not employ complex plotting (Sheen and Spacek 1) Sounds The sounds used in this film are both diegetic and non-diegetic. Diegetic sounds portray the world experienced by the characters, Kit and Holly. On the other hand, non-diegetic music allows the audience to understand the circumstances caused by the actions of the two lovers. Diegetic music entails the sounds felt by the characters while non-diegetic sounds are for the sake of the audience (Klein 1). Non-diegetic sounds emerge at