Chapter 3- Developing your research question and proposal

Section A focuses on the question 'How can I develop my research question?' There are 4 steps to this. The first step is to reflect on your writing situation, which is basically asking yourself if anything has changed throughout researching your topic, if you've changed your role you want to adopt, etc. The assumptions, goals, outcomes, etc. The third step is to craft question that reflect your writing, use the standard what, why, when, where, who, and how. The final step is to select and refine your research question. You should refer to shared assumptions and existing conditions, narrow the scope of your research question and conduct preliminary searches.

Section B focuses on the question 'How can I create a research proposal?' You need to identify your topic issue, and research question, you then need to provide a review of literature. Next you explain how you'll collect information, the types of sources you intend to collect, types of search tools, types of strategies you intend to use, and your schedule you'll follow as you carry out your searches. You are going to need to develop a project timeline which will help you stay on track and keep you from getting overwhelmed. You need to compile a working annotated bibliography in MLA format, clarify and elaborate your core proposal.