Earth to Student, This is Earth...

The "conclusion" of a Research Proposal is very important. In the professional world, it is your last chance to try to get money/permission to do the research. The conclusion is the section in which, after providing all of what you want to do, your goal is to convince your audience why they should care, and why the project is relevant to your own learning/professional development.

Two generic ideas you should make specifically clear in your RPs:

1. local implications: how are your own scholarly goals benefitted from doing the project. What will this project help you learn?
2. global implications: what will your research ADD to the larger academic world? Also, outside of academia why would a general audience be interested in you writing on your subject?

WHY :: Significance

With both implications on your mind, how does one accomplish clarifying beyond the obvious?Below are some critical thinking/talking points which should inspire you to provide detailed explanation of why you believe people will be interested in reading that final paper that will be a result of your research.

First, you need to understand (if you don't) that you are, in some way, defending why I should let you write on your subject-culture. Look at me as your Publisher, Boss, or Chair of the Board. Look at the final paper as something that you want published, a personal goal you are trying to fulfill.

Now, the reasons your project might be relevant are numerous, and varied. Each of you should and will have different reasons for seeing the validity in doing your project. Here are a couple of categories in which your own vision can be articulated. These are just a few categories, or general topics, that you could center your "significance argument" around.

• Stereotypes // Assumptions -- the most generic and easiest to "see," because part of human nature is to stereotype the world to make life easy to comprehend. However, what about stereotypes are you exploring? Which ones, what might people learn? WARNING: trying to prove the validity or invalidness of a stereotype, whether it is a good one or a bad one, is not what our projects are about. You are not writing well-informed Op-ed pieces; you are investigating the beliefs and roots of what makes up the culture. Remember that! So, what do you hope an audience can learn from your researching stereotypes? Where do the stereotypes come from? What will we gain from knowing the roots? How do those roots relate to other disciplines? Other cultures? Do you

• Cultural Trend -- you may have identified in your proposal a behavior or belief you find to be "trendy." So what? What questions do you have? Do you have assumptions for where the trend came from, other trends it is similar to, assumptions for how the trend represents its culture? Will you explore how trends spread in your culture, and how is that relevant?

• Cultural Phenomenon -- trends and phenomena are siblings (or at least cousins). Do you see the behavior or belief you are exploring as a possible isolated or spotty one? But, if the behavior is so out of the ordinary, what makes it so "fascinating" to study?

• Culture Evolution -- are you exploring ways that your culture has transformed, for example, its language; its food sources; its religion? Again, what can be learned by identifying and exploring the transformation?

• Old Subject, New Outlook -- many subjects have been written about a thousand times over. Many of those subjects, though, are looked at using the same lens -- the same theories within the discipline -- over and over. For instance, many academics and journalists have written (and still do) about the failure of communism and Russia being a result of corruption within the military/govt. ranks (bureaucracy). It is a warranted cliche, but still a cliche, to discuss the bureaucracy. Why not look at other areas for the failure and fall of the USSR? Taking this example to our own projects: do you think your project takes a fresh outlook on a commonly explored culture? How is your approach fresh, and how are you looking differently at the culture?

• Cross-Disciplinary Theory Application -- perhaps you find relevance in the science geeks dream: taking a well-known, respected and practiced theory from one discipline and analyzing you subject under the principles of that theory. For instance, analyzing Isaac Newton's Laws of Gravity as they apply to cartoons! Or, more relevant to Cultural Inquiry: using sociologist Max Weber's theories of music and its impact on and by society and applying them to your own culture. In fact, what Weber did was to develop sociological theories by looking at the discipline that is "Music." He strove to make connections between a society and its music.

• Cross-Cultural Parallel -- do you think there might be a connection between two seemingly distinct cultures? How so? I find such work, even if not your focus, will be inevitable to your learning and understanding of...LIFE!

SO?!?

From the above topics, which do you find most fits why you want to do your project and why you think your project will yield worthwhile material? Have confidence in this proposal, and work to convince us to be interested.

Writing Prompt: in the next 20 minutes, defend your project! Develop some rationale from two places: 1. The above categories, and 2. By reflecting on your introduction* and what you have told us about your culture in it.

*This is one way that you can help build a theme throughout your proposal. You should have a theme in the proposal, and the conclusion should further ideas provided at outset of the Proposal.

Homework:

• Reminder: Research Proposal is due Wednesday!

• Read Translating Culture: Chapter 4 (framing ethical research)

Research Proposal

Due: Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Required Content & Guidelines:

In a 3-page proposal worth 10 pts (10% of course grade), you will want to include the six parts generally outlined below. Parts 1-3 can be seen an “introduction” to culture; 4-5 the “approach” aspect of a proposal; part 6 the conclusion of a proposal, used to explain relevance of project.

MLA format, 12 pt. Times New Roman, with a creative & informative title.

Use the outline below, but also do not write like a robot. Pay attention to your prose, and work on language that will bring your project to life in our imaginations!

Proposal Outline

I. Introduction of Culture (~3-5 paragraphs):

1) Define your subject culture. What are some “defining” characteristics of the culture that would allow your reader to visualize them? What do they look like? What are their major beliefs? What are normal general behaviors? What is their history? Is there a historical nugget important to getting to know culture?

These questions should inspire you to give a portrait-in-words to your audience. Another category that might be relevant to address, depending on your culture: place. How important is location – are they buried deep in the Amazon (kidding!)?

2) Provide your original, personal interest in doing this Cultural Inquiry, including: knowledge and current level of “insiderness.” Why this culture? How much are you already part of culture?

3) Provide your original line of inquiry that you are using to look at culture beyond surface. Provide two to three “starter” questions gives the audience reading your proposal a clear idea of what you want to explore about the culture beyond the surface; show that you have thoughts about culture you want to investigate and have identified those questions.

Also, provide a clear exploratory thesis/tagline à Ex: “My major aim in exploring ‘going emo’ is to meditate on the representational value of dress and persona within Columbia College’s Emo culture.”

II. Plan of Attack (~3-5 paragraphs):

4) Outline your plan of attack going forward, using specific detail. Detail is key. Depth of detail is key. Giving context to the steps in your plan is key.

What places will you visit, and why? Do you have specific people to already interview, or to use as “informants” in doing project? Do you plan to take pictures of, or record your cultureà How are you documenting your observations?

Offer specific, detailed steps, rather than just vague actions you will take. Show your thought process in your steps. Let your audience see that you are taking considerate steps, not thoughtless ones!

Here is an example of effective and ineffective outlining language:

Effective (good level of detail):

Since a large part of my original inquiry revolves around the question, “Do teens at the youth shelter come there to escape the dangers of the neighborhood or out of genuine interest in a specific activity offered at Urban Youth,” I will be looking for texts centered on the social sciences that include discussion of adolescent or teen mindsets and the idea of safety; the role of community centers in impoverished areas; studies done on peer pressure; texts written about artistic ambition in teenagers, especially in urban areas.

In general, search terms like “urban teens”, “community centers” and “art” seem important to finding relevant articles.

Ineffective (generic, obvious, empty detail):

I will go to the library and look up books on psychology and sociology. I hope to find articles on youth culture and community centers. I want to leave no stone unturned. (Look at that icky cliché! What empty words!)

5) Spend one to two developed paragraphs discussing your background research.

What author(s), theories, and specific texts have you already read whose material you are using to shape the way you look at culture? What linguistic, psychological, sociological, historical, biological theories or hypotheses are you going to use in research? Have you read up on another culture that you want to compare to this culture – what texts? Beyond just listing the texts read, provide key ideas taken from them and clarify how you are applying them to your project now. This is an extension of your “plan of attack,” where you discuss steps already taken.

III. Conclusion (~1-2 well-developed paragraphs) à Why the World Will Care…

6) Relevance to world*. Why will an audience be interested in your study? What are you going to add to the academic/intellectual community by doing this project? Reflect upon the research that’s already been done on subject, or the lack of reading material on the group!!!

Put the culture into context of the contemporary world we live in…. What is going on, or do you see happening out in the world that makes your writing on this culture something people will want to read??? As writers, you have to defend what you want to write . . .

*Don’t be afraid to reference popular culture. What’s hot? Vampires, celebutantes, reality tv, economic crisis, two wars, gossip, Gosselins, going “green,” . . .?