Submit 1. A 500- to 750-word Research Project Proposal (two to three double-spaced pages in 12-point font) and 2. An Annotated Bibliography: The bibliography should include three credible sources, only one of which can be an organizational or company site (.org or .com). VSCS Libraries offer many resources and the librarians are very helpful. Please Note: Research is a process. The proposal and annotated bibliography are mandatory elements of that process. I will not read your research paper draft if you have not submitted a proposal and annotated bibliography to me. If I have not received your proposal (with annotated bibliography) and a final paper draft by Week 12, I’ll assume you don’t plan to complete this course. Preparing the annotated bibliography will enhance your understanding of the issues related to your topic. Writing the proposal will help you to draft a plan for completing the research project. A sample proposal and a handout on how to write an annotated bibliography are available in Course Resources (go to Modules > Course Resources). If your proposal and annotated bibliography present the foundations for an argumentative essay, I’ll approve your project. If not, I’ll suggest ways for you to revise the proposal and/or bibliography and you’ll have to resubmit the assignment. Instructions: Submit: A 500- to 750-word project proposal along with An annotated bibliography of three sources related to your research project. The bibliography must be annotated in order to receive full credit. The proposal presents an overview of your research goals and serves as a written commitment to complete the final paper. Keep in mind that the proposal is just that. You are not compelled to keep the topic or the thesis. If you change your thesis but not the topic, you will not need to submit another proposal. If you change your topic, however, you are required to submit a new proposal and annotated bibliography. What to submit: 1. The proposal should be in the form of an essay, and should include all of the following: Your research paper’s working thesis: This is essential. The thesis statement must present an arguable claim. Brief background information on your topic. Description of the research problem or question you plan to address. An explanation of the importance of the topic for you and for others. A plan for locating relevant, credible source materials, including suggestions you received from a librarian. 2. An annotated bibliography is an alphabetized list of sources that includes (a) descriptive and (b) evaluative comments (the annotation) on each of your sources. In addition, each annotation should explain how relevant the source is to your project. Each annotation should be 150-200 words. See handout on how to write an annotated bibliography (in Course Resources). If you plan to conduct interviews, please read “Guidelines for Student Research Projects involving Human Subjects” and “Participant Consent Form” (in Course Resources). Certain interviews require permission from the Academic Dean. Read the guidelines. If you use human subjects in your paper and have not followed CCV’s protocol for such research, you will not receive credit for your paper. You are not required to do original research so before shaping your paper around such research, consider an alternative approach.
