The first stage of this course requires developing a topic for research and presenting it in a formal manner for approval by the instructor. In order to do this, you will need to write a topic proposal of at least 500 words that addresses the following questions:
What is your research question/topic? State your topic and research question(s), if using a deductive approach, or what you seek to understand, if using an inductive approach, that enables you to integrate and apply your criminological knowledge and qualitative research skills; what are you trying to uncover and investigate about the subject that you will be studying?
What is the specific qualitative method that you will be using? Indicate what method you will be using to gain knowledge about your research subject. Why is this method the one that you chose for this research? What about this method makes it the best approach to study this subject as opposed to other possible qualitative methods? If you are doing interviews, you must include your list of questions with your proposal for approval prior to conducting any research.
Is the qualitative method proposed feasible? How much time do you plan to commit to this project (for example, if you are planning to do 10 interviews that last one hour each, you will need to spend about 8 hours per interview on transcription)? Can you access the population you plan to study? (Do you have access to key informants for interviews? Is the site of an ethnographic project publicly accessible?)
What are the potential ethical concerns regarding this project? Does this project meet the standards for minimal risk research as defined by the UFV Human Research Ethics Board (HREB)? What are the potential risks to participants or to you as a researcher (if there are none, you must indicate so)? What are the potential benefits to participants or to you as a researcher?
