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A prospectus is a sort of overview of a
research project, a description of the topic you are researching, a
discussion of how you are doing the research, and a time-line that shows when
you will do what. For your research paper in EDUC 202/HIST 202, the specific
requirements are as follows.
Turn in a prospectus and preliminary bibliography --two separate documents
-- no later than 1/24/08. The prospectus should state which topic you will
research, the specific focus you will take on the topic (that is,
your thesis statement), and the arguments that you will use to support
your topic -- the main supporting points you will discuss in the paper.
The prospectus should provide a time-line showing when you will complete
the research, when you will do the writing, when you will do the revisions,
and when you will do the editing. (These need to be realistic estimates.)
You need to be as specific as you can because, based on what you say
in the prospectus, I may ask you to significantly revise the direction
of your paper (or not). The prospectus should be about 1 or 1-1/2
pages in length -- no longer than two.
The preliminary bibliography needs to be a separate document, but
is due at the same time as the prospectus. The bibliography must state
what sources you are pretty sure you are going to use (listed alphabetically
in American Psychological Association bibliographic form)– you
should already have done a lot of the reading and know what sources
are useful to you and which ones aren’t. I expect you to know,
by this time, pretty much what sources you are going to use and what
they say about your topic. In other words, you should not only have
gotten the research materials, but you should also have studied them. The preliminary bibliography should include
a minimum of nine (9) sources -- 4 book sources and 5 journal sources;
you may not use web sources unless you are certain they are reputable,
scholarly works --on-line scholarly journals are fine if they are
reputable scholarly journals.
Both the preliminary bibliography and the final bibliography need to be done
in American Psychological Association bibliographic form. You will find
pretty much what you need to know in Rules for Writers.
The final bibliography in your research paper shouldn't be much different
from the preliminary bibliography.
The prospectus and preliminary bibliography will both be graded and will
count for a significant portion of your grade.
I won't accept them late without severe penalties.
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