Chapter 3

            Chapter 3 is about developing your research question and proposal. You must ask yourself “How can I develop my research question”? You do this by, reflecting on your writing situation. You can generate potential research questions by looking at things like information, history, assumptions, goals, outcomes, policies, definitions, evaluations, comparison/contrasts, cause/effect analyses, problem/solution analyses or advocacy, sequential analyses, inquiry, and reporting. Craft questions that reflect your writing situation. Selecting and reflect on your research question by referring to shared assumptions and existing conditions, narrowing the scope of your research question, and conducting preliminary searches. You must then create a research proposal. You do this by identifying your topic, issue, and research question; providing a review of literature. Explain how you’ll collect your information by identifying relevant types of sources, and identifying appropriate search tools and research methods, developing a project timeline, compiling a working or annotated bibliography. Make sure to clarify and elaborate on your core proposal by creating an abstract or executive summary, creating an overview of key challenges, and funding a request and a rationale. Remember the steps. 1) Reflect on your writing situation. 2) Generate potential research questions. 3) Craft questions that reflect your writing situation. 4) Choose and refine your research question. 5) If necessary, develop a research proposal.