The idea is very simple: pick a case study pertaining to the culture wars. Then, analyze
the case study through a scholarly lens. The point is to educate the class about some
interesting facet of the culture wars.
RESEARCH PROPOSAL COMPONENTS:
1st Section: Introduce your case study
Begin your proposal by describing a concrete case study that you wish to
write about. The case study must illustrate some facet of the culture wars. It
can be gleaned from a news story, a magazine article, a book, a media
campaign (political, commercial, social), or perhaps any combination of
these. It must be some clearly identifiable culture wars phenomenon suitable
for serious scholarly study.
2nd Section: Spell out your research problem
This is the most important part of the project. It consists of a three-step
formula: topic, question, and significance. You will need to 1) make your
topic explicit, 2) pose a research question about that topic, and 3) state what
difference your project will make either to understanding or to practice.
EXAMPLE: 1) I am conducting a study of the Trump Administrations
child separation policy because 2) I want to determine if it constitutes
a case of political trolling 3) in order to inform social media scholars
of the corrosive effects of the culture wars on the practice of
democracy.
NOTE: Coming up with a good question is the most challenging part of a
serious research paper. Always observe the following rules when formulating your question:
Do not ask a question with an obvious answer.
Ask yes or no question. Do not ask a why, what, or how question.
Ask an empirical question about what is or is not the case, not a
moral question about what should or should not be the case.Once youve spelled out your research problem, state your hypothesis.
For this, you will simply turn your question into either an affirmative or negative statement.
separation policy does indeed constitute a case of political trolling.
Who is your ideal target audience and why? Why should they care? What
might they hope to benefit from your research? Note: Your audience cant be
society. Its important to be specific.
3rd Section: Recommendations
State potential recommendations or lessons learned, depending on possible
outcome(s) of your research. If the answer to your hypothesis is yes, then
what are the practical implications? If the answer is no, then what are the
practical implications?
4th Section: Annotated Bibliography
Minimum of 8 sources (at least 5 scholarly)
CITATION STYLE: APA
FORMATTING: 12 point, Times New Roman, double-spaced
LENGTH: This should be a minimum of 4 pages.
