assignment

HANDOUT #2: DEVELOPING YOUR RESEARCH QUESTIONS

In this assignment, you will be taking the first steps toward creating your own research project.

Please answer the following questions in a separate, typed document. Please use a header for your document which includes your name, the class title, this assignment title (Handout #2), and the date. Please also copy the bold portion of each question before your response.

1. What is the general research topic you want to investigate? (This should be one sentence) It does not have to be in the area of counseling, but it should involve people’s minds and/or behaviors in some way (psychology, sociology, psychiatry, anthropology, political science, etc.—NOT biology or physical medicine).

2. What interests you about this topic? (1-3 sentences)

3. Locate at least 2 professional sources on your topic and correctly format their references here. At least 1 source should be a review article written in the last 20 years (2001 or later).

4. After reading these sources, create 3 different research questions you might want to investigate. Remember, each question should be a single sentence with clearly defined terms. It should tell you what type of data is needed to answer it and it should be feasible to investigate within the timeframe of this class and with minimal financial resources.

5. For each of your research questions, give your initial ideas about what research methods you might use to answer it. Make a decision about each of Spickard’s Steps 2-5 (Logical structure, Type of data, Data collection method, Data collection site). You do NOT have to decide about the data analysis method (Step 6) yet.

Once you complete this and turn it in, I will meet with you for about 5 minutes, either during break or after class, in order to give you some initial feedback.

This assignment, and the feedback that you receive on it, should be the foundation for your Research Proposal