530b Course Project - Develop a field research proposal

This is an individual project. You will write an in-depth proposal for field research in your own research area of interest. The depth of the proposal should be such that it could be quickly iterated upon with your supervisor and used to obtain ethics and go forth and research next term. Justification of the approaches selected should be sufficient for inclusion in a thesis.

The final proposal should include:

• an overview of your specific research field and your research goals that would require field research
• discussion of the research focus areas (with a list of focus topics similar to NECTAR assignment 1)
• an analysis of the pros and cons of different methodological approaches in order to justify one approach (or 2 complementary ones) with which to move forward
• a complete research protocol for the approach, including specifics of recruiting strategy, data collection methodology, data collection instruments (questionnaires, semi-structured interview questions, etc.), planned analysis, etc. Remember to justify your choices.
• feedback from the first draft should be incorporated (resubmit the marked first draft as an appendix to the final project report)

• Feb 19th: Identify research area and send Kirstie an email with a couple of paragraphs describing the research area and your high-level research goals that would require field research
• Ongoing: feedback from Kirstie as desired - email for an appointment
• March 19th: Research proposal - first draft (worth 10/35)
• March 26th: Feedback on the first draft will be returned
• wk of April 13th: Research proposal presentations (worth 5/35)
• April 17th: Submit your final research proposal (worth 20/35)

• the overview of the research field and your research goals/questions/focus should be fully fleshed out
• the analysis of the pros/cons of different methological approach and your justification for the approach you've selected should be complete
• At least a very high level (point form ok) outline of what you plan to include in your final protocol should be included so that you can receive feedback on whether the scope of your proposal is sufficient. Initial feedback will be given on any components of the protocol that are fleshed out.