Your assignment is to propose a sociological research question and then to propose what theoretical perspective and methodology you would use to study it. The question should be driven by your interests and inspired by our readings and/or discussions of a particular sociological issue. Your proposal should make a case for a) why this question is of interest or significance to sociologists, and b) how you will use a particular theory and a particular method (as described in the text and expanded on in class) to research the question.

Note that research proposals normally require a more thorough literature review than is required for this assignment, i.e., the researcher shows how his proposed research contributes to existing types of knowledge about the subject matter. For this particular assignment, you are being asked to find and cite one academic source from outside of class. HINT: “follow the trail” of sociological knowledge by looking for a relevant article referenced in the class textbook.

Be careful! Do not pose a question that is already mostly answered in the text; do not pose a question that is too big or abstract to be tackled in one research project; and do not pose a question that cannot be (at least partially) answered through evidence-based research. Your assignment should be about 400 to 500 words in length. This assignment will be worth 20% of your total class grade.

Your proposal must contain the following sections:

1. A title

• As creative and evocative as is appropriate

1. An introduction

• Declare the importance of the research topic and hooks the reader into the rest of the proposal

1. What and why

• Specify your research question.
• Use academic sources to validate and support your project. In most cases these sources will be a citation of a source cited in your textbook, and your textbook and/or another source from the course, such as a film or a lecture.

1. How: method

• Describe how you are going to do your research.

1. How: theory and conclusion

• Explain your potential lens of analysis.
• Reiterate why this research is important.