RESEARCH PROPOSAL (12 points)

Due at the end of Week 3.

Late proposals lose .5 point per day late.

IMPORTANT: Your Proposal must be approved (by me) before you can carry out your project.

Your research project in this course will focus how how one of the social or behavioral sciences addresses a particular topic related to end of life issues. Completing this proposal is intended to help give you a clear vision of your research project, so that you can carry it out successfully.

Your proposal should be approximately 500-600 words and include all of the 7 points listed below.

1. A paragraph that describes your topic. What do you plan to address? Why is it important? Be sure to define any key terms. Include citations as appropriate.

2. A paragraph that describes the academic discipline that will set the context for understanding your topic. You can choose any of the disciplines introduced in Week 1 of this course. These include: anthropology, communication, community health, economics, geography, gerontology, political science, psychology, social psychology, or sociology. (If you would like to use another discipline — for example, criminology, please check with me; it’s most likely to be fine.) Explain the general approach of this discipline and include a citation.

3. A paragraph that identifies at least two things you hope to find out in your project.

4. Identify one resource from our course that you plan to include in your project and why it’s relevant.

5. Identify one organization that is relevant to your topic, and include the website URL. Explain why this organization is relevant to your topic.

6. Select and summarize at least two scholarly sources from the UMGC library that you anticipate that you will include in your final project, and explain how you think the article relates to your paper topic. Summarize each of the articles in 2-3 sentences, and in an additional 1-2 sentences explain why each article may be important to your project. Be sure to include citations and to list the full references in your reference list.

7. A complete reference list that includes the full references for all sources cited within your proposal.

Your research proposal will be graded according to the attached rubric (also available in the syllabus).