SOCL 130: Introduction to Science and Technology Studies (HC)

Research is an iterative process, meaning a cycle rather than a straight line. You begin with brainstorming, move on to exploring background or foundational texts, refine your question/topic, delve into more targeted research, consider, ponder, take notes, notice gaps, and do more research. This is one reason why it's a good idea to start the process early. Hopefully, you enjoy your topic and find it interesting to follow new lines of inquiry before you synthesize and write.

One of your first challenges is likely turning a topic into a research question or problem.

You'll want to take your starting idea--for example, IVF--and think about what you might want to know to get started.

What kinds of scholars are writing about it (i.e. from which disciplines and frameworks)?

What population does it effect?

What are the political implications? 

What is the history of this technology and where is it headed? 

This phase requires some preliminary research. Once you have started to gather new information, you will be ready to start narrowing your topic into a question or problem that can be addressed in the length of paper required for a class. 

Note: MOST IDEAS ARE TOO BIG, NOT TOO SMALL.

You might decide you're interested in how IVF challenges the assumed boundaries of nature vs science or fits into narratives of race and reproduction in the United States.

Once you've narrowed your scope, you're ready to return to more scholarly research, with your new focus at the center. 

When writing a research or paper proposal, the most important thing is to start, even if it seems daunting. Having a basic, rough draft gives you a start towards refining your proposal and honing in on a specific set of questions you want to explore. The basic components of a proposal include: 

I. Topic of interest

II. Background on topic, or brief literature review

• What is the context?

III. Reason for chosen topic, or key question

• Is something missing from canonical literature regarding this topic? What new perspective are you bringing in?

IV. Contribution to existing literature

• How does your proposed research project provide a new or understudied approach to your chosen topic?

*Some helpful sentence stems to complete when starting your proposal include:

• When I started this course/paper/project, the thing that really interested me was...
• What makes it hard to engage with what I'm doing is that...
• The questions I find myself thinking about these days in class are questions like...
• If I had to put my paper into the form of a single question, it would be ...
• The observations I make that lead me to pose that question are...
• I want to know...

For more elaborate discussions on research proposals refer to:

Northwestern Office of Undergraduate Research: Proposal Writing 

• Disregard sections having to do with funding 

University of California, Berkeley Office of Undergraduate Research and Scholarship: Writing Research Proposals 

* taken from "Twenty Tips for Senior Thesis Writers (and other writers, too)," prepared by Sheila M. Reindl c/o Bureau of Study Counsel