Write a paragraph to page-long statement that introduces your research topic, poses your core question or questions and briefly outlines how you plan to proceed in terms of the types of sources you are considering and where you think you can find them.
Guidelines:
Topic Introduction:
The purpose of an introduction is to quickly familiarize the reader with your topic. What is it that you are going to discuss and/or research? A good way of doing this is to briefly explain what you know about the topic and why you think it is interesting and worthy of further investigation.
Research Question:
When searching for a question, or a way to state it, ask yourself: What do you think about existing interpretations of, or debates (that you know of) concerning your topic? In particular, what about prevailing understandings or interpretations of your topic seem unclear, or unsettled to you? (And, as this example illustrates, it is ok to ask more than one question. Just make sure they relate to each other, and to your central topic.)
Asking a question about the topic does two things: 1) it helps you organize your paper (and thoughts), and 2) it offers you a means of jumping into an existing debate or discussion and contributing some new idea or insight. A reader wants to know what topic or issues you plan to address, as well as what new ideas you hope to contribute to the existing discussion.
Research Outline:
I want you to start thinking about how you plan to proceed with your research. When answering this part of the assignment, think about what literature (academic articles, government or NGO reports, for example) or general sources (newspapers, broadcast news, news magazines, or books) you intend to use. Also, explain how you plan to conduct your research by either outlining a preliminary research design or describing where you think you can locate your sources (specific databases, indexes, government or NGO offices, for example).