As you will learn in this course, there are many different types of academic research that can be legitimately and productively undertaken, and a vast universe of possible topics to research. In this discussion thread, let’s begin brainstorming about what topic you might choose for your culminating paper in this capstone research course. How will you research it? How you will make clear your purpose, evidence, results and conclusions in your paper. An important quailifier: your decisions about these things will likely change a lot over the next few days, and that is fine, and likely good. For this assignment, we want only to practice beginning to think through raw possibilites. So, don’t be afraid to get your feet wet here conceptually. “Come on in, everyone. The water is fine.”

In so doing, tell me (and all of us) here,as specifcially as you can:

1. What would be a good example of something you might wish to choose as the topic of your research in this class?

2. What significant question will your research be striving to answer (researchers generally call this the “central question” of their work).

3. Where will you find direct, original evidence from which an answer, or answers, to your central question might be determined. In other words, what will your sources be?

4. Given the nature of this possible project, how will you present your evidence and conclusions in your final paper in this course? Do you expect to mostly be arguing to your conclusions from numbers, quantitatively? If so, will you likely use graphs, tables, etc.? Or, do you anticipate a more qualitative style of evidence and preserntation–one that relies mostly on logical narrative argument?

Again: we are just getting started. This is only an opening exercise. You will remain free, for a time, going forward, to change topics and plans, but talking about these kinds of issues now is a great way for us to begin together!

So, have at it. Let’s do this research thing! …And let us begin, in this thread, here, and now.