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THE GOAL OF A PROSPECTUS IS TO PRESENT A RESEARCH TOPIC, A RESEARCH QUESTION (OR SET OF QUESTIONS) AND A POTENTIAL
ANSWER TO THE QUESTION YOU HAVE POSED BY DISCUSSING THE ARGUMENT AND TYPES OF EVIDENCE YOU WILL USE TO CONVINCE
YOUR READER THAT YOUR ANSWER/ARGUMENT IS PLAUSIBLE. IN OTHER WORDS, A PROSPECTUS SHOULD ADDRESS: 1) WHAT YOUR
PAPER WILL BE ABOUT AND 2) WHERE YOUR PAPER WILL GO. IT IS IMPORTANT TO KEEP IN MIND THAT THE IDEAS YOU PRESENT IN
YOUR PROSPECTUS WILL CHANGE AS YOU DO FURTHER RESEARCH AND DEVELOP YOUR IDEAS. HENCE, YOUR GOAL IN WRITING A
PROSPECTUS (OR “RESEARCH PROPOSAL”) IS NOT TO CONSTRUCT AN “ANTICIPATED SUMMARY” OF YOUR RESEARCH BUT RATHER TO
PROVIDE A PROPOSED PLAN OF ATTACK THAT WILL GUIDE YOU IN YOUR DATA COLLECTION AND THE WRITING OF YOUR PAPER. THE
FOLLOWING ITEMS MUST BE INCLUDED:
1. AN INTRODUCTION. THIS INTRODUCTION SHOULD OUTLINE A SPECIFIC ISSUE, TOPIC, AREA OF INQUIRY, OR QUESTION(S) THAT
WILL BE THE FOCUS OF YOUR PAPER (SEE #2 BELOW). THIS ISSUE OR QUESTION SHOULD HAVE EVOLVED IN SOME WAY FROM THE LIST
OF PAPER TOPICS PROVIDED TO YOU.
2. A CLEARLY STATED RESEARCH QUESTION(S). THIS RESEARCH QUESTION(S) IS THE GUIDE TO YOUR RESEARCH PROCESS. IT SHOULD
OUTLINE A PARTICULAR PROBLEM, TOPIC, OR AREA OF INQUIRY, IN SPECIFIC TERMS. CREATING A GOOD RESEARCH QUESTION
INVOLVES PRELIMINARY READING AND RESEARCH THAT ALLOWS YOU TO NARROW YOUR FOCUS. BE CAREFUL THAT THE QUESTION(S)
YOU ASK, IS NEITHER TOO BROAD NOR TOO NARROW.
IMPORTANT NOTE: ALTHOUGH NOT ESSENTIAL, IT’S ALWAYS BEST TO GET TO THE POINT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. ITEMS #1 (INTRO)
AND #2 (RESEARCH QUESTION) CAN BE ACCOMPLISHED IN A SINGLE PARAGRAPH.
3. A PROPOSED ARGUMENT. FIRST, ASK YOURSELF FOR WHAT PURPOSE YOU ARE UNDERTAKING YOUR INVESTIGATION. IF YOUR
RESEARCH IS EXPLORATORY OR DESCRIPTIVE, WHICH THEORETICAL ORIENTATION WILL YOU USE TO FRAME YOUR RESEARCH (E.G.,
RADICAL FEMINIST, ECO-FEMINIST, GLOBAL/TRANSNATIONAL FEMINIST)? DEPENDING ON THE THEORETICAL ORIENTATION YOU
CHOOSE, YOU WILL END UP TALKING ABOUT DIFFERENT THINGS IN THE “DISCUSSION” SECTION OF YOUR FINAL PAPER. IT IS
IMPORTANT, THEREFORE, THAT YOU DECIDE ON AN ORIENTATION TO YOUR WORK BEFORE BEGINNING TO WRITE YOUR FINAL PAPER.
IN THINKING AND WRITING ABOUT THE PROPOSED ARGUMENT, CONSIDER THIS: HOW WILL YOU MAKE SENSE OF WHAT YOU FIND?
SECONDLY, USE THIS THEORETICAL (OR DISCIPLINARY) ORIENTATION TO PROPOSE AN ARGUMENT ABOUT THE PROBLEM, TOPIC, OR
QUESTION YOU ADDRESS. THIS ARGUMENT WILL BECOME THE THESIS OF YOUR PROSPECTUS.
3. A METHODS SECTION: A METHODS SECTION DEALS WITH THE TECHNIQUES YOU WILL USE TO GATHER INFORMATION ON YOUR
TOPIC OR QUESTION(S). IT SHOULD INCLUDE A DESCRIPTION OF: 1) HOW YOU PLAN TO GATHER YOUR DATA (E.G., REVIEW OF THE
EXISTING LITERATURE; LIBRARY RESEARCH), 2) YOUR INTENDED DATA SOURCES (E.G., BOOKS, WEBSITES, GOVERNMENT STATISTICS,
JOURNALS, ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS), AND 3) YOUR PLANS FOR HOW YOU WILL ANALYZE THESE. THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA WILL BE
USED TO ASSESS YOUR PROSPECTUS (WHICH SHOULD BE WRITTEN PROFESSIONALLY FOR A GENERAL AUDIENCE).
REQUIREMENTS:
1. TWO TO THREE PAGES IN LENGTH (A SEPARATE TITLE PAGE IS NOT NECESSARY)
2. TYPED, DOUBLE SPACED, PROOFREAD, SPELL-CHECKED, PLEASE!
3. A SEPARATE PAGE OF “PRELIMINARY” BIBLIOGRAPHIC SOURCES (WHICH SHOULD HAVE AT LEAST ONE ENTRY)
GRADING CRITERIA: (SEE GRADING CRITERIA FOR FORMAL WRITING ASSIGNMENTS)
1. QUALITY OF WRITING, CLARITY OF LANGUAGE
2. ABSENCE OF SPELLING AND GRAMMATICAL ERRORS
3. CLEAR DESCRIPTION OF THE PROBLEM/ISSUE/QUESTION YOU WILL ADDRESS
4. FOCUS OF RESEARCH QUESTION OR PAPER TOPIC (NOT TOO NARROW, NOT TOO BROAD)
5. RELEVANCE OF QUESTION/TOPIC TO COURSE (DOES IT DEAL WITH WOMEN OR GENDER?)
6. THOUGHTFULNESS OF QUESTION (CAN THE CLASS LEARN SOMETHING FROM YOUR RESEARCH?)
7. WELL STATED THESIS (I.E., PROPOSED ARGUMENT, INTERPRETATION, OR SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM/TOPIC)
8. CLEAR DESCRIPTION OF THE METHOD(S) YOU WILL BE USING TO GATHER DATA ON YOUR PROBLEM/ISSUE
9. CLEAR DESCRIPTION OF THE KIND OF DATA YOU WILL BE LOOKING AT (BOOKS, JOURNALS, ETC.).
10. PROPOSAL ON HOW YOU WILL USE YOUR EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT/TEST YOUR THESIS/HYPOTHESIS
11. AVAILABILITY OF RESOURCES (IS YOUR TOPIC SO OBSCURE THAT YOU WILL NOT FIND RELEVANT MATERIALS?)
12. CITATION OF RELEVANT SOURCES AND USE OF APPROPRIATE CITATION FORMAT; BIBLIOGRAPHY

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