1 – The Proposal
The research project may need to be presented to a review board for academic or financial considerations. In this case you would be required to provide a proposal. This is a short text (max 800 words), where you map out what you would do if you got the green light on this research project. Reviewers will appreciate that some of the background research is on the right track. They might propose more documents, or to add sources from opposing view-points.
Include
- Research Question
- Methodology: Population / Sample / Instrument
- Time needed and Total cost
- Potential sources of information
When presenting the potential sources of information, you may be asked for an annotated bibliography. This is a very useful tool at the beginning of the research project.
Annotated Bibliography
You can think of this as a bibliography, to which you add annotations, which are short summaries of the documents (max 80 words each).
Annotations include
Format
The reference is done in the style prescribed (APA or MLA). The Annotation follows under the same paragraph, using the hanging indent (CTRL-TAB). References are in alphabetical order.
Example:
Annotated Bibliography
Bergeron, L. (1971). The History of Quebec, a Patriote's Handbook. NC Press, Toronto.
A retired Concordia University History Professor, Bergeron is a pro-revolution Quebec nationalist and playwright. Other works include history-themed comic books, and Quebec-language dictionaries. A translation from French, this handbook provides an account of Quebec history from the French-Canadian point of view, an incursion for Anglophones to read into a Quebec nationalists’ mindset.