Ask Your Subject Librarian
ACT UP - Assess Your Sources
As you find relevant information about your topic, begin assessing it critically by using the ACT UP framework. Consider the following questions:
A - Author
Who wrote the resource? Can you identify the author? Does the author's background lend credibility to this topic?
C - Currency
When was it written? Is it current enough for your topic?
T - Truth
How accurate is the information? Are all claims and external sources cited? Are there typos and spelling mistakes?
U - Unbiased
Consider how the implicit bias of the author may be influencing the way information is presented. If strong personal bias is present, it should be acknowledged and made explicit.
P - Privilege and Positionality
Consider the privilege and social positionality of the author. Are they transparent and reflexive about their positionality? Who is missing from the conversation? Whose knowledge or perspective should also be valued? Consider marginalized knowledge(s) and perspectives from sources that are excluded from academic publishing networks.
Adapted from Dawn Stahura, “ACT UP for Evaluating Sources” in C&RL News, Vol.79, No.10 (2018).
Welcome!
Welcome to the Sociology 2260 Research Project Proposal Assignment Guide
Here you will find tips and tricks for picking a topic, finding relevant resources, and writing your research project proposal.
Feel free to reach out to your Librarian, Megan Toye, to schedule an appointment should you want to discuss topic ideas, need support finding resources, or to help structure and clarify your final research project proposal.
Where to start?
Explore the Context
A good first step in the research process is to explore the context of your topic: post-secondary education in Canada. Treat this phase as an open-ended exploration where you follow your curiosity to understand what has been studied and where there are gaps or new questions to be posed.
Tips:
- Use the library databases, journals and books to generally explore ideas, issues, and trends in post-secondary education in Canada
- As you explore, start noting down key case studies, objects, contexts, important people, events or places that interest you
- Note down keywords or phrases that are commonly used in the subject area or that "jump" out at you and relate to broader topic
- Refine and narrow your searches as you go by adding more keywords (narrow/less search results) or removing keywords (broader/more search results)
- Try multiple searches! Combine different keywords or phrases to find a variety of perspectives
Ask Questions
Formulate Research Questions
Research questions allow us to organize our thinking around what we do not know.
Approach your research with curiosity and creativity. What did you find curious when conducting your contextual research? What do you see differently?
Write down as many questions as possible when you are reading and researching.
Review your research questions and ask yourself:
- Does my curiosity circle around a specific pedagogical approach, social group, theoretical perspective or subject area?
- What is it about this educational issue that I find curious?
- What do I want to know more about?
- If I follow this aspect, where will it lead me?
Use the answers to these questions to narrow your focus and find resources to support your research project proposal.