Final Research Project. Due by Day 7. The topic of your project needs to be a contemporary societal problem, such as healthcare reform, immigration reform, privacy rights, euthanasia, First Amendment Rights, stem cell research, capital punishment, corporate prisons, legalizing drugs, ageism, animal rights, cloning, prayer in schools, racial profiling, recycling/conservation, sexism, outsourcing jobs, workplace bullying, etc. The topic must focus on a single aspect, as in “How far do corporations intrude into the private lives of their employers?” or “The social costs of financing the distribution of custom-designed drugs.” You may suggest another topic to use, but the instructor must approve the topic during the Week Two Discussion.
The Final Research Project will present research relating the responsibilities of a critical thinker to contemporary society. In this assignment, you will do the following:
- Research one aspect of a contemporary social problem.
- Define the problem.
- Propose a possible solution for the problem.
- Create an argument that supports your thesis position. You should take on the perspective of a criticallythinking researcher. The argument must present a thesis statement and evidence to support the thesisstatement.
- Evaluate the ethical outcomes that result from the position you take on the issue and explain how thoseoutcomes would influence society and culture.
- Interpret statistical data from at least two peer-reviewed scholarly sources. • Evaluate evidence using the following standards: validity, reliability and bias related to the chosen topic and accurately identify strengths and weaknesses.Research and Define the ProblemYou must take on the perspective of your major field of study and explain in your paper what that perspective is and how it informs your view of the topic. The topics listed above are far too broad to write about in 10–12 pages (3,300–3,900 words). Instead, you must choose a narrowly defined thesis and approach it from the perspective of your field.Example: If you are an economics major, and you are interested in immigration reform, you should approach a very specific aspect of immigration reform through the lens of economic theory and practice. A specific thesis question would not be, “How does illegal immigration influence the U.S. economy?” One could write thousands of pages on such a topic. Instead, a better question would be, “How do illegal immigrant hotel workers in Chicago impact the economy of Northern Illinois?” You would then want to do the research and determine the positive and negative impacts they have, ultimately trying to conclude how illegal immigration in this area should be approached ethically.How to Hone Your Thesis: It is important that you start your research early in this course. Try to find the most important contemporary questions and theories in your field of study and then align the most important questions with a very specific aspect of the general topics above. For example, if you are a psychology major, you might want to start thinking within the realm of healthcare reform or aspects of mental health and criminality in the prison system.Your ArgumentYou must present a complete argument, including a major claim with at least five points of evidence, information, or data that will prove the claim.• The thesis statement must be
o Aclear,simpledeclarativesentenceasthefirstorlastsentenceintheopeningparagraphoftheessay. o Of such a nature that it can be substantiated, corroborated, verified, and proved through appeal toprimary or secondary academic research source materials. • The introductory paragraph must o Present the thesis statement, an explanation for the importance of the topic, and its relation to the student’s field of study.- Beliefs, opinions, and personal opinions must not be introduced at any point in the essay.
- All beliefs and opinions should be supported with academic evidence. Sweeping generalizations with nosupporting academic evidence do not reflect adequate critical thinking skills.
- Do not include rhetorical questions in your essays. All the questions that are pertinent to your project needto be answered in your essay and your answers again need to be supported with evidence from peer- reviewed journal articles and academically published books.
