Goal: Write a short research paper (1 to 2 double-spaced pages) that calls upon one scholarly journal article that uses the method you’re considering proposing in your semester-long paper. Ideally, your selected journal article will be a study that looks at the same or similar topic you hope to investigate. 

Format of the paper:

· 1 to 2 double-spaced pages with in-text citations and a source list using APA at end

· Intro paragraph 

o Introduce your topic (same topic as semester-long paper), provide a tasty appetizer to the rest of the paper – 1 sentence

o Introduce your general approach (nomothetic quantitative social science or idiographic qualitative critical/cultural research) – 1 to 2 sentences; if you use the textbook, please use in-text citation

o Introduce your specific method (survey, ethnography, content analysis, focus groups, experiment, interviews, rhetorical analysis, etc.) – 1 to 2 sentences, if you use the textbook, please use in-text citation

· Body paragraph 1 – Address the “why question”: Why is your general approach and your specific method a good fit for you as a scholar and for your topic? “If this project were to be taken all the way through to a full empirical investigation of this topic, the method I would use would be focus groups. Focus groups would be ideal because there is not a lot out there on this topic just yet and so it could be explored at this initial phase via the focus group methodology.”

· Body paragraph 2 – cover scholarly journal article– summarize the method used, major results and conclusions, details about the sample (participants and/or media content being observed), unique aspects of the study 

· Body paragraph 3 – Restate your proposed method in clear terms and cover some of the specifics of how you would carry out that method: “To carry out this method, I would recommend conducting xx number of focus group meetings with xx number or participants…”

· Conclusion – tell us what you just told us in the above parts of the paper 

· Reference list (Using proper APA)

Keys to success on this paper:

· Find an appropriate peer-reviewed scholarly journal article that features the approach and method you’re considering (that is ideally on the same/similar topic as your paper)

· Accurate, specific and plainly stated coverage of the general approach and method you plan to propose in your semester-long paper

· Address the “why question” – why does this approach and that method make sense for your semester-long paper topic

· Accurate and thorough coverage of your peer-reviewed scholarly journal article

· Proper sourcing through APA

· Creativity and color in writing – research-based writing doesn’t need to be boring

· Clean, crisp, and carefully edited and revised paper free from typos and writing errors

· Thoughtful and coherent coverage of the “Information You Should Record”