Crafting a Research Statement for Symposium Project/WP2. Research Statements explain what you already know, what you are currently learning, and what information you still need to learn/find. Answer the following questions to help you craft your research statement:
What information do I already know about this topic?
What information am I currently researching?
What information do I still need in order to complete my research for this project and where can I find that information?
Go back to Writing Project Two: Issues in Community and Personal Identity in Academia and see what information you still need. To help you with this, think about what we are asking you to do with these assignments. Your Research Statement should be a road map for your research for the next few weeks. It should look something like this:
Lack of financial security for college students who are single moms is a current issue in academia and one with which I have personal experience. I have struggled with financial insecurity because it is hard to find jobs that have schedule that won't conflict with my parenting duties. As I research, I am learning that financial insecurity for single moms stems from gender-based income inequality and inflexible work schedules. Information I still need for this project includes other reasons for financial insecurity because I only have two so far and I need multiple perspectives, examples of single parents who are struggling with this, and solutions that have been proposed to address the issue because I don't have current knowledge on that. In order to find this information, I will consult the library databases for reasons and solutions for my issue, and newspaper articles/news magazines for interviews for actual examples of single college mothers struggling with lack of financial insecurity. I can also interview student mothers on this campus for more local information on this issue.
Your Research Statement should help guide you for the next few weeks.
Go over Research Log to clear up any lingering questions. Time in class to research and start crafting your Research Statements.
HW: A total of 4 sources are due in your Research Log by Friday. Research Statements are also due Friday before class.