Ids final paper

The Preliminary Research Paper must be 9-10 double-spaced pages (approx. 2800 words). You are encouraged to use all you’ve written in this class, albeit with a bit of revising and reorganizing.

Guidelines and Grading Criteria

Here are the specific details and guidelines. The paper should be structured and organized as follows:

Introduction (approx. 300 words)

Describe the research problem (i.e., what is motivating your project) and the purpose of your project as a whole. State the main research question(s) that guided your data collection and analysis in this class and your answer to the question or working argument/hypothesis.

Methodology & Sources (approx. 250 words)

Describe the primary sources you analyze in the paper, and explain why they are appropriate for helping you answer your research question(s). Also, briefly describe how you collected the sources. For this assignment, this description does not need to be extensive (i.e. you do not have to explain step-by-step how you collected the sources).

Substantiate Arguments and Claims (approx. 1700 words)

Applying your interdisciplinary research skills, substantiate your working argument/hypothesis by arranging and assembling your evidence. Here, you may need to make some additional claims to support your larger argument.

This section can therefore be split and organized into different subheadings based on the claims you are making. For instance, if your working argument is that Walt Disney Co. is one of the leading forces of American cultural imperialism around the world today (and you’ve collected evidence and data that you believe supports this), you could organize this section based on three claims that support the larger argument/hypothesis: 1) films 2) merchandising, and 3) theme parks—and then arrange your primary source evidence accordingly to support each of these claims.

In addition, you might also draw on scholarly sources to help boost the claims you are making from primary sources. This section will be the bulk of the paper. 

Conclusion and Future Research Plans (approx. 600 words)

Summarize the main findings of your preliminary research and explain the larger significance of the project (here is where you can discuss your contribution to your broader academic conversation). Most importantly, discuss at least two limitations of or barriers faced during this preliminary analysis and how you plan to address them as you continue to collect and analyze primary source data in IDS 495.

Works Cited or References Page

In addition to the 9-10 pages of text, you need to include a separate Works Cited or Reference page listing all the sources cited in the paper. I’d recommend you use the citation style you’ve been using throughout the course. 

Along with the above criteria, you will also be graded on writing clarity. So be sure to adopt a scholarly (as opposed to a conversational) tone, using correct grammar, spelling, and formatting (e.g. spacing, font, etc.). Also make sure the paragraphs are well-developed and sentences well-structured.