Final Research Project
The topic of your project needs to be a contemporary societal problem – “Recycling”
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 critically thinking researcher. The argument must present a thesis statement and evidence to support the thesis statement.
- Evaluate the ethical outcomes that result from the position you take on the issue and explain how those outcomes 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.
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 Argument
You 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
- A clear, simple declarative sentence as the first or last sentence in the opening paragraph of the essay.
- Of such a nature that it can be substantiated, corroborated, verified, and proved through appeal to primary or secondary academic research source materials.
- The introductory paragraph must
- 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 no supporting 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 need to be answered in your essay and your answers again need to be supported with evidence from peer-reviewed journal articles and academically published books.
Attributes of Good Critical Thinking in Papers
