ENGL 104: Group Research Proposal
Due: Day of your conference
Purpose
Proposals are a common writing task that you will encounter in later college and work-related assignments. In
your group’s research proposal, identify a topic you want to investigate, and explain why you’re interested in that
topic.
Topics
Successful topics include localized issues that your group has some stake in.
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Texting: Is texting affecting the academic achievement of college students?
Bio fuels and public transportation: Should the Huskie buses use bio-diesel?
***Note: The more common the topic, the more effort required to present a unique angle.
Organization and Development
Your collaborative research paper should express an original consensus of opinion on an issue, pursue an
important question, make a unique connection between competing views, or suggest a solution to a problem.
Organize your 3 to 3½ -page proposal around the following questions:
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Why is your group interested in the topic, and what is your connection to it?
What do you already know about the topic, and what do you all want to learn?
What stance or thesis will you try to support?
Who will be interested in reading your work, and why?
Where will you seek information?
o Give specific examples you’ve already discovered together—possibly through
Amazon.com or Google. (Consider books; articles from newspapers, magazines, and
academic journals; websites; interviews; surveys; films or documentaries; images.)
How do you think you’ll set up your project as far as individual duties—and what aspects do you each
intend to look at?
What do you hope to accomplish together by researching the topic?
Audience
You should consider your readers to be new to the topic. Your instructor is also an important reader, because your
aim is to get your topic approved by showing that you know how to research it.
Evaluation
Your proposal counts for 5% of your research project. Approval is based upon the quality of your answers to the
questions above.
Getting Started
Each group member should identify 3 key words for locating preliminary sources. Try entering these key terms in
Google, Amazon.com, and other search engines such as NewsBank, online sources at the NIU library, etc.
Put together a list of the sources that seem most promising (2 per person). Also name three people you could
interview about your topic.