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Statement of Interest Plan of Study. What it must include…. What Why How. Make me want to read it Do not assume I am familiar with your proposed research topic. What I do not want to know. Your childhood fascinations are of no concern to me…..
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What it must include… • What • Why • How
Make me want to read it • Do not assume I am familiar with your proposed research topic
What I do not want to know.. • Your childhood fascinations are of no concern to me….. • That you are the only person to ever think about this topic..
What I do want to know…. • It is a worthy project (and why) • Why is it relevant in today’s world • Your project has to have a wider social, cultural, historical, political, community relevance • If it builds on earlier work you have done
Let me know you are familiar with the existing academic literature on the topic (but you do not need to list every relevant source! Be selective).
Theoretical context • Demonstrate you are familiar with this as relevant • But do not ramble to impress here!
Clearly state what question/aspect of this issue/subject you intend to examine further in your research
But at the same time… • Be modest • Be realistic • Be aware of the limitations of what you can accomplish
Organizing your text • Your question/focus • The larger context
Organizing your text…. • The larger context… • Your question/focus
How are you going to do your research? • Community based research • Archival work (where) • Policy analysis (which ones) • Interviews (broadly who) • Experiments (psychology) • Textual analysis (which authors)
At what university you plan to do your research • In what program • And why it is the right place to do it • If you know, with whom and why
The absolute basics…. • Write clearly and succinctly • Do not use jargon • Eliminate all grammatical, spelling, syntax errors.
Have at least four people read it….three of these must be professors/supervisors • Proofread, proofread, proofread and proofread again…
Words to avoid!!! • Interesting • Important • Fascinating • ‘very’