OVERVIEW

Share your possible research interest for Paper #3. Out of everything that you might write about, what topic or issue interests you most, and why?

DUE THURSDAY 11/11 BY 11:59 PM

In 5-7 sentences, share your possible research interest for Paper #3. Out of everything that you might write about, what topic or issue interests you most, and why? What do you think is most important within the suite of issues we have discussed in this course? How might you conduct your research (as in, what sorts of sources might you investigate to find answers?)

DUE SUNDAY 11/14 BY 11:59 PM

What advice can you offer 2 of your classmates regarding the research topic that they have indicated they might write on? Where might they look for information or rhetoric? What analysis do you think is crucial to include in any paper addressing the topic they are researching? (For this week’s post, you can wait for Canvas to assign you two classmates to respond to, or you can select your own.)

You are welcome to post your responses as 2-4 minute videos or audio statements rather than written text, if you prefer. You can use the native client in Canvas to do so.

3.15 Choosing a Research Focus (READ)

OVERVIEW

To be successful on Paper #3, you must first decide what your research topic will be. This page will give you some ideas for how to make that decision.

INFORMATION

Here are some ideas to help guide you in your self-directed research process.

What Are You Wondering?

We covered three sets of articles in this course, another others. Each of the unit readings were linked thematically around a central idea.

The UNIT 1 READINGS

Actions

introduced the problem of information disorder (colloquially known as ‘fake news’) and its effects on our society, particularly our democracy.

The UNIT 2 READINGS

Actions

honed in on the troubling rhetoric employed via big technology platforms and its direct consequences.

The UNIT 3 READINGS

Actions

broadened the issue to include ways in which big players such as data analytics companies, political operations, and foreign governments use these technology platforms to influence elections and, ultimately, degrade democracy around the world.

Narrow It Down

Somewhere within this broad topic of big data misuse, corporate malfeasance, and cultural consumption of social media, you must locate a smaller topic to work with.

Start by identifying areas which interest you, sub-topics you want to know more about. Or, if you already have a strong opinion on one of these issues, go with that.

Write a research question — that is, a question that you will answer via the confluence of deep research and the relationship between the answers you find and your world view.

The below questions, which I posed to you last week, are example of research questions, and you are free to use any of them or write your own. Answering your research question results from researching your topic and forming an opinion that you can express as a thesis statement.

• Should data rights be considered human rights?
• Should social media be subject to stronger government regulation?
• Should the deliberate spread of disinformation and malinformation be subject to criminal liability?
• What should be done about political figures who rely on information disorder to achieve their goals?
• What should be done about foreign governments who weaponize information disorder against us?
• What can we do to ensure democracy survives the onslaught of weaponized disinformation?
• How can we heal the cultural divide exacerbated by information disorder and those who would capitalize on it?

Write Your Proposal

This is the writing exercise for the week, though it counts as part of Paper #3. You can write this proposal before, during, or after conducting your research, but the goal is to give me and you a pretty good idea of what you final draft will do.

You might discover during the research process that what you submitted for a proposal might have to change — that your final paper will not be on the same topic, or your position will change. That’s okay. Researching a topic often leads you in unexpected directions. Embrace it.

Conduct Research

A sizeable portion of your work this week and next should be beginning the process of researching sources for Paper #3. In this way, you will prepare to write the annotated bibliography for next week, and will engage in good scholarly practices of investigation, evaluation, and compilation of the issue you have chose.