Articulating Your Research Project in 3 Steps

The following is a formula from The Craft of Research by Wayne Booth, Gregory C. Colomb and Joseph M. Williams. You can use this formula to better articulate your research project and its significance.  It can help you to answer the ever-important question of research -- "so what?"

1.  what you are studying—I am working on the topic of . . . 
2.  what you don’t know about it—because I want to find out . . . 
3.  why you want your audience to know and care about it—in order to help my audience understand better . . .

Example:

I am working on the topic of authorship and intellectual property rights in student academic work, because I want to find out how undergraduate students can protect their original ideas and properly credit others' work in their assignments and research projects, in order to help my audience understand better the importance of academic integrity, proper citation practices, and the ethical use of intellectual property in higher education.

Use part D of the worksheet to further articulate your research topic, using the 3-step model from The Craft of Research.