DATE: 09/20/2014 SUBJECT: Research Proposal for Inquiry into the Discipline of Psychology
In what follows, I introduce my research project, provide background information on the project and a review of literature, and discuss my research procedure and methodology. I submit this research proposal for your review and approval.
Introduction
This project is basically about researching, obtaining information, analyzing, and with it, creating new knowledge about the Discipline of Psychology.
I believe this project is really interesting and worthwhile because it will help me know much more about the discipline I have chosen, which is Psychology, and with that knowledge I will be able to become an insider of this discourse community and thus, become a better student. As well as this information may be useful to the next generations who are also interested in this discipline.
This project fulfills the objectives of the assignment as it will help me understand how the discipline of Psychology is its own culture. This will make me understand exactly what is the discipline and the disciplinarity, which are the what-ness and how-ness, of the culture I am going to investigate. This investigation will either make me more confident about the decision I made on choosing Psychology as my major, or it may lead me the opposite, changing my major. Yet, another benefit I will obtain from this project is that I will develop my skills for conducting a meaningful inquiry. The knowledge I obtain from this project will not only benefit me, it may be useful to other people, such as researchers or other students.
I intend to accomplish deliverables such as my research paper portfolio, which will include all of my work regarding this investigation. I also intend to create new knowledge for myself and potential audiences, like other students interested in the discipline of Psychology.
Literature Review/Background
This project is associated with ideas such as inquiry, discourse communities, rhetoric, exigence, dissonance, discipline, and disciplinarity. This project fits with all of these ideas because this is an inquiry for which I will create knowledge about the discipline of Psychology, which includes its discourse community, Ethos, disciplinarity, etc.
In this project, I will explore certain aspects of the discipline of Psychology by answering my research questions, which are:
Primary Research Question How can I become involved in the discourse community of Psychology and with it become a better student of that discipline? Secondary Research Question What are the Customs/Habits of the discipline of Psychology, and how can I become more familiar with these to become a more successful student in the discipline?
What kind of knowledge is necessary to obtain a certain status in the discourse community of Psychology and how is it obtained?
How do professors and student relate in the discipline of Psychology and how does that help a student to become more familiar with the values and traditions of this discourse community?
These questions are effective for my investigation because they ask about several categories from the discipline of Psychology.
To my knowledge, I know there are other students who are involved in this project, but I do not know about someone who also wants to obtain knowledge of the discipline of Psychology, and if there is someone, I really doubt he/she will be exploring it exactly the way I am doing it.
Procedure/Methodology
In this investigation, I will need to collect data from different categories of the discipline of Psychology, such as customs, habits, relationships between professors and students, knowledge, status, values, and traditions. All of these categories of the discipline will be obtained through four research methods, which are:
Interviews I will ask a faculty member several questions about the discipline of Psychology regarding my research questions. This information will be very important and useful because it comes directly from someone who is already an insider in the discourse community I want to belong.
Surveys To obtain information from students of this discipline, I will make a survey and ask students about the discipline. This will help me with information on several of the categories from the discipline because this information will come from more experienced students who are already a part of that discipline.
Document Analyses To analyze papers such as course syllabi or course descriptions from Psychology classes will be very useful to acquire knowledge from the classes in general. I will ask for these documents to study and obtain the data I need from them to answer my research questions.
Site Observations I will be a spectator in a class which belongs to the discipline of Psychology. Of course I will need permission to do this, but this will really help with my research to really know how the discourse community of Psychology is by actually being there.
What I will need to complete this project is to ask for help and cooperation from a faculty member, most probably a professor, to obtain access to his/her class and with it collect the data I need with my research methods. Another thing I need to do in order to complete this assignment, is to record the data I obtain, for that I will need to type it in a writing software such as Microsoft Word.
The time-frame for completion of this assignment will be the whole semester, but each task will have its own deadline.
Conclusion
This is a really interesting project, it will lead to a big reward, new knowledge on the discipline of Psychology, but a huge reward cannot be obtained that easy; I am aware it will need time, hard work, and dedication. I know I can complete this project as it is of my own interest to know more about the discipline I have chosen. I am eager to create new knowledge from the discipline of Psychology to eventually become an insider of its discourse community and become a better student.