Grace Dry

2 February 2016
Gilliland 6th Hour
Research proposal--complete
Research Paper Proposal

Subject of my research paper: Vaccinations and immunizations in young children.

Why I am interested in this topic: I am interested in this topic because the medical field is the
area I wish to work in when I enter the work force. Also, the topic of vaccinations and the debate
that surrounds them has always interested me.
Research Questions: Do vaccinations lead to more complications in childrens health? Are
children more at risk if they are not given vaccinations? Will the use of vaccinations cause a
negative or positive response in the media? What are the opinions about vaccinations, according
to parents? Do parents feel like their child is put at risk or unsafe if they are given vaccinations?
Tentative thesis: Vaccinations are beneficial to the general health of children and to not utilize
the medical advances the human race has made with vaccinations would be detrimental to the
well-being of children.
Summary of what I hope to accomplish with my research: With my research, I hope to
provide a reader with information they have not been presented with before. Hopefully, my

research will cause the reader to also develop an opinion on the issue surrounding vaccinations
and also do more research on their own. I will have to clarify and define words, since this topic is
based in the field of medicine, which many people do not have much detailed knowledge about. I
believe that I can best address the issue by presenting unbiased and reliable sources of opinion on
this topic. To further provide information, I will include articles and opinion pieces that are on
both sides of the debate, both pro-vaccination and anti-vaccination. I already have an opinion on
this topic, as I have created one while I have researched. However, I am not opposed to
developing another one. I wish to present my reader with a reliable source of information
concerning this topic and I want to do this in a way that the reader becomes as interested as I am
about the topic of vaccination. I do not want to influence the opinion of my readers, but I do
want them to become aware of this issue which they may have not been informed about before
reading my research paper.
Intended audience: My intended audience would be parents that are expecting a child or are
preparing to make a decision about immunization for their child.
Graphs or charts:
List of sources I have already found on the topic:
1) Sprague, Nancy, and Ballarlo, Beverly. "Vaccines & Health Hazards: An
2)

Overview." Points of View. EBSCO, 2015. Web. 2016.

Feemster, Kristen A. "Eliminate Vaccine Exemptions." Room for Debate. New

York Times, 5 Mar. 2015. Web. 3 Feb. 2016.

3) Margulis, Jennifer. "Parents Deserve to Have a Choice About Vaccination."
Room For Debate. New York Times, 23 Mar. 2014. Web. 3 Feb. 2016.
4) Gholipour, Bahar. "Vaccination Has Saved 732,000 Children's Lives Since
1994." LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 24 Apr. 2014. Web. 03 Feb. 2016.

5) Lee, Deborah, and Rosalyn Carson-Dewitt. "Point: Vaccines Save Lives."

Points of View. EBSCO, 2015. Web. 2016.

Kinds of sources I will use and why they will benefit my paper: I will use sources that
present an un-biased point of view on the topic and present the reader with purely
information. I will also use opinion pieces, but from both sides of the debate so that the
information being presented is the main reason for the paper, not to present and idea and get
readers to adhere to that idea.