Method Design

The Method Design is a textual document that identifies your specific research question and articulates how you intend to answer it through clear, theoretically grounded processes. The goal is to describe a process that is as transparent and reproducible as possible. Your Method Design will help you consider the rhetorical aspects of various approaches to your subject. You will incorporate the discourse you generate in this assignment into the methods section of your Research Paper.

Your Method Design should be approximately 600 words and follow current MLA format including documented sources. Your Method Design should include the following elements:

• A brief overview of your subject, including relevant contextual issues
• A clear statement of your research question
• A description of your methods—the type of approach you will take (text mining, content analysis, data visualization, surveying, interviewing, meta-analysis, correlation, experiment, case study, or ethnography) and the processes you will go through to answer your research question
• A discussion of why your methods are legitimate and appropriate (by pointing to scholarship that operates similarly)

The Method Design will be uploaded as a file. You can use course readings, class discussion, and outside examples to help create it. These commented examples (example 1 & example 2) from previous students may be helpful.