Urban Studies Senior Paper

Choose a topic for Urban Studies Senior Paper. Write a one-page summary (roughly three paragraphs) to include:
1. Your main research question
2. Any sub-questions you think might be relevant and answerable
3. The justifications for your research

In your first paragraph, briefly introduce the purpose/intent of your research and end with the
main question you wish to answer and any sub-questions you think might also be relevant. Your
main/overarching question should reflect the purpose/intent of your research project, establishing
expectations for the outcome of your research efforts. You may or may not have sub-questions.
These are peripheral to your main question and must be answerable within the scope of this
project-like your main question. Only include sub-questions if they lend support to your main
question. Finally, your research question(s) should be stated as question(s), not hypotheses or
proposals.

In the remaining paragraphs, present a justification for conducting this research. Critically think
through what kind of knowledge will be produced by this research project. Is it relevant? Will
the knowledge you produce in answering your research question make an important contribution
to the related literature? Could your findings impact practice? Or, could they draw attention to
an important issue that, to date, has received little consideration? Consider whether or not the
research you propose has been conducted already. If so, what might be the value of another
study? A justification represents an opportunity to consider the value and relevance of your
work. Do not simply restate your purpose and question. A purpose/intent should be what you
intend to do; your goal. A justification should set your expected outcome within the context of a
broader understanding of the issue.

Example: Your purpose may be to talk to people within a neighborhood about a proposed ‘dog
park’ since there appears to be a planning trend toward establishing pet-specific open space.
Your research question may be: “Do a cross-section of Normal Heights neighborhood residents
view the establishment of a dog park on 9th Street and Normal Avenue as an asset to their
community, or do they view this as a negative type of land-use designation due to activity that
will take place at the pet specific park or due to the lack of other land-uses in the community?
Once you establish your intent and questions, your justification should NOT simply restate your purpose or question, it should offer a valuable contribution to the established knowledge-and in order to get at this potential contribution, you will need to think critically through larger issues within the urban context.