The topic of your project needs to be a contemporary societal problem, such as healthcare reform, immigration reform, privacy rights, euthanasia, First Amendment Rights, stem cell research, capital punishment, corporate prisons, legalizing drugs, ageism, animal rights, cloning, prayer in schools, racial profiling, recycling/conservation, sexism, outsourcing jobs, workplace bullying, etc. The topic must focus on a single aspect, as in “How far do corporations intrude into the private lives of their employers?” or “The social costs of financing the distribution of custom-designed drugs.” You may suggest another topic to use, but the instructor must approve the topic during the Week Two Discussion.
The Final Research Project will present research relating the responsibilities of a critical thinker to contemporary society. In this assignment, you will do the following:
Research and Define the Problem
You must take on the perspective of your major field of study and explain in your paper what that perspective is and how it informs your view of the topic. The topics listed above are far too broad to write about in 10–12 pages (3,300–3,900 words). Instead, you must choose a narrowly defined thesis and approach it from the perspective of your field.
Example: If you are an economics major, and you are interested in immigration reform, you should approach a very specific aspect of immigration reform through the lens of economic theory and practice. A specific thesis question would not be, “How does illegal immigration influence the U.S. economy?” One could write thousands of pages on such a topic. Instead, a better question would be, “How do illegal immigrant hotel workers in Chicago impact the economy of Northern Illinois?” You would then want to do the research and determine the positive and negative impacts they have, ultimately trying to conclude how illegal immigration in this area should be approached ethically.
How to Hone Your Thesis: It is important that you start your research early in this course. Try to find the most important contemporary questions and theories in your field of study and then align the most important questions with a very specific aspect of the general topics above. For example, if you are a psychology major, you might want to start thinking within the realm of healthcare reform or aspects of mental health and criminality in the prison system.
Your Argument
You must present a complete argument, including a major claim with at least five points of evidence, information, or data that will prove the claim.
Attributes of Good Critical Thinking in Papers
Ethical Outcomes of the Position You Take
After you have defined the problem and created an argument about how one ought to respond to the issue, you need to explain the ethical outcomes of the position you have taken. This should again be in relation to the field of study in which you are working. There might be different ethical outcomes that result from your analysis. For example, going back to the example issue above, from an economic standpoint, illegal immigrants might contribute positively to the economy of Northern Illinois in a specific number of ways. Thus, an economist who believes that positive impact to the economy is the greatest good would say that one should promote the use of illegal immigrants. However, because these workers are often paid less than others and eliminate jobs that could be done by residents of Chicago, there could be other negative ethical outcomes that would outweigh the positive impacts to the economy. It is your goal to draw out the ethical implications of your thesis and explain the underlying rationale that is the foundation for your claim that one action is better than another.
Final Research Project Requirements
The Final Research Project may be presented as a formal research paper (essay format), a PowerPoint presentation, a video, or a podcast equivalent to a minimum of 10 pages in APA format (approximately 3,300 – 3,900 typewritten words, excluding title page and reference pages). Written essays must adhere to all APA formatting standards and requirements, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
PowerPoint presentations must include the full text (at least 3,300 words) in the speaker notes portion of the slides, with appropriate citations, and full reference pages. PowerPoint presentations must adhere to the basic principles of PowerPoint presentation design and must include citations and references according to APA standards and requirements.
Videos and podcasts must include a full transcript, in APA format, including appropriate in-text citations and a references page.
Quotations:
There must be no more than 15% quoted content in the body of your essay. All quoted material must bear quotation marks and a full quotation citation.
Source Documents:
Summary Conclusion:
You must have a summary conclusion as the last paragraph(s) of the project, presenting the major point of the essay and the evidence supporting that point.
Word Count:
The content body of the project must be 3,300 words or more. The word count does not include anything in the title page, running header, or reference list. It is expected that you meet all logistical requirements of this paper.
Reference List:
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Thesis statement
Share your progress on the Final Research Project, including the following:
Identify the Final Research Project topic. What influenced you to make this choice?
Describe your rationale for selecting that topic in relation to your academic and career pursuits.
Provide your thesis statement.
Discuss interesting finds and/or frustrations that you have encountered in your research.
Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length.
Topic
The topic of research is ‘the use of semantics and semiotics to improve socialization among students’.
The main influence on choosing this topic was basically the increased focus that has been provided to the natural language as well as voice research. Further, I also wanted to research more on the various meanings that are conveyed through the common signs as well as language and its use in the educational institutions.
Basically, it has been a significant aspect to try and figure out the development of language and its impact on human culture. With increased diversity in all parts of the economy, I always figured that understanding is crucial particularly in the educational institutions since the cultural diversity is intensive here. These aspects have a way of improving communication through developed writers as well as speakers with the intent to persuade certain audiences. Through understanding of the meaning behind a specific word, contrary to the meaning that can be attained in an entire passage, understanding of the intended message is enhanced and thus socialization becomes a lot easier.
The use of semantic and semiotics can improve socialization amongst students from different and diverse cultures.
Through the research process, I have encountered quite a number of frustrations first being the fact that there is quite limited information available on the topic. A lot of information in the library and internet sources only defines the terms and their logic but application is not provided on socialization. Nevertheless, I was able to get diverse information that I could combine together and argue my thesis statement. In addition, I was also able to encounter various symbols and how they are applicable across various cultures.
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