Data mining and privacy

Brief Research Proposal and Annotated Bibliography
Purpose

This assignment will help you prepare for your final project, the literature review, by having you articulate your research plan and identify and discuss potential sources.
Task

RESEARCH PROPOSAL:

Write an essay of approximately two pages in which you analyze your topic and the “problem” you have identified. Cite sources from your annotated bibliography to support and illustrate your claims. Be sure to include:
A title that identifies your project
Your research question
A description of your research process, including your plan going forward and sub-questions you have about your topic or subtopics you plan to address
Proposed purpose
Intended audience

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Step 1 – Locate sources
Using the library databases, particularly the specialized databases in your field, locate high quality scholarly and non-scholarly sources related to your topic.
Step 2 – Write your annotations
Include a full, correct citation for each source in the citation style common to your discipline (APA and MLA are two of the most common, but others like Chicago or IEEE are also possible. Please note the citation style in your title)
Follow each citation with a 2-3 paragraph annotation in which you:
Identify the article’s main argument or thesis
Discuss how the author supports that claim (research methods, etc.)
Describe the author’s purpose
Describe how the source contributes to your knowledge about the problem you want to explore in your literature review
Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the research

Criteria
This assignment is worth 20% of your final grade. Please see rubric and example below.

Rubric:

Category
What excellence looks like
Value
Formatting
Proper document formatting, citation formatting; includes on-topic title
15%
Research question and description of research plan
Research question is focused, debatable, complex, and clear. Proposal describes plan for research, including subtopics or subquestions, keywords, and a description of what you need to find out to complete your project. Description is informed by your preliminary research.

20%
Purpose and audience
Clear and specific purpose and audience is envisioned for the project. Purpose and audience are appropriately connected to one another and the project subject.

20%
Sources
Includes at least 4 sources, 3 of which are scholarly. Sources are of high quality and well-suited to the topic.

15%
Annotations
Identifies the main argument or claim in the source. States how the author supports that claim (research methodology, etc.), Describes the author’s purpose. Describes how the source contributes to your knowledge about the problem you want to explore in your literature review.

20%
Grammar/Mechanics
Clear and correct sentence structure, word choice, and punctuation.
10%