Basic idea: Find out what has already been done to answer a particular research question, and then design a study to a address a still-unanswered question about this topic.

Steps:

1. If on the first assignment you were told that the scope of the articles was still too broad or not adequate in some other way, re-do the list of articles

2. Read through the abstracts (via LLBA) for the seven articles that you found in the first assignment.

3. Read through portions of the original articles, where necessary.

4. Write up a one-paragraph summary of the main findings of these articles (one paragraph total, not one paragraph for each article).

You then need to add something to what has already been done. Do one of the following three things (in order of ascending difficulty, but also in terms of ascending points)

5a. Find one of the studies that describes in detail how their study was carried out. Plan a project to as carefully as possible replicate their study.

5b. Find one of the studies that describes in detail how their study was carried out. Plan a project to as carefully as possible replicate their study, but add a twist to your study to address a perceived shortcoming in theirs. For example, re-designing the sample group, adding in a new variable, using a better corpus, etc.

5c. (Hardest, but most points) Find an important aspect of this topic that none of the previous research addresses. (Please make sure that this is really the case). Then design a study to obtain the needed data.

What you will turn in on Tues, Mar 25:

1. A listing of the seven articles that you've reviewed (revised, if necessary -- see above).

2. A one-paragraph summary of the main findings of these articles (one paragraph total, not one paragraph for each article).

3. One sentence to let me know which of the three options above you've selected (5a-5c).

4. A one-paragraph summary of what the final project might look like.

Remember that you will just design the project, not actually carry it out. Although you won't turn it in right now, be thinking about:

1. What some of the challenges would be in carrying out the project

2. How you would address these

The final project will be about two or three pages, including a half-page bibliography of previous research.