LST3SLR CRIME AND SOCIO-LEGAL RESEARCH ASSESSMENT 1

Basic Research Proposal – STUCTURE TIPS

Your assignment must be submitted via Turnitin by the due date using the relevant submission link on LMS. Please, plan in advance so that you have your final submission ready before then.

Re the structure of the paper: As mentioned in class and explained in the assessment instructions, your proposal should address at least the following components. Each of these components can be developed following this structure.

This is not an essay, but a research proposal, so please follow the structure suggested here.

• Your research topic – narrowed down, specific, clear and with a brief, but convincing explanation of why it is important/relevant to study. Here you can start with mentioning the topic in general (e.g. ‘access to justice’); then explain what specific aspect of the topic you are interested in exploring or explaining, in what context and in what time-frame (e.g. ‘the work of legal aid organizations in assisting low-income litigants in tenant rights cases’), and briefly explain why it is an important topic for society and/or for a specific academic field. This paragraph should take you between 300 and 400 words. Do not fear being as specific as you want to be. Remember the discussion/exercise in week 2 in which we narrowed down the topic to a feasible project as much as
• At the end of this paragraph, add your research question, or put it in a separate short Briefly explain it, this should take about 100 words. Remember: The research question should be directly connected to a (narrowed down, clear) research topic, as we discussed it in workshops (e.g. re our example above, ‘Why are some legal aid organizations more effective than others in assisting litigants in these kind of cases’?)
• Next, propose a hypothesis/argument that directly answers your research question. This will be stated in a simple fashion (e.g. legal aid organizations that have specialized legal professionals are more effective in assisting litigants). Remember, the first test of your argument is basic common Does it sound convincing? Is it clearly stated?
• Next, develop your research argument, in the same paragraph or a different paragraph. Here you can cover a range of issues to beef up and make your case for your argument. You can elaborate a little bit further on your explanation, delving into what the key concepts mean, or simply talking about any implications you think are relevant. This is a very flexible paragraph – the key is to convince others (and yourself!) about what you mean. For example, you can talk about your dependent/independent variable(s) – Are there any other relevant independent variables that could potentially work, but you are not including? What is your unit of analysis? Feel free to add preliminary details about your ‘time dimension’ or ‘case selection’ process (as discussed in the lecture). Again, this paragraph gives you an opportunity to make your case – use it in the best possible way! I anticipate that between the argument and explaining your argument, you will spend about 400-500 words, depending on how much you would like to

Yes, you can use subheadings!

And remember to cite at least five (5) relevant scholarly sources (which you may use in any part of the proposal, usually the argument). Please use Harvard (in-text) referencing style as stipulated in the Department of Social Inquiry Rules. The Harvard Referencing System is modelled in the LTU Academic Referencing Tool here: https://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au/referencing-tool/harvard