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The purpose of writing an idea sheet is to help you explore not just what you might want to learn by conducting research but why you are interested in a particular topic, issue, or problem

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The purpose of writing an idea sheet is to help you explore not just what you might want to learn by conducting research but why you are interested in a particular topic, issue, or problem. An idea sheet is a form of exploratory writing that can serve as the basis for a more formal research proposal.

We encourage our students to jot down some ideas about the topic they are interested in, why they find the topic of interest, and why it might be compelling to others. Moreover, we want them to answer the kinds of questions we have addressed throughout this book: What’s at stake in conducting this research? What other related ideas compete for our attention and limit our ability to see what you think is important, and why?

To compose an idea sheet, you should follow these steps:

Step One:	Explain your topic so that others can understand what you want to study.
Step Two:	Detail the personal reasons why you are interested in the topic.
Step Three:	Identify what is at issue — what is open to dispute for you.
Step Four:	Describe any groups for whom this issue might be significant or important.
Step Five:	Formulate an issue-based question.

It is important to discuss an issue in the context of a current situation, so that readers will understand why you are raising a particular issue. As a writer, you will need to familiarize yourself with what people are talking and writing about. What is on people’s minds? What is at issue for people? What about for you? What do your readers need to know about? In turn, you will need to help readers understand why they are reading your essay and fulfill their expectations that what you are writing about is both relevant and timely.

Formulating an issue-based question can help you think through what you might be interested in writing about and guide your research. As we suggest in  Chapter 5 , a good question develops out of an issue, some fundamental tension that you identify within a conversation. Your issue-based question should be specific enough to guide inquiry into what others have written and help you accomplish the following:

· Clarify what you know about the issue and what you still need to know.

· Guide your inquiry with a clear focus.

· Organize your inquiry around a specific issue.

· Develop an argument, rather than simply collecting information by asking “how,” “why,” “should,” or “to what extent is it true or not?”

· Consider who your audience is.

· Determine what resources you have, so that you can ask a question that you will be able answer with the resources available to you.