Topic: the effect of obesity and eating disorders among teenagers.

Paragraph One:

What is the topic? (The topic is your project's general area of interest and is not your research question.)

How did you come to decide on the topic? (Do you have a personal interest in it? How does this topic relate to your major and/or the class theme?)

Why is the topic relevant to investigate? Why or how do you believe this topic will interest other readers?

Paragraph Two:

How have you narrowed the topic? In other words, what steps did you go through as you moved from a broader topic to a researchable question? Please summarize your process when answering these questions.

This is very important to address. What is your working focus for this paper? What is the specific research question that you will address in your paper? (Try thinking of it this way: If your paper will be the answer, what is the question?)

Paragraph Three:

What sources have you located that have helped you to define your research question? Please describe two of these sources. But, be specific. Name them and identify what each one has contributed to your thinking on the topic and help you answer your question.

Paragraph Four

What is the audience for whom you will be writing? Does your paper have a natural audience beyond your classmates? If so, who is it?

Paragraph Five:

What questions do you have about the research process (NOT the writing process) that you have ahead of you? What help do you need at this point? What difficulties do you foresee?