Exploring My Research Topic
Part I: Exploration
1. Identify the issue or problem that you plan to focus on in your research project.
Human cloning and stem cell research
2. What is your personal connection to and interest in this topic?
I have a small ‘personal’ connection to cloning. It is a contemporary topic that generates a lot of debate both medically and religiously.
3. What opinions do you already hold about this topic?
I don’t think human cloning should be legal but I understand it could possibly lead to some amazing medical breakthroughs that could help many people. The negative consequences outweigh the possible benefits.
4. What knowledge do you already have about this topic?
I know only the basics of cloning. I want to learn more so that I can have a strong foundation for my beliefs rather than pure opinion and speculation.
5. What are your main questions about this topic? What are you most curious about?
What are the possible alternatives to cloning? Science today is progressing so fast there must be some way to treat horrible medical conditions without exploiting and destroying (killing) life.
6. Within what scholarly discipline (such as history, biology, psychology) do you expect to do most of your research? How does this discipline approach or study this topic?
My research will begin scientifically. No one should make a statement or an
argument without knowing as much as they can on that topic. After I gain as much knowledge as I can scientifically I hope to move on to the moral side of the argument, figure out why a topic seeming so scientific can cause debate in every age bracket, income level and every major religion.
7. How could you research this topic outside the library (for example, through interviews and/or observations)?
Everyone knows about cloning, but not everyone understands it the same way. I could go up to any student on campus and get their opinion on cloning, but that would only prove people know what cloning is and that people have opinions. It won’t prove each students has the knowledge to have an educated opinion
Part II: Focusing
Write an initial claim, or an open-ended question, to guide your research on this topic. Make it specific but exploratory. Remember that a good claim opens up an area of inquiry about a topic; a claim should invite evidence, support, and debate.
How is cloning related to stem cell research and what are the physical and moral repercussions individually and as a whole?
3 comments:
1. Is the issue debatable?
This issue is totally debatable and has potential to be a very good research essay.
2. Can it be explored with something more than speculation?
This topic can be explored with more than just speculation because there have been so many stories and experiments that have dealt with stem cell research.
3. Does the issue avoid assumptions that are so deeply or universally held that they cannot be argued?
No, I dont think this issue avoid assumptions that are universally held. because a lot of news that I have heard on the topic has been noth pro and con.
Is the issue debatable?
Definitely. This is a very controversial topic and you obviosuly have strong opinions on it already. The fact that you seem to really care about this subject means that the paper will probably end up being really interesting.
Can it be explored with something more than speculation?
Yes, because it is a very big issue in the area of science, religion, and morals. There has already been a lot of research done on this topic.
Does the issue avoid assumptions that are so deeply or universally held that they cannot be argued?
No. This topic is controversial for a reason. People have very different viewpoints on this issue from one side of the spectrum to the other.
This is a question that has risen again and again throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, both in science fiction and in modern science itself. However, if you are tackling the moral value or ethics of stem cell research, I think you will run into a lot of problems when forming a strong, objective case. This is similar to the abortion debate in the sense that most people already have made up their minds about whether stem cell research is right or wrong. If you really go into a lot of detail regarding what scientists are trying to do with the information they are gathering, you could make your claims more arguable.
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