Seminal and Conceptual Research Assignments

Seminal and Conceptual Research Assignments

Research Assignments III and IV

Writing 303:TW2

Fall 2003 Michael J. Cripps

Seminal Research (Due November 6, 2003)

It is important that a researcher looking into a particular topic locate some of the most important work on that topic. This work is often referred to as “seminal” research because it is so important for other research in the area. Sometimes seminal research alters the entire perspective of a field on a topic. Other times, it is very controversial and the knowledge develops largely in opposition to that work. Your assignment is to locate some of this “seminal” work in your topic area.

How do you find this kind of important research?

As a novice researcher, you probably don’t know the key authors/researchers in the area of your research topic. This can make locating that important research a little difficult.

How do you find seminal kinds of research? You mine the bibliographies of your sources for the names/sources that seem to come up over and over. This is a good shortcut for locating some of the “important” research in a particular area. When you’re searching you can also look for those authors whose names keep cropping up. That’s another sign that an author’s ideas are important to a particular field or topic.

For this assignment, you are to locate two sources that seem to you to be “seminal” in this regard. At least one of these sources must be a scholarly article (no websites/popular sources, please). In your annotation for these sources, indicate how/why you think the sources are “seminal”.

Conceptual Research (Due November 13, 2003)

Another important kind of research to locate is the work that helps theorize or “conceptualize” a subject area. This is the kind of research with some key ideas on your topic. We read Graham’s piece (Frankensteins and Cyborgs) and saw a kind of “conceptual source” for a topic having to do with technology and the human impact.

How do you locate conceptual sources?

These sources are often found once you figure out the larger “context” of framework for your project. If you’re taking a “feminist” approach, a “human rights” perspective, or a “psychological” approach to your topic, the approach can often lead you to conceptual sources. Sometimes the concepts come out of the seminal research; other times they don’t.

For this assignment, you need to locate one conceptual source for your project. In your annotation, be sure to identify the key concept or concepts you think will be useful for guiding your analysis of your topic.