Seminar in Natural Science (online)

  PLS 391 

Introduction to the Research Project
(Proposal and Web-based Presentation)

This project is your chance to follow up on an issue raised in our reading in order to explore it in greater depth, or to investigate an issue or controversy of your own choosing.  You have two options in terms of general topic area:

(1) Investigation and analysis of an Illinois ecosystem, species, or environmental science problem/issue (a Chicago-area focus is encouraged, but not required)

 -- or --

(2) Critical analysis of a particular scientific issue or controversy (not limited to IL or ecology/environmental science), including technological topics that have an important scientific component.

I encourage you to start thinking about possible topics early on in the semester --f eel free to ask me if an idea you're considering is appropriate.  Indeed, the rhythm of the course topics/readings, as well as the annotated bibliography assignment, are designed to get you brainstorming possible research topics well before the proposal due date.

During week 10 (two-thirds through the semester) you will submit a formal research proposal (approx. 2 single-spaced pages), which I will return with feedback on your topic choice and focus; you'll then develop a web-based research presentation containing a background information on your issue or controversy, a focused argument and clear discussion in support of a particular position, backing from (and possibly critique of) a variety of information sources, and proper documentation of those sources (using MLA guidelines).  

Informing / Analyzing / Arguing -- The Big Three of Research Writing

The 391 Research Project requires you to synthesize a variety of tasks related to your project.  Given that your audience for your research is your fellow students as well as us (your professors), you'll need to inform us about your topic by defining key terms, providing context and necessary background information, summarizing important information from your sources, providing relevant examples, etc.  This informational function is particularly important in science-based research papers, which often must present complex technical information in a coherent and accessible fashion to non-specialists.

However, you also need to analyze this information by assessing the authority/credibility of your sources, weighing alternate viewpoints, looking for points of connection and discord, and identifying gaps in our knowledge or points of uncertainty.  In other words, it's not enough to simply amass a bunch of information and summarize it for us; you need to analyze how that information fits together, how strong your evidence is, and what (ultimately) that evidence suggests.

Which brings us to this important consideration -- your paper should argue a position about your topic.  For example, if you researched the topic of invasive species, such as the Asian Longhorned Beetle, you'd need to tell us about the biology and ecology of the organism, and describe its role as an invasive species within the Chicago region.  But you'd also have to explore the consequences of its presence in our forests, and analyze the types of monitoring and remediation efforts underway to control the beetle.  Finally, you'd need to frame an argument about (for example) the status of the ALB as well as the effectiveness of efforts to eradicate it.

Analyzing Controversies in Science

"The biggest stumbling block to the formation of coherent policies on science and technology has been miscommunication and lack of access to information."

-- Jim Collier, science studies scholar

"Regardless of the data or observable facts involved . .  . the important issues in scientific and technological discussions are always theories, assumptions, and conceptualizations and the very human interplay and debate about them. . . . Rhetoric is inextricably involved in all scientific and technical discussions." 

-- Paul Dombrowski, technical communications expert

"This is an era of specialists, each of whom sees his own problem and is unaware of or intolerant of the larger frame into which it fits.  It is also an era dominated by industry, in which the right to make a dollar at whatever cost is seldom challenged.  When the public protests . . . it is fed little tranquilizing pills of half truth.  We urgently need an end to these false assurances, to the sugar coating of unpalatable facts." 

-- Rachel Carson, scientist and environmentalist

If you're struggling to find a way to analyze a particular science topic in order to generate an argument about it, consider whether or not there are any controversial dimensions to the topic.  Not all science topics are obviously controversial at first glance, but many are upon further examination.

A scientific or technological controversy involves a dispute among individuals and/or members of a group about, for example, the value of a research project, interpretation of data, explanatory power of a theory or model, implementation of a government policy, or impact of a scientific process or technology.  Various contexts exist for such disputes:  economic, political, environmental, philosophical, historical, statistical, etc.  Often you will find that basic assumptions -- about what counts as good science, about what is fair public policy, about what sorts of arguments or data are valid -- are questioned during such a dispute.  Once you locate a controversy that you're interested in, you can analyze the role science and/or technology plays within the scope of your topic.  To help generate critical questions about your topic, think about:

  • Benefits vs. Risks:  How do the ostensible benefits of a scientific process or a technological development match up with the possible risks (to the environment, to public health, etc.) for individuals and communities?  Consider the process of damming rivers to provide flood control, a steady water supply, and recreation.  What, on the other hand, are the costs of using dam technology on a river?  How do the values of science play into this controversy? 

  • Efficiency vs. Equity:  This conflict centers around local or community concerns with costs, benefits, and justice.  For instance, what are the social, environmental, and economic impacts of implementing a new landfill technology or an incinerator in an urban neighborhood?  Whose interests are at stake?  What kinds of scientific knowledge are brought into play?  To what extent can we balance the need for efficient waste disposal methods with the need for fairness toward local values and interests?

  • Regulation vs. Freedom of Choice:  Our government has often exerted controls upon the development and implementation of technologies or scientific procedures in an effort to "protect" people from unregulated companies.  Opponents of such a view claim that government meddling interferes with scientific and technological breakthroughs and inhibits the growth of particular industries.  Consider the legislation concerned with protecting the environment -- the Clean Air and Water Acts, the Endangered Species Act, etc.  Another example:  the degree to which newly-developed drugs are approved by the FDA and made available to the public.

  • Science vs. Traditional Values:  Where do the values, methods, and procedures of scientific research and education conflict with the "traditional" (or non-science-related) values of a given constituency?  Some key examples here include the use of fetal tissue for medical research, the use of animals in experiments, the teaching of evolutionary theory in the public schools, and the acceptability of doctor-assisted suicide.  An environmental example would be the controversy surrounding tree-girdling and prescribed burning in public lands where forest is being restored to native prairie:  such practices can seem intrusive and negative from the standpoint of citizens who value decades-old tree stands, while ecologists and environmentalists see them as necessary to restoring the character of the native landscape.  What ethical and political issues are involved in these situations?  Is there common ground among interested parties?  Can we broker effective compromises between scientific goals and nonscientific beliefs and values?

(This conceptual framework for analyzing controversies is adapted from
Dorothy Nelkin's book The Politics of Technical Decisions, 1984)

Relevance of the Scientific Method

Lastly, think about how your topic links to our discussion about the scientific method (creating and testing hypotheses, designing experiments, gathering and analyzing data, forming conclusions).  Do science researchers in your topic area utilize special kinds of methods or analytic techniques?  Is there a debate about methodology (e.g., about how to best restore a native ecosystem, or deal with a water pollution problem) that is important to researchers and/or the public?  How compelling is the evidence cited by various participants in their views on the issue under consideration?  Pay attention to the ways in which the scientific research within your chosen topic both exemplifies and/or comments upon the scientific method in action.

Where to Look for Controversies:  Selected Resources

You can find sources of scientific topics and controversies in a variety of places:  in our texts' bibliographies and footnotes, in your daily newspaper, and on the world wide web.  Within the context of our class, probably the best place to start is on our 391 Links page, particularly the Science News section (reprinted here):

The New York Times (check the science section)
New Scientist (one of the very best of its kind; has a special section devoted to current controversies)
Science News (good for short news articles)
Scientific American (a premier source of in-depth news and analysis for a general educated audience)
Science and Nature (the two most prestigious science journals in English; both publish news and original research)
Public Understanding of Science (a more academic journal)
The Why Files (a fun site for the curious)
Discover (similar to Scientific American)

Don't limit your research to this web-based sources and indexes, though.  Your best and most powerful research tool is the Roosevelt Library website, which gives you access to books, peer-reviewed journal articles, online reference works, and instructional tutorials on doing research and using the library.  You'll need to include at least a couple of print-based resources in your research presentation.  Check out this page for more information on finding sources.

Potential Topics and Controversies

Here's a short list of potential research topics, some of which have been successfully tackled by past 391 scholars.  Fee free to brainstorm your own topic focus, though.

 

Illinois/Chicago-related environmental topics:

 

A good starting point for this option will be the Atlas of Biodiversity text, as well as the bibliography searching you do for your IL ecosystem (prairies, forests, wetlands, rivers, Great Lakes).  Some possible topic directions include:

  • Prairie (or wetland) restoration in Northern Illinois:  science, nature, and public policy

  • Protecting endangered species in IL

  • Lake Michigan and pollution:  past failures, future challenges

  • River ecology and/or restoration (in general, or focusing on a particular river)

  • Nuclear power in Illinois:  present status and future potential

  • Dealing with non-native plants and animals in the Chicago area

  • The Ecology of Hazardous Waste Sites, Power Plants, and Brownfields

General issues and controversies:

  • Space exploration, science funding, and domestic concerns

  • Nuclear waste disposal:  technical options, future directives

  • Smart highways and other transportation technologies

  • Biomedical research:  science, politics, and ethics (e.g., cloning, fetal tissue research, assisted reproduction techniques, women's health issues)

  • Trends in AIDS research (or cancer research)

  • Genomics and Genetic Engineering

  • DNA Fingerprinting

  • Scientific studies of intelligence, including Artificial Intelligence

  • Global warming and Climate Change

  • The Endangered Species Act

  • Preserving biodiversity:  strategies and challenges

 Mike Bryson
Associate Professor
University College
Roosevelt University

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Last updated 09/09/09