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Summary of Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut In Chapter 7 of Book II, Leon tells his father, “But I’m learning so much about what life is really like, how it really works, what it’s really all about!” How does life really work? Is Natural Selection the only means possible for our ability to adapt and live? How does human kind evolve in the novel? Is adaptation something that humans even have to worry about? Was fitness a part of the book or did it have a role in the evolution of the characters in the book? Do humans operate outside the laws of Natural Selection? Why or why not? Where are humans headed in regards to evolution? Research and find two possible threats to humanity that will necessitate our need to evolve and if we can in our current situation (with luxurious houses, grocery stores, clothing), or if we need to be stripped down like those in the story…marooned on island, alone with nature for it to work. The paper must address these in a clear and coherent fashion, not as a simple list of one-sentence answers unrelated to each other. While this is something of an ‘opinion’ paper, and not a lab report or a paper detailing the results of a study, this is still a scientific paper, and your thoughts and ideas should be thoroughly explained and appropriately supported. You MUST add sources to justify your position, these may include the (text)books used in class. Please note, we never quote things directly in the sciences. We always paraphrase them and then provide the citation.

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PART I: INTRODUCTION (15 points) Topic: Make sure the proposal starts on a general level with some type of introductory remarks before going into the details of the specific research problem you are planning to research. This can be accomplished by providing a frame of reference, a definition, or a discussion of the significance of the topic in the field. Provide a statement of the problem and significance of the study that you are examining. (remember: this is more than one sentence or paragraph. You should explain and support your problem. Make sure you also clearly explain why it is important (significance) as a transition in the writing to your research questions.) Rationalize the importance of your study. Make sure the research question/s (and hypothesis) are fully listed. (optionally, these could go in the method…if you do that then make sure to put an overarching broad question here that frames your study- this is more likely in quantitative where you would also need hypothesis) Additional information is optional. This may include aims, objectives, limitations, and a summary. PART II: LITERATURE REVIEW (15 points) The literature review is written to place your study within the context of existing knowledge and other studies in your discipline. It gives recognition to other scholars and it also allows you to point out what is new about your research. Ideally, at least five studies should be discussed in the literature review. After you have written the literature review, read it carefully and make sure it is clear. Notice whether you can easily determine how the proposal is building on earlier studies, as well as exploring a line of research that is new. Synthesize the information into topics that are specifically relevant to your research question. When you mention other studies they are usually cited by the author’s last name and the date of publication. For example: “Another important study in the area (Chan and Gibbs, 2017) found that…” Later on, in the bibliography, you will provide a full citation to all the studies you cited in your proposal. 4. if you have a theory supporting your study, you should include this in your literature review. (second weekend) 5. a final short paragraph should explain how your study is situated in the current literature (second weekend) PART III: METHODOLOGY (15 points) Provide a full description of your general method and design. The methodology should be sufficiently detailed so that it can be replicated. The details that you include in describe your method will depend on the type of method you feel is best to propose for studying your topic. Explain the details of your data collection. Describe the instruments or means of data collection you are planning to use. Please include any relative information pertaining to each instrument or protocol. (References, Appendices) Validity and reliability or trustworthiness information – Process and citations of used measures should be included. (Validity/Reliability = quantitative & trustworthiness = qualitative) Discuss the data collection procedures (HOW) (primary or secondary texts, interviews, surveys, experimental, etc.) Describe the analysis process you will use with data. (reference the theory as needed) You are making the best match of analysis based on the data you think you will produce through your data collection. PART IV: Conclusion (2 points) Wrap up your proposal and make a predictive statement about your research. (this is unique to our proposal and not the typical research study conclusion)