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Read through chapters 3 - 5 in The Craft of Research. Brainstorm your topic using the following prompts (the following was developed by staff in our excellent Writing Center!).

1. Brainstorm potential topics for your capstone project, based on your personal interests. What topics or questions are you most interested in from your classes? What has sparked a passion/curiosity for you?
2. Narrow those topics to 2 - 3 that encompass what you’re MOST interested in pursuing and discussing with your potential capstone project advisor(s).

Potential Topic 1:

• What is interesting about this topic, in general?
• How did I become aware of this topic?
• Why does this topic interest me?
• Who else cares about this topic? Who else has written about this topic?
• Why should people care about this topic?

Potential Topic 2:

• What is interesting about this topic, in general?
• How did I become aware of this topic?
• Why does this topic interest me?
• Who else cares about this topic?
• Who else has written about this topic?
• Why should people care about this topic?

Potential Topic 3:

• What is interesting about this topic, in general?
• How did I become aware of this topic?
• Why does this topic interest me? AN 315 Pre-course Workbook 6
• Who else cares about this topic? Who else has written about this topic?
• Why should people care about this topic?
  
  

More Ideas from the Writing Center

What makes a “good” thesis?

• ✓ Originality
  • What’s new about my study?
  • What gives this a fresh perspective?
• ✓ Relevance
  • How does this fit the discipline?
  • How am I adding to the field?
• ✓ Feasibility
  • What’s the scope of my study?
  • What kind of time do I have?
• ✓ Ethics
  • What are the standards governing my research?
  • What might be at risk in my research?
• ✓ Passion
  • What do I enjoy studying?
  • Where do I want to go with this work?

CC has sample capstone papers online? What!?! To get to the online capstone/thesis papers, select this link to reach digitalCC . Search “Anthropology theses” for Anthropology capstone papers. You can also enter keywords for your particular capstone topic(s) of interest to find theses in other programs that may be of use to you.

(Work on this in block 6 of Junior year in consultation with your academic advisor)

Read Appendix Two- “Thesis writing: the basics” paying special attention to step three and the recommendations for considering who might make a great advisor for your capstone project. What makes a “good” thesis?

1. Given their research expertise, which of the anthropology faculty might be a good fit for advising your capstone research topics?

Topic 1: _______________________________________________

Topic 2: _______________________________________________

Topic 3: _______________________________________________

2. Next, factor in other considerations. Maybe some faculty will be on sabbatical during the upcoming academic year, others have a communication style that is similar to yours, or you have worked successfully with certain faculty on past projects. Rank the faculty in terms of their appropriateness for advising your possible capstone topics:

1._______________________________________

2._______________________________________

3._______________________________________

4. ______________________________________

5._______________________________________

Schedule an appointment to discuss your research topics with the advisor that you identified as being the most appropriate. Bring your 2 – 3 research topics to that meeting and discuss your ideas. If it doesn’t seem like a good advising “fit,” schedule meetings with the next faculty member on your list. Even if a faculty member may seem like an excellent choice for your project from your perspective, be prepared that you may be assigned another advisor as the department may need to adjust capstone advising workloads based on other constraints.

3. Finally, decide on the topic that you want to work with and the specific question that you want to answer:

(Work on this in block 6 and 7 of Junior year)

Proposal Deadline: 2nd Friday of Block 7 in your Junior year. Successful completion of both your research proposal and your pre-course workbook materials will count toward your grade in AN 315. Your capstone project and any project funding you may request cannot be approved without a full proposal.

The proposal will include:

1) Brief statement (300 word maximum) summarizing your proposed research project that includes a statement of the research problem, your research question(s) and/or hypothesis, and overall significance of the project.

2) Brief literature review (approximately 2 pages) that summarizes previous research on the topic and states how your project will expand on this research.

3) Evidence of adequate preparation for the research (coursework, etc.).

4) Your research design, including a timeline to complete the capstone work.

5) References formatted to follow the Style Guide of a major journal in your sub- discipline. Consult with your advisor on which Style Guide you should follow.

6) A detailed estimated budget with justification for each item. Please do not limit yourself to asking for funds for “big ticket” items like airfare. Consider requesting funds to purchase small gifts for research participants, funds for fuel for local travel costs, etc. Be thorough.

7) Affirmation that IRB proposals (human subjects) or IACUC (animal subjects) proposals have been submitted, or dates that the appropriate proposal will be submitted prior to beginning research.

8) List of top two advisors (1 = first choice, 2 = next best choice) with whom you would like to work on this project.

Please note that your research topic can change (this can happen to any researcher!). Changes to your capstone project after submission of your proposal (e.g. change in research methods, shift in research site) should be approved by your capstone advisor(s). Keep in contact with your capstone advisor(s) as your project develops and rely on your advisor as a resource when making decisions about changes or new directions in your capstone research.

So how do you organize your thoughts and begin developing your proposal….?

Proposal Outline

• Introduction / Mini Literature Review
  • What’s your topic? (be as specific as possible)
  • What does the current research say about your topic?
  • What gaps are present in the research?
  • Which, if any, prior studies guide your particular project?
• Purpose/Significance
  • What specific gaps in the research will your study fill? (develop with synthesized information) AN 315 Pre-course Workbook 12
  • Why is your research/methodology/potential outcomes important to anthropology and other relevant fields of study? 
• Research Problem
  • What are your research questions?
  • Do you have expected/anticipated results (i.e., a hypothesis that will be tested through your research or research propositions)?
    • If so, what are your expected/anticipated results?
• Methods
  • What is your methodology for collecting and analyzing data?
  • What materials will you need? How much will they cost? If you need equipment, can any of this equipment be borrowed? 
  • Why is your methodology valid?

(Work on this in blocks 7 and 8 of your Junior year) Once the department has reviewed your proposal, you will receive notification regarding approval of your project, status of funding requests, and notifications regarding capstone advising. Other considerations that you need to work on include thinking about other funding opportunities, ethical research, and scheduling.

Concurrent with writing your proposal:

1. If a large amount of funding is needed for your project, you may be advised to apply for Venture grant or other funds in addition to the department’s Jones Fund. For Venture grant funding, you may need to submit applications in multiple funding cycles in order to receive Venture funds. Consider your funding application timeline along with your research timeline.
2. Begin thinking about how to do your research ethically and apply for IRB and/or IACUC approval. Application directions and other resources can be found online by searching for “IRB” or “IACUC” from the CC webpage to find relevant links. IRB and IACUC staff are excellent resources for helping you do your research to the highest ethical standards, so contact their staff to discuss your project.
3. Develop a plan for completing your capstone. Breaking the process into “bite-size chunks” helps you make progress and avoid feeling overwhelmed. Mix and match from the strategies presented in Table 1 below.

Suggestions for scheduling based on what has worked for different students in the past

Use these scheduling suggestions in combination with planning discussions with your capstone advisor. Mix and match different strategies. Your planning should keep in mind the following departmental deadlines for capstone projects:

• First Monday, Block 7 (Junior Year):
  • Submit Capstone Workbook responses (pages 4 – 14) to Senior Capstone professor Christina Leza (cleza@coloradocollege.edu) by March 23.
• Second Friday, Block 7 (Junior Year):
  • Submit project proposal and funding request by the second Friday of Block 7 through the following link: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=PLHHz5YSh0OzCF3gj9E8mRGwCe_aGMRCr0v7JPeUfI5UM0RPMjZVQzg3SEZHWjFONThTVU45TVdTMCQlQCN0PWcu
  • Select the Kathleen Jones Memorial Fund for capstone funding request and proposal submission.
• First Friday, Block 6 (Senior Year):
  • Complete first draft of capstone paper due by email to your capstone advisor(s) by noon.
• Second Monday, Block 7 (Senior Year):
  • Final draft of capstone paper due at noon to your advisor(s).

In addition to holding several workshops, peer reviews, and writing sessions during AN 315 which will allow you to work on your capstone project, remember that you can take up to two blocks of AN 400 and/or AN 450 for Anthropology major credit. Many students have used the AN 450 blocks or thesis adjuncts and halfblocks to give themselves time for capstone project work during their senior year.

In consultation with faculty advisors, outline your plan for capstone project work below:

Meet with your capstone advisor as soon as possible after your capstone proposal has been approved to discuss your capstone research design and your capstone completion plan. You should also meet regularly with your advisor(s) throughout your Senior year to discuss progress on your capstone project. Work with your advisor to determine an appropriate meeting schedule.

In addition to working on drafts of your capstone project paper in AN 315, you will also begin drafting a capstone project presentation that will be presented to the Anthropology Department in block 8 of your Senior year. In your Senior year, you are also encouraged to present the results of your research at the Colorado Springs Undergraduate Research Forum (CSURF) which is normally held during block 7.

Keep an eye out for additional presentation opportunities that will enhance your professional development and improve your chances of getting into a graduate program (if that’s a career goal for you). Professional organizations such as the American Association of Biological Anthropologists, the Society for American Archaeology, the Society for Applied Anthropology, and the Society for Linguistic Anthropology typically hold meetings late in the spring and you may be able to present your research at these conferences. Search their websites for dates and locations of upcoming meetings. Some of these organizations have a late winter submission process for seniors completing their capstone projects.

The introduction sets the stage and introduces the reader to your topic. For those of you writing capstone papers in the natural science tradition (e.g. biological anthropology, archaeology), the introduction is similar to an abstract. See also chapter 16 in The Craft of Research.

Components to include as you draft your introduction: -

• What is the context of the study, within my field? What is the problem/issue I’ll be addressing? 
• What makes this a timely undertaking of the study? What prompts it at this moment in time and makes it relevant beyond being a question at hand?
• What is the overall purpose of the study? What does it add to the field at large? How does it fit into/extend/contradict current trends in research/answer an existing question?
• What are my research questions?
• What, if any, are my predictions or hypotheses relating to those questions?
• In a nutshell, what methods did I use to explore these questions?
• What is the thesis / academic argument for the project? (If you haven’t finished analyzing your data and synthesizing it with the literature in the field, don’t worry about this yet).

Note that you will need to return to your Introduction in the final drafting stages to make sure that it is complete and aligned with the remainder of the paper once your remaining sections have been drafted, so do not worry too much about creating a “perfect” introduction as you begin writing. In the first draft stage, the Introduction is your opportunity to establish a guide for the imagined reader but also yourself as the author about what you seek to accomplish in your paper.

Creating an outline for your capstone is strongly recommended. As you continue to draft, think about using software like Scrivener to help you organize the different sections of your capstone paper. A free trial can be downloaded at: . You can create as many headings as you need to remind you of what you should write so that your readers can understand your study. You can always reduce the number of headings once you’ve completed a draft of your paper. The “Navigation Pane of Microsoft Word or Outline Tool of Google Docs can also be very helpful for managing the structure of your writing in a long document and help as well with the non-linear way that most of us write (e.g., starting with and moving between evidence sections as you continue your analysis through writing).

A literature review (or Background) section is where you make connections to and gain inspiration from past and similar research. This is how knowledge is created – beginning with what is known to make progress on revealing the unknown. In this section you will identify anthropological (or similar) theory that helps you and your readers better understand your research question and results. The new understanding of the phenomenon you will be seeking to understand can and should be enriched by the theory and/or previous studies you rely on. These sources are shared with readers in your Literature Review section. See also chapters 12 and 13 in The Craft of Research.

A general guideline of what to include in your literature review:

• Introduction
  • Reiterate purpose
  • Preview trends/organization of literature review section
• What are my general topics?
  • What contextual information does my audience need to know?
  • How has this been studied before? What have those authors found? 
  • What theory am I drawing from?
  • What gaps in the literature are present?
• Conclusion
  • How does the literature relate to/inform my study?

• Introduction
  • In general, what methods and instruments am I using for this study?
  • How and why are those choices appropriate for the study?
• IRB/IACUC/Instruments
  • What permissions did I get? 
  • How, if at all, did those permissions impact my participant selection?
• Participants
  • Who was included in the study?
  • How were they recruited?
  • Who was excluded & why?
• Evidence collection
  • What was the context/setting for data/evidence collection? (online, in-person interviews at a college, phone interviews from the convenience of the participants’ homes, etc.)
    • If there were variations, why? 
  • What methods of evidence collection did I use?
  • Why did I choose to collect evidence in this way? What makes this appropriate for the study? 
  • What theory/other studies guide my evidence collection?
• Analysis
  • How did I analyze the data/evidence I collected?
    • Consider frameworks
    • Consider quantitative v. qualitative analytic methods
    • What theory/other studies guide my analysis?
• What was my role as the researcher?
  • Is there any bias?
  • How did I remain objective/choose to participate?
• What are the limitations of the methodology?

In biological anthropology and archaeology, these are separate sections. In cultural anthropology, these are often combined. Check with your advisor regarding discipline-specific guidelines. Also see chapter 15 in The Craft of Research to begin thinking about how to visually represent your data/evidence. 

• Introduction 
• If you have quantitative data, what do your raw results point to?
  • Figures/charts help readers understand what you have found
  • Remember to explain the figures/charts & why that information is important to the study. Look at figures in the Style Guide of a journal that publishes work similar to yours (your capstone advisor can help you identify an appropriate journal).
  • What, specifically, do your results mean? How can they be interpreted?
  • What are my takeaways from this study? How do my results answer my research questions and/or address my hypotheses?
    • Get to the ‘so what’ – why is each takeaway significant to the study and to the field?
  • What are the implications of this study on a larger scale?

This should be done throughout the capstone research and writing process.

During any summer work and thesis blocks, you are encouraged to set both daily and long-term goals. Be realistic! For example, don’t plan to do work during a weekend you are traveling for a family event. However, you might want to give yourself a deadline (e.g. # of survey responses analyzed or adding 10 sources to the annotated bibliography) before you travel for that visit.

Below is a sample section from a daily goal-setting sheet for a thesis block: