Research Proposal Template
ECON 341 group project
Submit by December 15 · 11:59 PM
Submit one proposal per group in Brightspace by Tuesday, December 15, at 11:59 PM. Aim for 8–10 double-spaced pages, excluding figures, tables, and references, unless the instructor approves another format.
Your final submission is a research proposal: explain what you would study and how you would study it. You are not expected to complete the full study. Your proposal may use economic theory, data, or both. Choose any topic within natural resource economics and develop a clear economic argument.
Copy the headings below into your group’s document and replace the prompts with your own writing. Use complete paragraphs; the questions are guides, not a list you need to answer one by one.
Working title:
Group members:
1. Research question and why it matters
State your research question clearly. Explain what you want to find out, why it matters, and who or what could be affected. Keep the question focused enough to study.
2. Topic and setting
Describe the resource or issue, the place and time period you plan to study, and the people or organizations involved. What decisions can they make? Explain any rules or economic conditions that matter for those decisions.
3. Economic explanation
Choose at least one model, concept, or diagram from the course. Explain how it helps answer your question and how the choices and incentives of the people involved could affect the resource or issue. Use a labeled diagram, model, or clear comparison when it helps make your reasoning visible.
4. Information and approach
Explain how you would answer your question. What information would you need, and where would you find it? Describe the place, time period, and what the information counts or records. Explain how you would use the information or a theoretical example to develop your argument, and what the information can and cannot show.
If your group plans to use data, obtain instructor approval for the exact dataset (the specific set of data you want to use) before downloading a large amount of data or spending a lot of time organizing and correcting it.
5. What you will compare and expect to find
Explain what you will compare—for example, what happens now and what might happen under a different choice, rule, or possible explanation. Describe what you expect to find and why. Discuss the possible benefits, costs, and trade-offs, and explain what your argument could imply for how the resource is used, managed, valued, or governed.
6. Limits, uncertainty, and who is affected
Explain what your approach might miss or what could make your conclusions uncertain. For example, useful information may be incomplete, or it may be hard to tell whether one thing caused another. Discuss who might gain and who might face costs, and whether the effects could differ across groups or over time.
7. Work plan and references
Work plan
Describe the main steps you would take if the study were carried out. For example, explain how you would find and review sources, develop the economic explanation, gather any approved data, make your comparisons, and assess the results.
References
Cite sources in the text when you use others’ ideas, findings, or information. Include a complete reference list with enough information to locate each source, such as the author or organization, title, year, and a link when available. Use a consistent citation style. Figures, tables, and references do not count toward the 8–10-page length.