The purpose of this paper is to examine a key topic related to Canadian society. You should select a topic of interest to you that is relevant to Canadian society, do a literature review on that topic, and conduct first-hand research to test a specific research question about this issue.
EXAMPLES OF POSSIBLE TOPICS The topic must be Canada-focused
1. How are Canadian athletes represented in the Olympics?
2. Immigration – you could pick a particular group and consider their history and how they are represented in blogs the media etc. How are immigrant service organizations thinking about Indigenous-newcomer relations?
3. Education: what is taught or not taught in the Canadian education system, Example: How are women represented in social studies textbooks?
4. Indigenous resistance and renewal via art, artists, sport, or businesses
5. The history, impact and legacy of Indian Residential Schools
6. The environment (Fairy Creek protests, attitudes, economic development)
7. The economy
8. Multiculturalism, racism and belonging in Canada
9. Sexuality, sexual health
10. Covid (community impacts, debates etc).
11. Poverty in Vancouver and Van life (housing, affordability)
12. Compare some issue in Canada with another country
Please check your topic with me to make sure it is going to work.
Methods: what counts as “data”?
• analyze newspaper articles
• analyze blogs, twitter etc.
• analyze other website
• historical records, parliamentary debate, archives, databases
• art, art installations, film
• go to museums
• analyze pictures
• Important: Do not use interviews or surveys as this requires ethics approval
Academic articles do not count as “data”: statistics from academic articles do not count as data
FORMAT
Length: 3.5-4 pages single-spaced
Include headings to separate the different sections of your paper
Suggested format:
Abstract (1 paragraph) this should summarize the entire paper
Introduction (1 paragraph single spaced)
Introduce topic and research question
Literature Review (1 page single spaced):
What do existing theories and literature about your topic say? You should have a minimum of 6 academic citations (academic citations are books or journal articles) in this section. (blogs, newspaper articles etc. are extra)
Four of the 6 should be Canadian focused – either on Canada/the topic, published in a Canadian journal
What is your research question?
What don’t we know? What hasn’t been done?
The topic should be about Canada… e.g. violence against women in general is not about Canada. Violence about women in Canada is about Canada
Data and Methods: (1 paragraph single spaced)
This section should provide a detailed explanation of the source(s) of data you use to answer your research question. Where did you get your data? Why did you select that source? Why is this the best source for your particular topic and question? How did you analyze your data?
Findings: (1.5 pages single spaced)
What did your data tell you about your research question? Did you find what you expected based on the past work that has been done? Use quotes, examples from twitter or videos you analyzed or archival material to support your claims. Pictures are also good if relevant.
It would be good to organize this section by sub-themes (headings) showing your key points)
Conclusion: (half a page single spaced)
The conclusion should refer back to and engage with the original research question. You should
cite and re-engage with the academic literature.
References
These must be properly cited. Any standard bibliographic style (ASA, APA, Chicago etc.) is fine so long as you are consistent.