Touchstone 1.2: Write a Research Question, Thesis, and Outline ASSIGNMENT: Following the Topic Selection Guidelines below, choose an argumentative topic to research. This will be your topic throughout the entire course, so the activities required for this assignment will provide the foundation for your future Touchstones. The topic for an argumentative research paper must be a debatable topic, meaning that it involves conflicting viewpoints. Additionally, it cannot be a topic that is already decided or agreed upon by most of society. You will need to take a firm position on the topic and use evidence and logic to support the position. Touchstone 1.2 includes a research question, a working thesis, a detailed outline, and a reflection on this pre-writing process. Sample Touchstone 1.2 A. Topic Selection Guidelines DIRECTIONS: You may choose any topic you wish as long as the topic has two clear sides and is not agreed upon by most of society. Your topic should be current, appropriate for an academic context and should have a focus suitable for a 6-8 page essay. In order to foster learning and growth, all essays you submit must be newly written specifically for this course. Any recycled work will be sent back with a 0, and you will be given one attempt to redo the Touchstone. C. Reflection Questions DIRECTIONS: Below your assignment, include answers to all of the following reflection questions. Learning to conduct research is important because it is a skill you will use both in academia and in your professional life. It improves critical thinking and empowers you to find information for yourself. Consider the process of researching as a whole. What was the most challenging aspect of the process for you? (2-3 sentences) The working thesis statement is a proposed answer to your research question. It should clearly identify a debatable topic and take a position on one side of that topic. Analyze the effectiveness of your working thesis statement. (3-4 sentences) A detailed outline is an effective tool for laying out the progression of an argument. It allows you to consider the arrangement and organization of your ideas, as well as choose places to incorporate outside source materials. Review your detailed outline and summarize the argument you've presented. (3-4 sentences) You will use the same topic on three of the remaining Touchstones in this course. What kind of feedback would be helpful for you? What are specific questions you might have as you go deeper into the research process? (2-3 sentences) D. Rubric Advanced (90-100%)Proficient (80-89%)Acceptable (70-79%)Needs Improvement (50-69%)Non-Performance (0-49%) Research Question F. Additional Resources The following resources will be helpful to you as you work on this assignment: Purdue Online Writing Lab's APA Formatting and Style Guide This site includes a comprehensive overview of APA style, as well as individual pages with guidelines for specific citation types. Frequently Asked Questions About APA Style This page on the official APA website addresses common questions related to APA formatting. The "References," "Punctuation," and "Grammar and Writing Style" sections will be the most useful to your work in this course. APA Style: Quick Answers—References This page on the official APA Style website provides numerous examples of reference list formatting for various source types.

Note: Please note this assignment does not involve any software. This is to be done manually using the coding schemes within your textbook in Ch. 15.Part 1:Download the "Sarah: Diabetes Interview" transcript from the Saldaña and Omasta (2018) Student Resources webpage.Read the transcript beginning with the question, “Going back to how you learned about diabetes, what sources did you learn about the condition from? Where did you learn about diabetes once you were diagnosed?” on page 3. Read the section a second time. This time, look for specific words that are repeated or stand out. List the specific words you identified. When you think about coding you are looking for overall themes. What specific words provide meaning of the transcript? Not all words—specific ones.Condense the transcript beginning with the question, “Going back to how you learned about diabetes, what sources did you learn about the condition from? Where did you learn about diabetes once you were diagnosed?” on page 3 and continuing through the end. Your goal is to condense the interview from 1,501 words to about 500 words. This should be a summary of the transcript, not just repeating the same words, condensing to 500 words.Part 2:Download one of the transcripts from the Saldaña and Omasta (2018) Student Resources webpage.Choose a section of about 300 words from the interview transcript you selected.Consider which two of the following four coding methods (In Vivo, Process, Values, or Emotion Coding) would be most appropriate for analyzing the text.Code the text using each method you selected. Note: You must code the selected section of text twice—once for each method you choose.Compare the results and prepare a 150- to 300-word summary discussing how the different coding methods employed helped reinforce each other or provided divergent analytic insights.Provide the actual text you are coding and how you coded it.