Successful reintegration of the ex-felons/offenders into society is fundamental to reducing recidivism; however, the system is designed to hold them back by depriving reintegration opportunities characterized by social exclusion and lack of personal development, heightening the risk of re-offending.

Raufu, A., Ben-Edet, E., Mendie, E., Tsado, L., & Krakrafaa-Bestman, D. (2022). Re-examining the Collateral Consequences of Felon Disenfranchisement in the U.S. Journal of Applied and Theoretical Social Sciences, 4(4), 45470. https://doi.org/10.37241/jatss.2022.77 

Formulating a clear research question to help guide your review of existing literature is an extremely important starting point for any research project.  Since this is your first major assignment in the program, it isn’t expected that you already have a very clear and well focused research question prepared.  You may even have a few areas of interest that you are trying to choose from.  The e-mailed proposal should include at least one research question you have an interest in exploring.  If you are having trouble choosing a single question to focus on, you may include up to two additional research questions in the e-mail as possible backups to consider.

Accompanying your research question should be brief explanation, including some background information, on your interest in that particular subject matter.  That could include anything from personal interest/passion, personal experiences, or related work you have already done there (to name just a few).

This will allow feedback for getting started reviewing existing literature.  The more focused the research question the better.  Don’t try and tackle too big an issue.