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Study in Depth Guidelines

STUDY-IN-DEPTH GUIDELINES

Purpose of LSTD 3953 Study-in-Depth Prospectus

The prospectus course is designed to prepare you for the Study-in-Depth, your final capstone project that is required before graduation. The final document in LSTD 3953, the prospectus, serves as the foundation for the subsequent Study-in-Depth (SID) project. You are required to submit the prospectus from LSTD 3953 and will be assigned an advisor based upon the prospectus you completed. You are strongly encouraged to use the topic you selected in LSTD 3953 as your SID topic. If you decide not to use the topic selected in LSTD 3953, you will need to prepare a similar prospectus on your chosen topic.

The SID proposal is submitted directly to the college by the student, and not the LSTD 3953 instructor. Send your proposal as an email attachment (Microsoft Word) to Russ Tresner (rtresner@ou.edu), Operations Assistant/Adjunct Faculty, and a copy to Laurie Blanton (lblanton@ou.edu), and we ask that you include on the subject line of your email: Study in Depth - Your Last Name (example: Study in Depth - Smith). The proposal must be emailed to our office no later than the fourth week of the semester you expect to graduate.

Purpose of Study-in-Depth 

The Study-in-Depth (SID) involves the culmination of your learning throughout your undergraduate program and should represent your abilities in college-level academic writing, research, and critical thought. You will need to pursue an SID topic that is related to your particular program (Administrative Leadership, Criminal Justice, Lifespan Care Administration, World Cultural Studies, Liberal Studies). It is important for you to demonstrate your ability to both understand and communicate how your specific topic is situated in the larger, and more complex, landscape of your field, a specific community, and society. 

Study-in-Depth Sample Paper

Description of Creative Project

All students are strongly encouraged to consider including a creative component to their SID. The creative Production projects must have two elements: 1) the project itself and 2) a presentation of the project. A product is an innovative application of your SID research for beneficial results beyond academia. The nature and assessment parameters for the product aspect of your Creative Production are relatively broad due to the diversity of potential SID topics between and within each of our degree programs. The objectives, design, and form of the final product will be approved by your advisor in your SID development and writing stage. You and your SID advisor will work together to conceptualize and plan a creative or service oriented project. A final video presentation of your creative project is required at its completion. The range of creative projects available to replace a portion of the written part of your research paper is broad, but can include the development of a podcast, video, APP, Website, as well as a written guide, brochure, or service project. Combined, your product—the actual creative project you design and implement or participated in—and the presentation will constitute a final Creative Production.

Requirements for Research Paper vs. Paper With Creative Project Option

In addition to a well-researched, well-written, appropriately cited, and edited paper, the student must meet the following requirements for number of sources and length of paper. The SID should include 25-30 sources, of which at least 15-20 are from solid, refereed academic sources.

If the student is enrolled under the 4953 course number:

  • The final paper should be roughly 8,000 words, excluding the cover page, reference list, graphics, tables, pictures, maps, etc. 

If the student is enrolled in the 4954 course number:

  • The final paper should be roughly 11,000 words, excluding the cover page, reference list, graphics, tables, pictures, maps, etc.

If students are adding a creative element and enrolled under the 4953 course number (3 credit hours):

  • The minimum length for the SID proper is decreased to roughly 4500-5000 words. This assumes that the student will not only develop the creative product (podcast, service, website, video, etc.) but will also include a presentation of the product itself, in addition to the overall SID narrative proper.

If the student is enrolled under the 4954 course number (4 credit hours):

  • The minimum is decreased to roughly 5500-6000 words. Again, this assumes that the student will not only develop the creative product (podcast, website, video, etc.) but will also include a presentation of the product itself, in addition to the SID narrative proper. 

Supervising Faculty Member

Each student will be assigned an SID advisor upon submission of their SID proposal. Advisors are assigned based on the program of the student, the nature of the topic, and advisor availability. Every effort is made to pair a student with an advisor who has interest and expertise with the program and topic area. All advisors are College of Professional and Continuing Studies faculty or adjunct faculty who teach College of Professional and Continuing Studies courses and who promote academic writing. Students may request a specific advisor; however, there is no guarantee that the requested advisor will be assigned. Once an advisor is assigned, it is essential that you log into the SID Advisor course available in the course management system Canvas).

The College endeavors to assign faculty members in the fastest timeframe possible. Sometimes there are delays associated with finding a qualified faculty member to supervise the proposed topic. 

Submitting Late Proposals

The SID paper and project are major research and writing efforts. The College anticipates that it will take three full months of work to complete the SID successfully. Proposals submitted after the fourth week of the semester may be rejected, and the student may be required to enroll in the SID during a later semester.

If you took the SID Prospectus after Fall, Spring or Summer 2015, Submit your final paper. If you completed your SID before Fall 2015, provide the following:

  1. Land mailing address: Please provide the college with your preferred land mailing address.
  2. General Topic: Give a working title for your proposal or write a statement identifying the topic or issue you will study.
  3. Specific Topic: Provide a few sentences that give a general, non-specialized description of the topic and mention the areas of knowledge to which it is related. Follow with more detailed ideas about the topic to suggest what faculty expertise will be needed to assist you in determining its feasibility and suitability.
  4. Why Select this Topic? What are Your Objectives? Tell why you selected this topic. State the objectives you hope to accomplish in completing the project or if you plan to use the finished project in any particular way.
  5. Relevance: Provide a description of how this topic relates to your field of study, specifically your program. This is essential. Your topic must in some way be relevant to your program from which you will graduate., You may also include how this topic is personally or professionally relevant, 
  6. Interdisciplinary Perspective of the Project: You are expected to incorporate interdisciplinary perspective(s) in your Study in Depth. Briefly describe how your project will be interdisciplinary in nature
  7. Outline of SID: Briefly, in outline form, state the main headings you plan to include in your Study in Depth. Include a brief introduction of the topic followed by headings and sub-headings. If this includes a creative project, provide a brief description of the project and the process of the plan to follow.
  8. Reference Sources Located So Far: Provide 15 annotated sources you have located to date, providing bibliographical information including: author(s), title, title of journal or symposium volume in which published, inclusive page numbers, editor(s) of multi-authored volume, publisher (if a book), publication date. Ten of the fifteen sources should be primary sources. If non-print references are to be used (e.g. interviews with experts), provide a list of the potential sources and short descriptions of the purpose of the article and a description of how or why the article will be useful to your paper. Internet citations are acceptable. Your reference list should not, however, be comprised of Internet sources only. Use the OU library to locate referenced journal sources.

ENROLLMENT IN LSTD 4953 IS CONTINGENT UPON SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF LSTD 3953.

If you receive an Incomplete (I) in LSTD 3953, you will not be allowed to remain in LSTD 4953 if LSTD 3953 is not completed prior to the beginning of the semester. Successful completion of LSTD 3953 requires a minimum grade of C or better.

Due Dates for Drafts and Revisions 

Proposal must be submitted by the end of the first week of the semester. Proposals submitted after the fourth week of the semester may be rejected, and the student may be required to enroll in the SID during a later semester.

Once an advisor is assigned it is your responsibility to communicate with your advisor on a regular basis. It is also your responsibility to follow the due dates provided by your advisor. Due dates will be posted in your advisor’s SID course in the course management system (Canvas). Keep in mind that multiple submissions and drafts are required before a final submission is accepted. All drafts will be submitted to the SID Advisor’s course in the course management system.