- Identify the issue or problem that you plan to focus on in your research project.
Do your donations to Charitable organizations actually do the job they claim to do?
- What is your personal connection to and interest in this topic?
I’m the chairperson of a small organization that puts on concerts to raise money for cancer research.
3. What opinions do you already hold about this topic?
I think that it’s a bit of a grey area. For example, research companies are always saying that they need more money to help find a cure. Not many people think that there’s ever really any progress. When my mom was diagnosed, none of the regular chemo drugs worked, when we tried the experimental kind, it put her into remission for a few months.
4. What knowledge do you already have about this topic. What are your main questions about this topic? What are you most curious about?
I know a lot about the laws and rules in
6. Within what scholarly discipline (such as history, biology, and psychology) do you expect to do most of your research? How does this discipline approach or study this topic?
I think it’d fall under Sociology or Ethics.
7. How could you research this topic outside the library (for example, through interviews and/or observations)?
Interviews, shadowing someone in the charity.
Part II: Focusing
Write an initial claim, or an open-ended question, to guide your research on this topic. Make it specific but exploratory. Remember that a good claim opens up an area of inquiry about a topic; a claim should invite evidence, support, and debate.
Charitable organizations intake millions and millions of dollars each year. How much of it goes to their actual cause?
3 comments:
I like it. In my theology class we read a book and part of it talked about really researching a charity before you donate to it because a lot of them don't always do what you think they're doing with the money. Also, in my consumer economics class in high school we talked about whether charitable organizatons are really doing their job or not. We looked at the Better Business Bureau website and there's a section that has reports and evaluations about charities (http://www.give.org/). It might be of some help.
Yes, I agree this is a relevant and timely topic. Recent articles on charities such as Red suggest that these organizations don't do that much good (other than making the donor *feel* good.)
Your personal experience with, and commitment to, this research will be
very helpful.
You've said that this topic belongs to ethics or sociology. The ethical principles may be assumed: it's good to help others, and organizations that funnel aid dollars should ensure that they are used wisely.
It seems that your focus is less on the principles than practices. You may want to focus on the legislative aspects--such as regulations on charitable and non-profit organizations--and accountability procedures. These might actually fall into the sub-discipline of business: management of nonprofit organizations.
Consider the scope of your research. Do you want to examine the issues in the US, or do you want to deal with NGOs worldwide? I wonder what regulations govern international nonprofits? (Just curious. . .)
I look forward to learning more about your investigation as it evolves, Drew.
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