Let's look at the Prospectus assignment.
At the beginning of the assignment, it says in bold print that this assignment is NOT to be a rough draft of your final project. It is, instead, a blueprint for the final project, intended to guide you through development. And, as it says at the end of the assignment, the purpose of the Prospectus is to demonstrate your understanding of the overall research project, its feasibility, and your commitment to it.
As for the component parts of the Prospectus, let's take a look at the "Definition of a Problem." First, on pages 303-4 of your text, there are lists of the kinds of issues that would be appropriate for your project. They are cast as questions (e.g., Should physician-assisted suicide be legalized?) so that you are obliged to choose a side and argue on its behalf. "Yes," you might say, "physician-assisted suicide should be legal under certain circumstances." Or, of course, you might say, "No, physician-assisted suicide should not be legalized."
The Library also has a list - a very long list - of potential topics, which you can find at this link: Library Research Topics.
As I mentioned in the orientation, you need not choose one of the more conventional, academic topics (e.g., abortion, euthanasia, violence in high schools, teenage pregnancy...). Let me briefly remind you of an example of an alternative.
Some time ago, a student in my English 100 class was working at a department store - like Robinson's/May - while going to school. She was working as a cashier in the Men's Department when she was given this assignment. To her surprise, she found out that this store's policy on returned merchandise was generous for the customer but quite wasteful for the store. Anything returned that had been sold for less than $50 was dumped. That's right: just dropped into a dumpster. A $35 shirt returned because a button was missing, a $40 ceramic lamp with a chip off the base, a $25.... All dumped. The student was astounded to see such waste. She discovered that the accountants had determined that it was less expensive for the store to throw such stuff away than it was to package it up and return it to the manufacturer.
She saw a problem. What she ended up doing was talking to people from the Good Will, the people who run thrift shops, and finding out whether or not they would be willing to pick up such returned items on a bi-weekly basis. Yes, they were quite interested. Then, she wrote up her proposal, her research project, basically proposing that this department store DONATE these returned items to the Good Will. The thrift store would gladly sew on the button of the shirt and sell it while the department store would enjoy a tax deduction for charitable contributions.
The Department store management liked the idea, and that former student of mine no longer works for an hourly wage but for a manager's salary.
My point here is that you can choose to propose a solution to a problem that is close to you. In the past, one student proposed a stop light in his neighborhood, another proposed to the Long Beach City Council that a certain small section of Long Beach Boulevard NOT be re-zoned... You're welcome to pursue similar issues.
Defining the Problem
Now, back to defining the problem. There are three, very effective ways to define a problem. Let me demonstrate by example.
Suppose you're writing about physician-assisted suicide. You want it to be legal. First, you can use an anecdote/story. Tell the story (in all the details that you know are essential to writing a story) about Jeff, a thirty-year-old man dying of terminal cancer. You tell the story about Jeff - no abstractions, just as in your first narrative assignment. You tell in detail about what's left of his life, his increasing pain, his suffering, his rising medical costs, his absence of all hope, and his doctors, who seem not to be prolonging his life but prolonging his death... You tell a story that dramatizes the problem.
Then, you offer statistics, showing that Jeff's case is not some isolated event, but, because of diseases like AIDS, Alzheimer's, and other diseases, there are many more people who have to suffer like Jeff. But, of course, you've done the research so you know the number. The statistics will help you demonstrate the extent of the problem.
Finally, you cite authoritative sources - doctors, for example, from all over the United States who are saying that we need such a law, or relatives of those who have suffered through the last days of a terminal disease. These people whom you cite as authoritative sources lend credibility and authority to your claim.
Solution
For the Prospectus, you need not yet have your solution set in stone. You may, for example, not like the idea of doctors having such power of life and death over their patients, so you might say that you want euthanasia, yes, but you want the practice strictly supervised and regulated. But, at this point in your work, you haven't yet determined the kind of supervision.
On the other hand, you may know exactly what solution you want to propose - uniforms for high school students, for example. In this case, your solution need not be quite so tentative.
Audience
Understanding your audience is essential. For the sake of discussion, let's stick with the uniforms for high school students. Suppose the purpose of your research is to get high school students to favor school uniforms. Students are concerned about being able to express their individuality, about making themselves distinct from others, and about money. To them you would use one set of arguments. On the other hand, if you were trying to get the ABC School Board to adopt a policy of school uniforms, you'd use a different set of arguments, for they would not be as concerned about student individuality as they would about peace on the campus.
So, once you choose a solution, then you choose an audience who can either implement your solution or who can have influence over the implementation of your solution. But you need to have a good grasp of your audience's concerns and values.
Rhetorical Strategies
Although there are other kinds of arguments, I listed three on the original assignment: an argument from principle, from consequence, and from analogy or precedent.
Let's go back to euthanasia to exemplify how you might address this part of the Prospectus.
Your strongest argument would be one of consequence, though you'd have to be careful. You might say that you are going to argue that the consequence of physician-assisted suicide is the reduction of suffering for the terminally ill. And this is a good thing.
But, you might also want to argue from principle. The Hippocratic Oath, the traditional set of professional ethics to which physicians swear an oath, requires that physicians not only heal the sick but that they relieve suffering as well. And, when a patient can't be healed, perhaps the physician should be allowed to relieve the suffering. You might also talk about principles of human dignity, definitions of life....
And finally, you could argue from precedent, for euthanasia is legal in the state of Oregon and in some countries like the Netherlands.
Likely Areas for Research
Where are you going to get your information? If you are proposing that high school students wear uniforms, you might go out and talk to some students - and teachers and principals and school board members. You might talk to police or a district attorney. Yes, and you might explore information on the Internet and in the Library as well. But, by asking you to address this matter, you are compelled to consider specifically and creatively where you might go for information. And because you are being asked early, you might even send away for TV or radio transcripts of shows that have addressed your topic.
Provisional Objective
What do you hope your proposal will achieve. For the uniforms, perhaps you want the school board to adopt your proposed policy in order to reduce violence on campus, as such a policy has done in Long Beach. For euthanasia, perhaps you want an initiative placed on the ballot. As for the young lady who worked in the department story, she wrote something like, "All I want to do is end this stupid waste."
Good luck.