1. Within your “home discipline,” find a scholarly controversy or debate about some issue. It could be from a previous class you’ve taken, or just something you’re just interested in.
2. Find at least two (2) papers within that debate. Obviously, these papers should represent at least two positions within the debate. They should disagree with one another. Remember, what’s important is that you lay out two positions, and not necessarily just write about two papers.
3. Articulate, in detail, the research question at issue. What are they disagreeing about? Why is it interesting?
4. Lay out, briefly, each position you’ll be considering.
5. What strategies are used to answer the research question you’re considering? In detail: How do they understand the issue? What kind of models do they use? What kinds of causal relationships are at issue? What kinds of data are used? Are the models idealized? How? Do different sides of the controversy take different strategies? Why?