Trial Research 1 (TR1)

Winter 2026: CHDV 42401

Tuesdays and Thursdays 3:30pm-4:50pm

Let’s get you rolling on your TR project! We will spend the quarter homing in on questions and ideas so that you have time to develop and start acting on a research plan before the summer begins. Following past instructors, we’ll use Thomas Mullaney and Christopher Rea’s Where Research Begins as a guide through the class. The book is well suited for a range of social science domains, and focuses specifically on practical skills for starting new research. We’ll follow along with their proposed activities (obligatory unless marked as optional below), which for you will mean lots of note taking, looking up resources, skimming written work, reviewing, and then starting it all over again. We’ll weave in some chances to draft and redraft your research proposals, with the aim of having something fairly concrete at the end of the quarter.

This course and TR2 typically involve quite a bit of sharing and commenting on each other’s work. Please prepare yourself to share your own ideas (on time!!) and consider how you can be helpful and respectful to others in commenting on their ideas and writing. Sharing drafts can feel risky, and we’ll do what we can do to encourage constructive and concrete critical feedback.

Instructor: Marisa Casillas (she/her; mcasillas@uchicago.edu).

Office hours: Fridays 11:00am–12:00pm in Rosenwald 318A (book here).

Course links: All course materials will be available via this chatterlab course webpage. All assignments should be submitted via Canvas.

Course schedule

Day-by-day-schedule

Tuesday, 6 January 2026 (1.1)

  • Pre-class reading: None!

  • Assignments due today: None!

  • Extra activity: Look at some TR papers, consider who to invite to class.

Thursday, 8 January 2026 (1.2)

  • Pre-class reading: WRB Introduction (pp. 1–16)

  • Assignments due today: Complete the exercise on pages 14-15. Come to class ready to share a brief description of what you hope to accomplish with your research project.

Tuesday, 13 January 2026 (2.1)

  • Pre-class reading: WRB Chapter 1 (pp. 17–42)

  • Assignments due today: Complete the exercises: Search Yourself (p.27), Let Boredom Be Your Guide (p.33) and Go Small or Go Home (p.36). Come to class with a list of questions from these exercises which you are ready to share and discuss.

  • Primary class activity: Visit from Holiday Vega

Thursday, 15 January 2026 (2.2)

  • Pre-class reading: WRB Chapter 2 (pp. 43–66)

  • Assignments due today: Complete the exercises: Run a Diagnostic Test on Your Questions (p.47), Use Primary Sources to Educate Your Questions (if applicable to your project) (p.51). Come to class prepared to discuss the results of your exercises.

  • Primary class activity: Hear from Yuchen and Alex about their TR experiences. Come to class prepared with questions for them.

Tuesday, 20 January 2026 (3.1)

  • Pre-class reading: None! We’ll continue working with Chapter 2 this week.

  • Assignments due today: Complete the exercises: Make Your Assumptions Visible (p.59), Identify the Problem That Connects Your Questions (p.64). Come to class prepared to discuss the results of your exercises.

  • Primary class activity: Hear from Zihao and Gracie about their TR experiences. Come to class prepared with questions for them.

Thursday, 22 January 2026 (3.2)

  • Assignments due today (4 students): Select an exemplary or model article in your disciplinary area. The article should have a compelling research question, research design and methods, analysis, and findings. Ideally it should also report on research of a similar scope and scale to the TR. That is, this should be an article which you can potentially use as a model for your own research design and writing. Check in with your advisor and make sure that they agree that this is an exemplary article. Prepare a SHORT presentation on the article for class, explaining the authors’ approach to research questions, research design, methods, and analysis.

Tuesday, 27 January 2026 (4.1)

  • Assignments due today (4 students): [Same as last week].

Thursday, 29 January 2026 (4.2)

  • Assignments due today (4 students): Read at least six successful grant proposals. (There is a database of successful grant proposals on the departmental Canvas page. If you find that these are too distant from your research approaches, methods, or discipline, reach out to your advisor or peers to ask for successful grant proposals). Come prepared to discuss what you thought made them successful. Please choose one proposal and present it in detail to the class.

Tuesday, 3 February 2026 (5.1)

  • Assignments due today (4 students): [Same as last week].

Thursday, 5 February 2026 (5.2)

  • Pre-class reading: WRB Chapter 3 (pp. 67–116)

  • Assignments due today: Complete the exercises: Decision Matrix (p.97) and Get Money for Nothing (Prepare a Formal Research Proposal) (p.108). (Feel free to complete the other exercises, on sources, if you feel that they apply to you).

  • Extra activity: Discuss useful feedback strategies.

Tuesday, 10 February 2026 (6.1)

  • Pre-class reading: None!

  • Assignments due today: Circulate your 4-6 page (double-spaced) research proposal with the class by 8pm on Sunday, February 8th.

  • Assignments due today: Please read your classmates’ proposals and come prepared to discuss them with some concrete and/or detailed feedback.

Thursday, 12 February 2026 (6.2)

  • Pre-class reading: WRB Chapter 4 (pp. 117–151)

  • Assignments due today: Complete the exercises: Change One Variable (p.125), Before and After (p.133), Map Out Your Collective (Secondary Source Search) (p.138), Find and Replace All “Insider Language” (p.146). Circulate the “lay version” of your research proposal (the result of the Find and Replace exercise) with the class by 8pm on Wednesday, February 11th.

Tuesday, 17 February 2026 (7.1)

  • Pre-class reading: None!

  • Assignments due today: Please read your classmates’ “lay version” proposals and come prepared to discuss them with some concrete and/or detailed feedback.

Thursday, 19 February 2026 (7.2)

  • Pre-class reading: WRB Chapter 5 part 1 (pp. 152–169)

  • Assignments due today: Complete the exercise: Start Your Own “What’s Your Problem?” Bookstore (aka Organize Your Field into Problem Collectives) (p.159). Come prepared to discuss your completed exercise with the class.

Tuesday, 24 February 2026 (8.1)

  • Pre-class reading: WRB Chapter 5 part 2 (pp. 169–174)

  • Assignments due today: Complete the exercise: Rewrite for Your Field (p.169). (Feel free to read the rest of the book as well!) As you revise your research proposal for your field, try to also incorporate feedback from the class which received during the past few weeks. Circulate your revised research proposal with the class by 8pm on Sunday, February 22nd.

Thursday, 26 February 2026 (8.2)

  • Pre-class reading: None!

  • Assignments due today (3 students): Please read your classmates’ proposals and come prepared to discuss them with some concrete and/or detailed feedback.

Tuesday, 3 March 2026 (9.1)

  • Pre-class reading: None!

  • Assignments due today (3 students): Please read your classmates’ proposals and come prepared to discuss them with some concrete and/or detailed feedback.

Thursday, 5 March 2026 (9.2)

  • Pre-class reading: None!

  • Assignments due today (2 students): Please read your classmates’ proposals and come prepared to discuss them with some concrete and/or detailed feedback.

Tuesday, 10 March 2026 (FINAL)

This is the due date for a final draft of your 4-6 page research proposal. Please make sure that this version includes a brief abstract and 3 keywords. (The page length does not include a bibliography or abstract).

Accommodations

If you require any accommodations for this course, as soon as possible please provide your instructor with a copy of your Accommodation Determination Letter (provided to you by the Student Disability Services office) so that you may discuss with him/her how your accommodations may be implemented in this course.

The University of Chicago is committed to ensuring the full participation of all students in its programs. If you have a documented disability (or think you may have a disability) and, as a result, need a reasonable accommodation to participate in class, complete course requirements, or benefit from the University’s programs or services, you are encouraged to contact Student Disability Services as soon as possible. To receive reasonable accommodation, you must be appropriately registered with Student Disability Services. Please contact the office at 773-834-4469/TTY 773-795-1186 or gmoorehead@uchicago.edu, or visit the website at disabilities.uchicago.edu. Student Disability Services is located in Room 233 in the Administration Building located at 5801 S. Ellis Avenue.