Week 13: Rough Outline (Sample)
Introduction
Below you will find a sample of a rough outline, which may differ substantially from the kinds of Roman numeral outlines you have composed in the past. The purpose of the rough outline is to chart the trajectory of your research paper. It will not contain specific sentences you plan to incorporate. Instead, it serves as a bird's eye view of your research paper. If a traditional outline is a turn-by-turn set of directions, with specific references to landmarks and the intimate details of which lane one must merge into to make the next turn, the rough outline is a set of directions one would have received before the advent of GPS (i.e. go east on the 210, exit Santa Anita, head north, etc.).
For example, the introduction to a substantial research paper would include a creative lure or hook, a general discussion of the topic and the need for this research, an overview of the several major points that would be covered, the relevance of this topic to ongoing scholarship in the discipline, and the thesis. In a rough outline, you will mention only the thesis.
If you assume that you have 20 sources and use 2-3 sources per paragraph (and use each source only once), you should have approximately 6-10 body paragraphs outlined.
You will model your rough outline for your research project on the sample below.
Rough Outline (Sample)
Introduction
Thesis: From a Rawlsian perspective, the undisclosed collection of metadata from Instagram users in the United States is unethical.
Paragraph 1 (Background) (Note: A background paragraph is only necessary if you feel the topic in question deals with terms, ideas, or concepts that need to be discussed in detail in order for the breadth or scope of the research paper to be manifest.)
John Rawls argues that justice as fairness trumps utilitarian ideas. Justice as fairness has three basic principles: 1) The Principle of Maximum Equal Basic Liberties: Each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive scheme of equal basic liberties compatible with a similar scheme of liberties for others, 2) The Principle of Fair Equal Opportunity: Social economic inequalities should be attached to positions and offices opened to all under conditions of fair equal opportunity, and 3) The Difference Principle: Social and economic inequalities should be arranged in a way that is the greatest benefit to the least-advantaged members of society.
Paragraph 2: The Principle of Maximum Equal Basic Liberties
Americans object to phone-tapping and other modes of surveillance without their knowledge.
Evidence: 100% of Americans object to unwarranted phone taps (Rengle 148).
Privacy is expected in communications in the US.
Evidence: "95% of users think their social media posts are shared only with others they choose" (Cosgrove 95).
If the basic liberties of free communication by phone are not compatible with the basic liberties of another form of communication (i.e. Instagram), this would not satisfy the principle of maximum equal basic liberties.
Paragraph 3: The Principle of Fair Equal Opportunity
Marginalized people are most susceptible to data exhaust.
Evidence: "African-American and Latino users of Instagram are more inclined to 'like' posts on Instagram" (Porsan 43)
The data mined from social media can be used to manipulate opinion, including, but not limited to, elections.
Evidence: "Data suggests that minorities are targeted at rates 21% higher than their white counterparts using social media metadata in order to sway election results" (Forsinth par. 45).
Employers can harvest metadata activity around health, wellness, or other personal data.
Evidence: "Data mining is a profitable business, and social media companies make projections about the preferences, attitudes, and sensibilities of specific individuals as well as groups" (Hampstead 65).
If minority users of Instagram are being manipulated at a higher rate to vote against their own interests and their personal information can be bought, preventing them from having a "fair opportunity" to secure "positions and offices," then the principle of fair equal opportunity is not met.
Paragraph 4: The Difference Principle
(Use points as evidence as above)
Paragraph 5: The Original Position
(Use points as evidence as above)
Paragraph 6: Kantian Influence
(Use points as evidence as above)
Paragraph 7: The Reflective Equilibrium
(Use points as evidence as above)
Paragraph 8: Congruence
(Use points as evidence as above)
Paragraph 9: Conclusion
Clearly, justice and fairness, as John Rawls understood these terms, are not met when metadata is collected. The larger question remains: would justice and fairness, however defined, be served in a system that exploits the innermost feelings and personal communications of individuals for political or economic gain?