Overview
The Research Question
1. PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH PROJECT
The paper provides an opportunity to synthesize the ideas of others and to conduct original research on a subject that interests you. It gives you the opportunity to do in-depth research on a given topic.
The project represents a more detailed investigation on a topic that grows out of your previous courses or your current job. This project gives you the opportunity to come up with original ideas by using primary resources, such as interviews with government officials, laws, and original documents and by synthesizing the ideas of others.
2. MAKING PLANS
Experienced researchers know that research comes together when they have a plan, no matter how rough. Before they start, they may not know what there are looking for, but in general they know how to get the information they need. Once they assemble the material, they do not just start writing, they make a plan—maybe no more than a sketch of an outline. The following information will help you create, execute and, if necessary, revise a plan that helps you to write a paper that helps you do your best, most original thinking.
Writing a paper is not just thinking in writing but thinking from the point of view of your readers. When you write with others in mind, you give your ideas the attention they need. Thinking in written form requires a higher level of thought and careful attention to detail. If you find a topic that you care about and ask a question that you want to answer, you can elevate your thinking and make this project a truly rewarding experience. Nothing contributes more to a successful research project than your commitment to it.
3. CREATING A RELATONSHIP WITH YOUR READER
Your purpose in writing a research paper is not to show how much information you can dig up. This is a big mistake. As a researcher, you have to adopt the role of someone who knows what others need to know and to cast your reader as someone who doesn’t know but needs to find out the answer to your question. I am likely to know less than you about your specific question than you. A research report goes beyond Here are the facts I’ve dug up on the passage of the War Powers Resolution of 1973. You go beyond mere data grubbing when you say to your readers, let me share some information about the War Powers Resolution of 1973 that I think is really interesting. You might take a bigger step toward focused research when you can say to your readers not just, I have information that might interest you, but My information will help you solve a problem you care about. But more typically, an academic community will ask you to address a question that members of the community want to understand better.
4. EXPECTATIONS AND BASIC REQUIREMENTS
A. Originality: The project will combine secondary source material with primary source material. You are expected to move beyond a simple examination of secondary sources into the realm of primary source collection through interviews, observation of policy making and contacts with relevant individuals, agencies and organizations for information. This is a key to a superior paper.
B. Focus of the Paper: The project focuses on a political, policy or position paper. The project should not be a historical essay or a theoretical discourse. The project must focus on an issue within the broad area of politics and government.
C. Topic Approval: Although the topic of the project is of your own choosing, it must be approved by me. You may arrive at a topic from another course you have taken, your job, or other interests. The topic may come from an issue you addressed in a term paper or class. Once you have found a topic that interests you, a preliminary project idea or research question must be submitted in the Week 1 discussion by the end of Week 1. The preliminary project will have the following elements: 1) what you are writing about,2) what you don’t know about the topic and, 3) what you want your reader to know about the topic.
D. Consultation: You are expected to consult closely with me during the semester. You will give a PowerPoint presentation to the class during Week 5 of the course and submit your rough draft to me in the assignment folder during week 6.
E. Completed Project: The completed project will be 15-20 pages. The style, footnotes, quotations, etc. should conform to APA format.