The paper should be written from a comparative perspective. Its organization should include title page, abstract, introduction, literature review, research design, analysis and assessment, conclusion, and reference list.
The Research Paper should be logically and factually based. It could be cross-sectional at one point in time or longitudinal at different points in time. The attached table outlines some of the differences between an essay and a research paper.
The Research Paper must answer a theoretical research question. Possible answers should be considered in an outline, an informal annotated bibliography (not included in the paper). They should then be discussed formally in the literature review of the Paper.
Next comes the research design followed by the analysis and assessment. The variables identified in the literature review should be classified as independent variables or causes, dependent variables or effects, and control variables or constants.
The broad variables should then be operationalized using logical arguments, historical evidence, and/or specific measures. Temperature is, for example, a variable whereas Fahrenheit is a measure.
Students may write quantitative papers that feature statistical tests of theoretical hypotheses or qualitative papers that include at least some charts and/or graphs of numerical data created in the separate spreadsheet assignment.
The Research Paper should be a minimum of 4000 words. It should be typed in MS Word and submitted as a single-spaced Word doc in the Assignments section during Week 8.
The Paper must follow the APA or APSA Style Manual.
Along with other references, students should include a minimum of ten relevant references to peer reviewed articles in academic journals.
All papers will be submitted to turnitin.com to check for plagiarism and originality. Students should not copy or paraphrase someone else’s work without proper citation. And quotation should be kept to a minimum. The Paper should be written in the students’ own words. But they should not re-submit work they did for previous assignments, other classes, or other purposes.
They should not submit AI generated text. And they should NOT rely on AI editing or proofreading programs such as Grammarly and others