Style sheets

Theory and Method of Public Administration

PA 705

Fall 2004

Style Sheet for Prospectus

Literature Review
A Note on Plagiarism
Prospectus
An example of a prospectus
Verbal Presentation

Literature Review (20% of final grade)

Well written articles, books, research proposals, etc. include a discussion of the literature related to the topic the author is writing about. This is an important part of social science research, which is designed to build from previous research in order to add to the total knowledge about a particular subject. The objectives for your literature review are:

to give you the background you need to understand your topic in a broader context, and to be able to explain the importance of your research project to others.
to show that you are aware of previous research and that your particular project will add to what is already known.
to identify issues that you need to be aware of as you conduct your research. For example, if previous research has identified certain independent variables that may have an effect on the dependent variable you are also using, you may want to find a way to account for those variables (or explain why you can’t). Or, if a previous research has already devised a means for measuring or operationalizing one of your variables, you can cite that research as the basis for your measurement/operationalization scheme.

For the purposes of this project, your review need not be comprehensive, but should include at least 8 sources. These sources should be books, articles (from scholarly journals, not newspapers or magazines), or reports issued by the government or other institutions. The literature review discusses, in an integrated fashion, findings from previous research as they relate to your topic. It does not summarize each work separately, nor in great detail. (For examples, look at the first few paragraphs or any scholarly journal article). Your review should not exceed 5 pages. I recommend that you also review Creswell, chapters 2 and 7(ER)

Often students believe that the only appropriate literature to include in their reviews are those pieces that exactly mirror their own research. For example, suppose you were looking at the impact of Proposition 209 on minority enrollment in California colleges this year. If you did not find any articles that directly addressed this issue, you might be tempted to conclude that there is no “related literature” that belongs in your review. The problem is that you focused your search too narrowly. Instead, expand it to include previous research that looks at things like (1) factors affecting minority enrollment in colleges (inside or outside Calif.), (2) the impact of anti-affirmative actions laws in general, (3) background on the anti-affirmative action movement in general, (4) background on college admissions requirements in general, etc.

Organization and Style

In writing your review, make sure you cite all of your sources as you discuss their findings or ideas. Remember this should be an essay, not merely a list of book/article summaries. "String" citations can also be used where you are more than one author has same finding or idea; e.g., “Previous research has found that there is less support for affirmative action programs in colleges when competition for admission is particularly high (Jones 1994; Yi 1996, Hernandez 1999). I

You must use a correct form of citation and reference list at the end of the paper. We recommend that you use the book by Diana Hacker that is required for PA 700 and PA 800 (the Capstone course). You can choose any of the three styles described (p. 329-443) but make sure you choose one and use it consistently. Above all, every statement of fact or idea taken from another source must include a citation so that your reader can easily find that fact or idea should he or she want to. Direct quotes should be used very sparingly. Citations for direct quotes must include the page number where the quote was found. There should be a complete bibliography or reference list at the end, with the sources alphabetized by the author's last name. It is essential that you learn how to do this now as you will be required to write many papers while enrolled in this program.

As with all papers, be sure to begin with a paragraph introducing the subject you are discussing, and end with a brief conclusion summarizing your main points.

Grading:

Your grade for the literature review will be based on whether you have successfully identified at least 8 appropriate sources, and have integrated them into a clear, concise essay that helps us to understand the importance of your research and its anticipated findings.

A Note on Plagiarism

Whenever words are taken directly from another author without quotation marks and direct attribution to the author, it constitutes plagiarism, which is a serious and punishable offense at this university. Please ensure that your papers are written in your own words, that ideas and facts taken from others are clearly attributed to them, and that anything taken verbatim from another source is enclosed in quotation marks. Citations can take the form of footnotes or in-text references, but there should be a full bibliographic reference somewhere in the document. In the case of a direct quotation, the citation should include the page number where the quote was found as well. Direct quotes from another author should be used sparingly, and only when the point you are making is stated best by using someone else’s words.

Prospectus and briefing (30% of final grade)

The prospectus should contain the following elements, not necessarily in this order. Please do not simply list these elements, but instead write a paper in a well organized, narrative form as you would for any other class. Exploratory and qualitative research will require some modification to this list, as discussed below.

Introduction. This should briefly introduce your topic, its importance, and what you expect to find.
Literature review. Ideally, you should be able to simply plug in the literature review you already wrote, revised according to suggestions I made when I graded it.
Statement of research question: What is the overall objective of your research? What are you trying to find out?
Statement of hypothesis(es). If possible, this should be framed in terms the relationship between two or more variables.
Definition (or operationalization) of variables to be studied (e.g., political power will be defined as the proportion of elected offices held by the group in question). Be sure to also identify and define any control or moderating variables that you would expect to affect the relationship between your independent and dependent variables.
Measurement of variables (e.g., the proportion of elected offices will be measured by diving the total number of elected offices held by the group at the beginning of the year with the total number of elected offices at the beginning of the same year.) Make it clear whether each variable will be nominal, ordinal, interval, or dichotomous.
Research design/data collection(s) methods and the instruments you will use to collect these data. Please attach any proposed instruments (e.g., written questionnaire, interview protocol, chart for recording observational data).
Define the units of analysis (e.g., individuals, aggregated voting data by precinct) and parameters of your study (e.g., population, years, types of contracts).
Data recording: Explain your plan for recording and coding the data.
Describe any quantitative analysis you will employ to test your hypotheses.
Include a concluding paragraph briefly summarizing the importance of your research and the way it will be carrried out.

Notes for qualitative studies:

Introduction: Early in the prospectus, you should discuss why the problem is well suited to a qualitative design.
Hypotheses: Most qualitative studies do not use hypotheses per se, but do often use “guiding hypotheses” or “sub-questions” that narrow the focus of your broader research question.
Variable definition and measurement: Variables may be defined tentatively if you expect them to emerge from the study. However, I would then expect to see fuller discussion of these variables in the final paper.
Unit of analysis: Explain why you chose the particular individual(s) or site(s) or event(s) for study.
Interpretation: Explain how you plan to reduce and interpret the data you collect.

Organization and Style:

The papers should be a maximum of 10 pages typed (excluding appendices, double-spaced, in 10 or 12 point type.
Copies of proposed data collection and recording instruments should be included as appendices.
Use of subtitles is encouraged, as well as tables and/or graphs. Subtitles help readers follow the organization and flow of your paper. Tables and graphs help illustrate and emphasize key facts or concepts

Verbal Presentation

Presentations of prospectus' will take place on Dec. 1 and 8. Regardless of which date you do your presentation, attendance at both presentation sessions is mandatory.

For the purposes of this assignment, you have been invited to present your proposed research project to the Mayor (or your supervisor, or whomever). It should clearly and succinctly introduce your topic, the research question you are trying to answer, and any other elements he or she needs to know to decide whether your project is worth pursuing. Because in the world of work, the busy peers and supervisors who ask you to brief them want your presentation to be concise, you will be limited to 10 minutes for your presentation in this class. Expect me to strictly enforce this time limit by giving you a 2 minute warning, and then cutting you off once exactly 10 minutes have passed. For this assignment you should not read your paper (you will already have turned it in at the beginning of class). Rather, have a short outline prepared that you can refer to.

The use of handouts, overheads, and especially PowerPoint presentations is strongly encouraged. These can really add to your presentation while emphasizing your major points Make sure you don’t overestimate the number of slides you can explain within the time limit.

Your arrival at or before 6:10 is mandatory for this event. It is very disruptive to the presenter and the audience if you walk in late. Therefore, we will not begin until everyone has arrived, which may result in the class being required to stay past 9:50 in order to complete the presentations.

Grading

Your grade for the prospectus and presentation will be based on the following:

The extent to which you have addressed each of the required elements listed above
The organization and clarity of your written product
The practicality of your design and whether it would answer the research question you pose
The extent to which the literature review has corrected any problems identified after step 1.
The organization, clarity and professionalism of your presentation
Whether you effectively used handouts, overheads, or a slide presentation to highlight your findings?
The extent to which you provided adequate answers to any questions raised by the audience
Whether your arrived on time for both presentation sessions, and listen attentively