Style sheets

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.

The Master’s Research Project or Thesis that most of you will complete as part of your MPA degree will probably require a comprehensive literature review. For the purposes of this project, your review need not be comprehensive, but should include at least 5 sources. These sources should be books, articles (from 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. (I will provide you with an example of a literature review written by a former student for his 710 project. For other examples, look at the first few paragraphs or any scholarly journal article). I would expect your reviews to be 3-5 pages, double-spaced.

This assignment will be facilitated by a training session on library/Internet research early in the semester.

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.

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. These citations can be in the form of footnotes or in-text citations. 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). In any case, the full citation should be included in a reference list at the end of the paper.

All statements of fact or reflecting someone else’s opinion must be accompanied with a citation. This is true even if your source is an interview or from the Internet. Your paper must include complete bibliographical references for every source. For more information on citations, see http://www.library.sfsu.edu/instruction/guides/citref.html. Any paper that does not include a proper form of citations and references will be returned unread.

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.

Your grade for the literature review will be based on whether you have successfully identified at least 5 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.

II. Prospectus

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.

1. Introduction. This should briefly introduce your topic, its importance, and what you expect to find.

2. 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.

3. Statement of research question: What is the overall objective of your research? What are you trying to find out?

4. Statement of hypothesis(es). If possible, this should be framed in terms the relationship between two or more variables.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. Research design/data collection(s) methods and the instruments you will use to collect these data. Please attach a proposed instrument (e.g., written questionnaire, interview protocol, table). The library training session scheduled for Feb. 23 will be designed to help you figure out if you can find your data on the Internet, CD ROM, or in published sources.

8. 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).

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.

Grading
Your grade for this paper will be based on the extent to which you have addressed each of the above elements, and have done so in a clear, concise, and well-organized fashion. I will also look to see how realistic your research design seems to be; i.e., can you reasonably expect to collect and analyze the required data by the time the first draft is due. In addition, I will look to see whether the literature review included in your prospectus has corrected any problems identified after step 1.

III. Final Paper

Your final paper will include all of the above elements (make sure you keep the disk with your prospectus handy!) In addition, it should include discussion of the following:

1. Problems you had with your initial design, including measurement issues, difficulties with data collection, and any other adjustments you had to make during the course of carrying out your research.

2. Results of any preliminary data analyses and how you dealt with any problems that presented themselves (e.g., too many missing cases, highly skewed distribution).

3. The results of your final analysis (the use of tables and/or graphs is encouraged but these data must be explained in the text as well).

4. A brief conclusion that ties your results back into your original research question and literature review.

· The papers should be a maximum of 10 pages typed (excluding appendices, double-spaced, in 10 or 12 point type.

· Copies of data collection and recording instruments should be included as appendices.

· The 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 findings (see handout on effective use of graphs and tables that will be provided later in the semester).

· Does the introduction make it clear what to expect from the rest of the paper?

· Does the paper clearly explain your hypotheses, research design, variables, data collection methods, and method of analysis to be employed, etc.?

· Is there adequate discussion of problems that hindered the data collection or analysis?

Toward the end of the semester, we will decide whether the presentations can occur on December 12, or whether more time is needed and so we should delay them until December 19. Regardless of the day we choose, attendance at the entire presentation session is mandatory.

Your presentation should clearly and succinctly introduce your topic, your research design and data collection method, and your major findings and conclusions. 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 12 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 12 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 findings and results. Make sure you don’t overestimate the number of slides you can explain within the time limit. (See handout on effective us of graphs and tables).

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.

2. Was it delivered in a professional manner (minimum of “ands” and “ums”; maximum attention to your audience and minimum attention to your notes, professional stance, etc.)?

3. Did it clearly introduce your topic, explain your research design, and summarize your major findings and conclusion?

4. Did you effectively use handouts, overheads, or a slide presentation to highlight your findings?

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.

I. Literature Review

II. Prospectus

III. Final Paper