3-5 Page Paper (APA format)

Second Writing Assignment

For this writing assignment, you will begin to describe your data and the methods you will use in the third assignment to evaluate your theory. You will not divide this paper into sections (this will become the data and methods section of your final paper). There are several things you should discuss in a certain order. First, you will want to talk about what research design you have chosen. All of you are doing an observational research design, but you will need to state whether you are doing a cross-sectional or times-series study (or one that is cross-sectional time-series). Next, you will want to talk about your unit of analysis. This is entity being analyzed (countries, states, individuals, ect.). You will define what it is and the n-size (number of observations) you will gain from using this unit of analysis. If you are using survey data, you will want to cite where you got this data and say how many people you have in your data set. This should all be contained in your first paragraph of this paper

For your second paragraph, you will discuss your dependent variable. You will state what it is, how you plan to measure it, and justify why you measured it this way. You will also cite where you obtained the data for this variable.

Your next paragraph or paragraphs you will discuss your independent variable(s) of interest. These are the variables that help test your theory. For each independent variable, you should write a paragraph describing the variable: what is it, how do you plan to measure it, and justify why you measure it this way. You will also explain the expected direction of the variable (would theory predict a positive, negative, or curvilinear relationship). You will also cite where you obtained the data for this variable. You should write a separate paragraph for each independent variable.

Your next paragraph will explain your control variables. You will want to explain what you are controlling for, how it will be measures, and justify this measurement (since these come from previous research, the easy justification is to cite what someone else did). You will also state the predicted direction of the variable. Finally, you will cite where you got the data for this variable. You may talk about control variables in one paragraph or several depending on what you see fit.

Your final paragraph will pick a method to analyze your data. (Note: you are not locked in to this method if you want to change it for your final paper). You will state and your method and why it is appropriate to analyze your data

Length, citation, and style requirements: Your paper should include a title page which includes your working title, your name, the class, and university. Failure to include a title page will result in an automatic, nonnegotiable 5 point penalty. The title page does not count towards the length requirement. You are required to use APSA style citations (see the guides on D2L). Failure to use APSA style citations will result in an automatic, nonnegotiable 10 point penalty. Part of using APSA style citations involves using a reference page, so you must include a reference page. The assignment must be at least three pages in length (meaning it should be a full three pages) and no more than five pages in length. Note: unlike the first assignment your reference page(s) DO NOT count as pages against the length requirement. Finally, you pages must be numbered. Failure to do so will result in an automatic, nonnegotiable 5 point penalty.

As stated in the syllabus, papers must be typed, double-spaced, in Times New Roman 12 point font .