Research Paper Directions and Guidelines 1
POLS 235: POLITICAL RESEARCH METHODS
AND APPROACHES
Research Paper Directions and Guidelines
Together, this research paper counts towards 20% of your overall class grade. There are four
parts to this research paper
Parti: Research Question and Literature Review (5%)
I
Due September 27 (hard copy before class!) _
Part II: Part I + Theory and Hypotheses (5%)
Due October 18 (hard copy before class!)
Part III: Parts III + Descriptive Statistics (5%)
Due November 8 (hard copy before class!)_
Final Version: Polished parts I III + bivariate data analysis & conclusion (5%)
Due December 10 (via email; mmcbraver@uidaho.edu)
„
|
J
rhe directions and guidelines are written as a checklist. Use the checklist.
Late work is heavily penalized. You will receive a zero for Parts I through III if the paper is
late for any reason (printer breaks, you oversleep, etc.). For the final version, there is an
automatic 20 point deduction for the first 24 hours and 50 point deduction for anything later than
24 hours.
You may write this research paper with a classmate of your choosing. After all, social science
research is collaborative. The expectations and requirements are exactly the same tor working
with a coauthor as not.
Research Paper Directions and Guidelines 2
Part I: Research Question and Literature Review (45 pages)
Due: September 27 at the beginning of class (hard copy)
Requirements
Introduction and Research Question on a political science topic (1 page)
Examples: "What causes voter turnout to vary between countries?" "Why are
Republicans, on average, becoming more conservative and Democrats more liberal in
their congressional voting?" This must be both
2*
a
Clear.
b
Answerable.
Disc"Ssion of the importance of the nrohlem and the research question (1 papel
Why is this (e.g. turnout) an important question? Don't explain why you find this
interesting. TelUhereader why this is an important issue in general.
a>
Convincing argument why this is an important problem.
3 Literature review (71 pagpg)
Consuhat least 10 scholarly articles and discuss the existing literature relevant to your
research question. This should be in paragraph form and cited with in text citations (APA
Style). Keep in mind: a literature review does not just list what other scholars have said
a out this question. Instead, this is where you identify and describe debates that
c°™™n themes behind articles and books
< V ( s^h00ls of thought ). In other words: instead of listing the content of 10 articles you
C°m m0n 'hemf between these
'
group them according to this theme, and
f
K ^ v d i p u s s s t r e n g t h s a n d w e a k n e s s e s o f e x i s t i n g s c h o o l s o f t h o u g h t . ( J j P : Reread Baglione
Chapter 4 (for good examples of literature reviewsT>
a.
Consultation of at least ten scholarly sources
b.
c.
Correctly cited sources using intext citations (APA Style).
Paragraph form
d
e
f
8*
Outlines what scholars have said about this before
Identifies the relevant schools of thought.
Discusses strengths and weaknesses of existing schools of
thought
Identifies one school of thought to be focused on for the paper
Research Paper Directions and Guidelines 3
My Grading Rubric
Comments
(if applicable)
for
Part
Criterion
Fundamentals:
Style, Language, and Grammar
Introduction (1 page):
Clear and answerable research
question.
Sum
Max
20
20
Importance of Topic (1 page):
Convincing argument why the RQ
is important
10
Literature Review (23 pages):
Consultation of 10 academic
sources
correct ciuition (APA Style)
Outlines what scholars have said
about this topic before
10
Organization according to schools
of thought
Discusses strengths and
weaknesses of existing schools of
thought
10
10
10
10
100
Points
Research Paper Directions and Guidelines 4
Part II: Theory and Hypothesis (34 pages)
Due: October 18 at the beginning of class (bring two hard copies)
Requirements
Here you provide the answer to your research question. Recall that a theory has a causal
statement and a causal explanation. In other words, you need to make a clear statement which
variables cause your phenomenon of interest (e.g. varying turnout levels) and you need to
explain in great detail why you expect this effect. From your theory, you then deduce testable
hypotheses. For this project, you are required to have 2 testable hypotheses (1 dependent variable
and 2 independent variables).
Example: To use the question on turnout, the United States does not require citizens to register to
vote. Voter registration requirements vary by country. I might argue that this institutional
difference causes the discrepancy in voter turnout because it makes voting easier for some
citizens and harder for others (taken from Pollock p. 233).
This theory is testable and falsifiable (science!).
We could create a hypothesis for this theory. For instance, countries that require
citizens to register to vote are more likely to have low voter turnout rates in
elections.
We could test this hypothesis. We could collect data on if and how countries
conduct voter registration and collect data on voter turnout.
We could also be wrong about this. Perhaps voter turnout has little to do with
government requiring citizens to register to vote. Perhaps a voter's satisfaction
with democracy drives his or her decision to vote in a given election.
Questions to ask yourself about your theory:
1.
Does your theory explain something? What relationship does your theory
explain?
2.
3.
Is the theory causal?
Do I explain my theory? Do I spell out exactly how my factor influences
4.
the relationship I'm trying to explain?
Is this theory testable? Is it plausible for there to be data to help us answer
5.
this question?
Can I be wrong? How would I be wrong?
Research Paper Directions and Guidelines 5
My Grading Rubric for Part II
Comments
Criterion
(if applicable)
Fundamentals:
Max
Points
Points
Achieved
20
Style, Language, Citations (if
necessary) and Grammar.
Theory (34 pages):
20
Theory answers the RQ
Theory has a cl ear causal
20
statement.
Theory has a c ompelling and
20
detailed causal explanation.
Hypothesis:
20
Two clear and testable
hypothesis.
Sum
100
Research Paper Directions and Guidelines 6
Part III: Descriptive Statistics (34 pages)
Due: November 8 at the beginning of class (bring two hard copies)
Requirements
In this section, you describe the variables that you are using in your statistical analysis, both in
text and in chart or table form. After this section, you then describe all of your variables. This
means: provide the minimum, maximum, and appropriate measure of central tendency for each
variable (in a Table). Plot the distribution of each variable in an appropriate graph.
Identify your independent variables (remember: you need 2).
Identify your dependent variable.
Provide a discussion of the independent, and dependent variables in paragraph
form. Questions include, but are not limited to:
o How are your variables measured
o
Where do these variables come from? For instance, did you code them yourself?
Did you find them on the internet? If so, where?
o
Are there any shortcomings or problems with the way these variables are
measured?
Provide the minimum, maximum, appropriate measure of central tendency, and
standard deviation (if applicable) for each variable in a table.
the distribution of each variable in an appropriate graph.
Explain each graph and each table in the text. The basic rule is: readers
should be able to understand the tables and graphs without reading the text and they
should be able to understand the text without looking at the tables and graphs.
r
Research Paper Directions and Guidelines 7
My Grading Rubric Part III
Comments
Criterion
(if applicable)
Fundamentals:
Max
Points
Points
Achieved
20
Style, Language and Grammar.
Oescriptives (34 pages):
20
Clearly identified DV and IV
Discussion in paragraph form:
20
(1) Variable measurement
(2) Variable source
(3) Shortcomings
Minimum, Maximum,
15
Mean/Median/Mode and
Standard Deviation
Plotted Distribution of each
15
variable (appropriate graph)
Each graph and table explained in
10
the text
Sum
100
Research Paper Directions and Guidelines 8
Final Version:
Polished parts of IIII &
bivariate data analysis (45 pages) &
conclusion (23 pages)
Due: December 10 at 11:59pm (Word document via email)
The final version of your paper will include polished parts of IIII as well as a bivariate data
analysis (45 pages), and a conclusion (23 pages).
1 Bivariate Data Analysis (45 pages')
For the bivariate data analysis, you need to use all of the appropriate tools learned in class.
This list includes but is not limited to: Crosstabs, Scatterplots, Differenceofmeanstests, Chi
Square tests, and Bivariate Regression. Explain each test in the text and interpret the output that
you get. Do you reject or fail to reject your hypotheses? What does this mean for your theory?
2. Conclusion (23 papesl
In the conclusion, you usually first restate your research question and you then sumup your
findings. Did you find support for your hypotheses? What are the implications of your findings
for your theory? Which other variables would you have to consider in order to conduct a
conclusive test of your theory?
Research Paper Directions and Guidelines 9
My Grading Rubric for the Final Version
Comments
(if applicable)
Criterion
Fundamentals:
Style. Language and Grammar.
Bivariate Data Analysis (45
pages):
All Charts (if applicable)
Appropriate selection of test
for statistical significance.
Each test explained in the text
and results are interpreted in
plain language.
Conclusion (23 pages):
Restated research question
and summary of findings.
Discussion of 5 potential
confounding variables.
Sum
Max
Points
20
10
10
40
10
10
100
Points
Achieved
This is the data you will copy and add it to the paper probably
US Democracy Decline
Variables
•
•
The dependent variable is Total.
The independent variables are CL and PR.
Descriptive Analysis: Measures of central tendencies & Dispersion
Descriptive analysis for the independent variables
•
Below is the measure of central tendencies for both United States and United Kingdom
on two key parameters namely;
1. Political right aggregate score
2. Civil liberties aggregate score
Aggregated Political Right Aggregate Score for the US and UK
Country/Territory Minimum Maximum Mean Median Standard Devation
United Kingdom
40
40 40.00
40
0.00
United States
33
37 35.33
36
1.86
Aggregated Civil Liberties Aggregate Score for the US and UK
Country/Territory Minimum Maximum Mean Median Standard Devation
United Kingdom
40
40 40.00
40
0.00
United States
33
37 35.33
36
1.86
Descriptive analysis for the dependent variable
Total democracy outlook score for the US and UK
Country/Territory Minimum Maximum Mean Median Standard Devation
United Kingdom
94
97 95.33
95.0
1.37
United States
86
92 89.17
89.5
2.71
This is the data you will copy and add it to the paper probably
Visualizations
Political Right Score
Civil Liberties Score
This is the data you will copy and add it to the paper probably
Total Democracy Score
AMERICA’S IGNORANT VOTERS
1
September 27th, 2018
Introduction
Without any doubts, the United States is one of the world's most powerful country. It has
a globe-spanning network of alliances as well as military bases. In the view of some, many
Americans had dreamt of the current United Stare (Somin, 2016). Over a span of years, the
country has changed from a detached colony to the most powerful country in the world. Many
people expect economically stable nations like the United States of America to reciprocate this
supremacy in the establishment of a robust political system based on democracy. However, this
has not been the case. The US’s status concerning democracy is declining at a worrying pace.
Democracy in its simple terms entails having a system of government that is for the people and
by the people (Piven, Cloward, & Cloward, 2000). Ideally, it means having a type of governance
by the whole population through elected representatives. Having this in mind, it is therefore;
right to say that the United States democracy is under significant threat. It is correct to say that
the democracy of the United States is nearing its demise.
Research Question
This paper will seek to answer the question, “What are the factors that lead to the decline
of democracy in the United States? The uninformed electorate is a prerequisite for the death of
American democracy. If the voter does not know the happenings in politics, it is hard for them to
rationally exercise control over government policies. It is therefore essential to research on the
extent to which the United States citizenry is ignorant of matters about voting and the extent to
which the uninformed electorate threatens the United States democracy.
AMERICA’S IGNORANT VOTERS
2
Discussion
The ever-growing electorate ignorance poses a severe threat to American democracy in
the upcoming elections. So it becomes imperative to have an understanding of how voters are
ignorant in the US and in what ways this threatens the American democracy. Democracy entails
power-sharing between people. When this is the case, the citizenry is given the opportunity to
take part in the decision-making process about issues facing the nation. Although the decision
may not be right, it limits the power of certain groups.
Researching on the topic of electorate ignorance is very important since it will enable
policymakers to find the extent to which Americans voters are ignorant of issues about elections
and other matters about democracy. Failure to have democracy or when the American democracy
is threatened, power will accumulate in the hands of few individuals who may not have the
interests of people at heart, but instead, they will make decisions that will only benefit
themselves. Informed voters will be able to make a rational decision that will help to uplift the
democracy. Consequently, the democracy will help to promote equality among citizens, enhance
the dignity of individuals, and give citizens to vote a candidate of their choice and who will bring
about change. It is therefore much essential and okay for voters to learn the concepts of curiosity
and to question.
The virtue of reason, logic, clarity, dissent, civility, and debate are the independent basis
for democracy that needs to be utilized in great magnitude. The answers to the above question
will be used by the concerned parties such as government agencies, human rights groups and
other concerned parties to know the way forward to educate the electorate if necessary.
AMERICA’S IGNORANT VOTERS
3
Literature Review
According to Caplan, (2011), there are three essential conditions for voters to be able to
make rational and informed decision in a democratic system of government. First, they must be
aware of the public policy, that is, the existence of relevant issues and candidate position on them.
Secondly, voters need to have an opinion on the matter, and lastly, they need to be informed of
the position of the opposing candidate over the issue. The above three minimal voter knowledge
prerequisites are based on the empirical investigation (Caplan, 2011). To the view of many from
research conducted by Driscoll, & Nelson, (2014), our citizenry is inattentive, apathetic and
uninterested in matters relating to politics. A significant share of the American population does
not know who their leaders are. According to Somin, (2004), 55 percent of Americans could not
recognize presidential candidate by during the 2002 election. Another shocking finding relating
to the same election is that only a small percent knew that the previous house before the election
was controlled by the Republicans (Martineau, 2017).
In the view of Driscoll & Nelson (2014), there is two main implication of insufficient
electorate knowledge. To start with, voters who are less informed votes for candidates with a
weak manifesto. In the end, these candidates when elected fail to live up to their promises. In
another sense, voters who do not know the duties of people in certain positions cast their vote
carelessly without being mindful of the type of skills and ability of the candidate. When these
people finally land in either of the houses, with Congress or the Senate, they fail to live to their
mandate which is to make laws concerning the well-being of people. Secondly, inadequate voter
knowledge hampers democratic government from manifesting the desires of the citizens in a
significant way. In this way, it becomes hard for the government to defend the dogmatism of
democracy (Driscoll, & Nelson, 2014). Lastly, voter ignorance provides a pathway for
AMERICA’S IGNORANT VOTERS
4
manipulation of the illiterate in matters of politics by the elites. It also facilitates gross policy
errors which result from candidates need office through the ignorance of the electorate (Somin,
2004). These two factors risk the fundamental cause of democracy that seeks to serve the interest
of the majority.
In the words of Piven, Cloward, & Cloward, (2000), the current cable news show
(spinning) plays a significant role in misinforming the electorate. Currently, many people are of
the view that America is more divided politically than ever (Caplan, 2011). The cause of this is
well understood by many as well. Cable news shows have a role in this to a great extent. Most
cable news shows can only be described as confused, angry and polarized when it comes to
issues of politics (Elmendorf, & Schleicher, 2013). They are confused in the sense that they bring
different topics of discussion in between their daily schedules. This sentiment can get support
from the 2016 presidential campaign period when Fox used to air a morning show that gave
much credit to Trump, and in the evening, it was another show that was against him.
Polarization comes in the sense that most news correspondents in different cable news
shows provide personal ideas which draw basis from the parties of their affiliation. Instead of
giving independent views on specific issue policy, or person most of them get influenced by the
political party they identify with (Surowiecki, 2005). The vulnerable viewers and listeners end
up confused about what to take and what to leave. Lastly, cable news can be blamed for
misinforming voter in relations to statistics. According to Surowiecki, (2005), it is regrettable
that most of these shows give baseless information supported by no facts whatsoever. The
statistics they sometimes provide concerning opinion polls are misguided are not supported by
any empirical research. The end product of this is confusing to voters.
AMERICA’S IGNORANT VOTERS
5
Theory and Hypothesis
Ignorance about an issue is regarded to be rationale when the expense of educating
oneself about an issue in order to sufficiently make a valid informed decision becomes higher
than any potential benefit that a person could reasonably expect to gain from that particular
decision. Therefore, it would be irrational efforts to waste time doing so. The consequences are
seen in the quality of decisions made by large numbers of people. For example, in the general
elections, one vote has a very small probability of changing the outcome. Elections and politics
provide a display of a similar dynamic. By increasing the issues that an individual requires to
consider in order to make a rational decision about policies and candidates, pundits and
politicians encourage party-line voting, single-issue voting, selling votes, jingoism, and dartthrowing. However, all these are likely to tip the playing field in the favor of politicians who are
not actual portrayers of the electorate.
Many people lack the time to devote to doing research on the aspects of candidate’s
policies in regards to these people having daily responsibilities that they have to carry out. There
is a huge number of people who specifically find themselves making decisions that are rational
and in this case, they let other people who are more engaged in the matter to do this research.
Consequently, these people form their opinion on a basis of the evidence provided, instead of
using their own evidence. This raises a new argument of ignorance on voting among individuals:
such people portray a certain form of ignorance as a result of lacking the time, in spite of
showing any form of interest in the topic. Additionally, if a solution for this matter arises, then it
should be based on creating time for these individuals or even providing more information
regarding the policies of the given candidates.
AMERICA’S IGNORANT VOTERS
6
Politicians usually tend to protect their policy decisions from public preferences. This is
the same effect that is experienced between the cost ratio and benefits: the cost ratio is known to
increase with the decrease in benefit or increase in costs. To the level that the electorate
recognizes their individual votes to count for less, this means that they will contain less incentive
to spend their time learning the details and crucial information regarding the candidate and the
candidates’ policies. Just as in the first argument, the implication here suggests a kind of
reluctance and ignorance in voting which is not related to the lack of interest in the details and
policies of the candidates but instead, it is related to the factor of time.
An accurate example occurs when voters identify themselves with a particular political
party or political leader, similar to the adoption of a favorite movie critique. Based on previous
experience, a voter who is regarded to be responsible would seek a political party or a politician
who points out conclusions regarding the social policy that are similar to their conclusions: if
they had undertaken a good and complete analysis. However, when a voter finds themselves to
be in the same line of argument and belief with a certain politician or party across a number of
elections, this voter may simply vote by “default”, trusting that the situation will continue to be
true. This is where the concept of “vote the ticket” comes from. Ultimately, such type of voter
will see no reason for doing a research on the policies of the party of interest or the politician of
interest.
The empirical support for the rational ignorance idea was gotten from previous studies
such as studies of voter apathy. At least most of these studies have been associated with very
strong conclusions that are helpful in understanding the ignorance of voting as well as coming up
with solutions for this problem. This empirical point of view brings about the question of
whether individuals acquire information for the purpose of voting. This has not been fully settled
AMERICA’S IGNORANT VOTERS
7
as different countries have different forms of political influence. Additionally, people may have
different engagement levels towards politics and most specifically voting. For example, young
people may lack to understand the concept of voting or following a certain political party or
leader. However, these individuals may follow their relatives or other people they look up to
base their political beliefs. The result of this occurrence is usually people voting just for the sake
of completing the norm.
Forced voting, directly or indirectly, has been considered as a solution for reducing the
ignorance in voting. However, forcing people to vote is proved to be a much less powerful
approach that induces involvement in politics than giving people appropriate information
regarding political leader and their policies. On the other hand, compulsory voting may indicate
and present positive implications where the approach serves as an equivalent form of political
stimulation and civic education. However, the changes in political knowledge among individuals
are not present while moving from a voluntary to a compulsory voting system. Conclusively,
voters have more information on the political parties as well as leaders than the nonvoters. The
outcomes of elections are highly affected by the electorate being under full and forced
democracy or the self-selected electorate. In this case, there may be direct effects caused by the
nature of the electorate in regards to the voting habit of the population at hand.
AMERICA’S IGNORANT VOTERS
8
References
Caplan, B. (2011). The myth of the rational voter: Why democracies choose bad policies.
Princeton University Press.
Driscoll, A., & Nelson, M. J. (2014). Ignorance or opposition? Blank and spoiled votes in lowinformation, highly politicized environments. Political Research Quarterly, 67(3), 547561.
Elmendorf, C. S., & Schleicher, D. (2013). Informing consent: voter ignorance, political parties,
and election law. U. Ill. L. Rev., 363.
Martineau, H. (2017). Society in America. Routledge.
Page, B. I., & Shapiro, R. Y. (2010). The rational public: Fifty years of trends in Americans'
policy preferences. University of Chicago Press.
Piven, F. F., Cloward, R. A., & Cloward, R. A. (2000). Why Americans still don't vote: and why
politicians want it that way. Beacon Press.
Schudson, M. (2000). America's ignorant voters. The Wilson Quarterly (1976-), 24(2), 16-22.
AMERICA’S IGNORANT VOTERS
9
Somin, I. (2010). Deliberative democracy and political ignorance. Critical Review, 22(2-3), 253279.
Somin, I. (2016). Democracy and political ignorance: Why smaller government is smarter.
Stanford University Press.
Surowiecki, J. (2005). The wisdom of crowds. Anchor.
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