Turnitin™
This assignment will be submitted to Turnitin™.
Instructions
Paper Topic
A central theme of this course is that the world is incredibly diverse and that there are meaningful differences both within and among countries.
This assignment asks you to explore this concept in more detail and to research and assess statistical measures of “well-being” in countries around the globe, as well as applying your knowledge of population pyramids.
You should reflect on what you have learned in this course to develop a set of well-being characteristics that describes the country where you would like to live. Then think about the characteristics that are the direct opposite and describe a country where you would not want to live.
Next write a paper in which you:
1) Identify at least 6 characteristics that describe a country that you would like to live and provide a description of why each of them is important to you. Provide enough information and supporting data so that the reasons and reasoning behind your selections are evident and logical. Be very careful in using subjective characteristics like “natural beauty” or “I have Irish heritage” and only do so if it can be supported by statistical data.
2) Identify a country where you would like to live based on the characteristics you have selected.
Please do not choose a country you just happen to like (e.g., I enjoy vacationing in Mexico) as your “desirable” country! Your selection should be based on the data in the well-being indices. The assignment is to demonstrate your understanding of indicators of well-being and ability to apply them to selected countries.
3) Justify your choice of country by discussing the country’s performance (for example, average life expectancy is 85) and how it compares to other countries (for example, this might rank first out of 150 countries) on each of the characteristics you selected;
4) Use the population pyramid tool to assess and describe predicted demographic changes in the country in the next 50 years. In your opinion, how will these demographic changes impact the measures you chose? Alternatively, how will the measures you have chosen affect the demographic changes you identified?
5) Identify a country where you would not like to live based on its performance and rankings in the characteristics you identified in step 1. Repeat steps 2-4 to compare this country to the country you would like to live in. Be sure to give equal treatment to the country where you would not like to live.
To submit your paper, click on the “UPLOAD” button, upload you paper and then click the “SUBMIT” button.
This assignment is worth 250 points. I will base your grade upon how well you present and support your answer according to the scoring guidelines presented in the Research Paper Scoring Rubric.
Please get started early and keep notes as we move through the material this semester.
Instructions for preparing your paper:
The first paragraph should be an introduction with a clear identification of the countries selected;
The next few paragraphs should set forth the indicators of well-being and explain why they are important to the author;
The bulk of the paper should present statistics and rankings for the selected indicators, developing a clear and convincing rationale for the two countries selected including a discussion of probable demographic changes in the next 50 years;
The final paragraph should summarize your methodology and conclusions;
The body of the paper should be between 5 and 6 pages in length. Be sure to adequately address ALL aspects of the assignment in your paper;
Use APA formatting in 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, double-spaced, and including an APA title page;
Write your paper in a .doc, .docx, or .pdf format;
Include parenthetical in-text citations;
Utilize at least 5 appropriate sources (including the statistical indices you used) cited in APA format on a References page at the end of the paper and cited throughout the paper.
Below are links to indices you can consult in developing your paper. These should be familiar to you, since you used them in Weeks 3 and 4. You don’t have to use all of them, and you can use other objective indicators you may identify.
Indices of Human Development or Well-Being
The United Nations Human Development Index (HDI): A composite indicator of overall health and well-being. It combines measures of health, education, and income. *See important note on HDI operation at the bottom of the page.
http://hdr.undp.org/en/composite/HDI
Fragile State Index: Uses multiple indicators to assess nations’ likelihood of government collapse and civil unrest.
https://fragilestatesindex.org/global-data/
Social Progress Index: Combines 50 social and environmental outcome indicators to calculate an overall score for these countries including measures in health, safety, education, technology, and rights.
http://www.socialprogressindex.com/
Corruption Index: Presents data on perceived levels of public sector corruption.
https://images.transparencycdn.org/images/2018_CPI_Executive_Summary.pdf
Where to be born Index: Measures which country will provide the best opportunities for a healthy, safe and prosperous life in the years ahead based on life-satisfaction surveys — how happy people say they are.
http://chartsbin.com/view/32002
Happy Planet Index: Presents measures of sustainable wellbeing, ranking countries by how efficiently they deliver long, happy lives using our limited environmental resources.
http://happyplanetindex.org/
Gender Equality: Ranks national economies according to how well they are leveraging their female talent pool, based on economic, educational, health-based and political indicators.
http://reports.weforum.org/global-gender-gap-report-2015/
Comparator Tool: Provides a one-to-one comparison between your two selected countries based on socioeconomic data often expressed as your likelihood to experience positive or negative experiences.
http://www.ifitweremyhome.com/compare/NO/UY
Population Pyramid: Provides the necessary data to assess the demographics of your selected countries 50 years into the future.
https://www.populationpyramid.net/world/2072/
* The link to the HDI lands you on a page displaying HDI rankings and data (it would be a good idea to make HDI one of your selected measures). However, at the top of this page is a navigation tab for “Data Center.” Click on this tab and you see a box with a drop-down menu labeled “Dimension” you can select a dimension (e.g., Health) and then use the drop-down menu in the box to the immediate right of selected dimension to select from a menu of specific measures (e.g., infant mortality rate). Data related to your selections, by country, will appear in a table below (unfortunately the rankings remain fixed on the HDI measure, but you can use the data to support your ultimate selection of the countries where you would like live and not to live). By using the “Dimension” boxes you have access to dozens of very useful indicators.
Turnitin will be used to evaluate this assignment prior to grading. Please review the syllabus for more information about the use of Turnitin in this course.
