1) (3 pages) Research objective: why is the topic/issue you selected worth studying? What information are you able to gather from a literature review (journals and books from the library) that suggest it is an important topic in the field? If you are starting with a broad area, what will be your primary area of focus, and why?
2) (1 page) Research questions: after framing the topic/issue in the literature and establishing its importance in the field, you want to phrase your research objective in a series of three or so questions that you are going to examine as the theme of your paper. Again, these should be grounded in the literature (journals and books from the library) so as to have relevance to your analysis. Your literature review in the research objectives section should help focus your research questions and help signify their importance.
3) (1 page) Research design: in this section, develop a basic research design on how you will formulate your analysis, primarily in terms of collecting secondary data sets. Given that this course is over a limited semester, you want to probably utilize secondary data (existing data sets found on governmental websites) rather than primary data (original data you collect through surveys). In terms of what information is collected, identify when, where, from whom, and how. Also, identify how you will analyze the data: descriptive statistics plus relevant advanced level tests introduced in the course (correlation, regression, chi-square, etc.).
4) (1/2 page) Sample/data selection: this will be a brief section connected to your research design, in which you discuss your unit of analysis for the study (national, state, local government; organizational, unit, department; etc.), and discuss how the data you selected will be used to analyze your topic of study. Are the data part of a sample collected from the broader population, or are the data the entire population? Does the website describe any shortcomings in the dataset you are using which should be considered and mentioned in this section (validity, reliability, etc.)?
PADM 7060 Applied Writing Assignment Instructions – Summer 2021
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5) (1/2 page) Data collection: this is again a brief section that is connected to your research design. In this section, briefly describe the type of collection method (secondary agency data, secondary survey data, etc.) that you are using for your analysis. How will this allow you to create basic descriptive statistics (mean, mode, median) to start with? Are there any ethical implications worth noting in how the data were collected?
6) (3-4 pages) Analyze the data: this represents the primary foundation of your paper. In this section, use the data that were collected to conduct descriptive statistical analysis and rationalize the use of one or more advanced level statistical test you are able to perform. Descriptive statistics are important, but you also want to develop analysis which demonstrates mastery of one or two advanced level tests such as Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), bivariate correlation, chi-square analysis, regression analysis, etc. depending upon the nature of your project. Construct pertinent graphs (but do not copy and paste from other sources). These should be your own using the data provided in the dataset you are using. Note: the examples from the course book, The Excel Statistics Companion 2.0 by Kenneth Rosenberg (shown as optional on the course syllabus), and videos in the module content under various statistical tests we are covering at points all provide help in learning how to perform some of the basic statistical analyses using computer software packages.
7) (1-2 pages) Reporting/findings: emphasize the importance of your findings; tell what you learned based upon the data, and how your findings related to your research questions. What are the policy implications and/or topical implications of your research? How can your analysis be expanded upon and extended?
