This Guide is intended to help students in POL 6240: Introduction to Research Design carry out the major research project for the course.
Your major research paper project will incorporate the skills you learn throughout the course. You will identify a specific social scientific research problem of interest to you, formulate a research question, set up an appropriate research design based on a theory, and analyze your findings. Along the way you will also conduct a literature review, discuss theory and hypothesis, apply a specific research methodology for your project, and analyze the data you use to back up your hypothesis.
The various sections of this guide are intended to help you at every stage of the project, from topic selection and refinement, through the collection of previously published research relevant to your topic, to identifying sources of data you can use as source material for analysis.
See the tabs above for starting points and specific resources that can be useful in carrying out this research.
If you have any questions moving forward, please feel free to contact me using the information on the right. I am happy to assist you with any aspect of research.
