Overview:
In this course you are building key analytical skills that can help you to solve problems both professionally and personally. There are key skills that graduates of a political science or global studies undergraduate program should have, including the ability to communicate clearly in written form, the ability to identify problems or questions, and the ability to conduct an orderly analysis to create insight into those problems or questions.
In this assignment you should identify at least one peer-reviewed academic journal article that illuminates a question or gap in the literature (though you may need at least 2-3 articles to better define that question or gap). You should use the article(s) to discuss a theory of how the phenomenon works, and devise a testable (falsifiable) hypothesis. You should then design a survey instrument that measures at least two variables (one dependent and one independent) the analysis of which will test your hypothesis. Finally, you should conduct a statistical test of your hypothesis and report your findings in a brief write-up.
This will not be a publishable project (that would require more in-depth literature reviews at the very least, but likely would also require a more scientific sampling approach); it is, however, a project that you can add to your portfolio, and that you can discuss in job or school applications to showcase your research, analytical, and communication skills.
Please note: The reason that this project is designed to be an open, learner-driven project is because of the diverse goals of individuals in this course. This course contains students from multiple majors whose ambitions span a great number of professions and areas of interest. I encourage each student to select a topic of personal and/or professional interest that will make sense to interviewers in the next stage of their professional careers. That is to say, if you plan to go to law school, perhaps a subject related to law or the judiciary would be beneficial. If you hope to join the foreign service, perhaps a comparative government subject would be better. (Etc.)
