The final paper should be 6-8 pages, double spaced, 12 pt. font. Include a list of references and cite referenced works properly. You may use any citation style, as long as it is consistent throughout. Your paper will likely be organized, roughly, as:
Introduction—defining your question of interest and, briefly, state your theory.
Previous literature—what do others have to say?
Your argument—what do you have to say?
•
Research design—how would you go about testing your hypotheses? What measures would you use? What tests would you run?
•
Conclusion—tie everything together, with some speculation of what you would expect to see and any potential problems you see with your study (no study is perfect, after all).
If you have a reason to organize your paper differently, that’s fine, but it likely won’t deviate too greatly. Introduction:
Give the reader a “hook.” This could involve a couple of things: start with a broad ques- tion (for example, “why do some countries democratize?”) and then move to your specific question (for example, “do major shocks to the economy make democratization more likely?”) which could then be followed by a brief statement of your theory; or, you could start with an anecdote that details the causal mechanism and research question (for ex- ample, a story about a voter in Wisconsin who went for Obama in 2012 but switched to Trump in 2016 to explain your theory of swing voters).
No matter how you set up your introduction, it should detail to the reader the topic of your paper as well as your causal mechanism.
Previous literature:
If necessary, edit and add to the literature you identified in the annotated bibliography.
Remember, what you want to avoid are six unrelated paragraphs for each source or “mini book reports.” Focus on the big picture and how your sources inform what we do or do not know about your topic.
Your argument:
What is your explanation for why your independent variable causes your dependent vari- able?
State your hypothesis of course, but be sure to detail why you believe that hypothesis is true.
Assume your reader is unfamiliar with your topic—be more detailed than you perhaps think is necessary. In other words, this is a case where more is almost certainly better.
This could include portions (possibly edited) from your proposal.
Research design:
How will you measure your variables?
Which hypothesis test would you use? Is difference of means, χ2, or Pearson’s r most appropriate? Briefly state why you think the test you have chosen is the most appropriate. The answer to this question depends on the level of measurement of your variables.
Be sure to elaborate on how you would measure your variables. Would it be a survey? If so, what questions would you ask? Would you use an existing data source? Even if the measurement seems obvious to you, it may not be to a reader.
Include a discussion of multiple regression. It should include reasons why we use multiple regression (that is, why bivariate tests aren’t enough with observational data). It should also include a list of variables you might control for (but don’t worry about measurement for these).
Conclusion:
A brief conclusion stating the purpose of the paper and how your research design, if en- acted, would move our understanding of your topic forward.
