The assignment for week six will help you develop your critical eye when it comes to reading the literature. The goal is for you to use this as an opportunity to identify the research design and methods that are being carried out by the authors. This skill will serve you moving forward as it will allow you to draw from the literature for your own research moving forward. Looking to the literature for clues can be helpful when it comes to designing your own research as you move forward in the program.
Select two articles from the list belowONE FROM THE QUALITATIVE LIST AND ONE FROM THE QUANTITATIVE LIST and in two pages double-spaced (per article) address the following:
1. Include the full reference for the article using the writing style specific to your program on the title page.
2. State the main goal(s) of the study
3. Summarize the research design and discuss the research method(s) used to answer the research question or assess the hypothesis.
4. Summarize the results of the study.
5. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the study’s research design.
6. Provide a discussion on how the study can be moved forward. For example, how can the methods be used in your own research proposal? In what other research might these methods apply? Include two well phrased research questions that could be used in follow-on studies to the one reviewed.
Things to keep in mind:
Avoid using the first person in formal writing and instead write with an academic voice throughout. Academic voice is usually written in the third person (he, she, it), not first person (I, we) or second person (you). Be consistent in voice and person. See Grammar Girl, “First, Second, and Third Person,” Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, January 20, 2011, http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/first-second-and-third-person.aspx/. Furthermore, the academic voice avoids abbreviations, contractions, jargon, and slang. Even informal academic discussions are more formal than casual chats among friends.
The body of your work should be made up of no more than 20% direct quotes.
QUALITATIVE ARTICLES
International Relations and Conflict Resolution Articles
Ide, Tobias. 2015. Why do conflicts over scarce renewable resources turn violent? A qualitative comparative analysis. Global Environmental Change 33 : 61-70. http://http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy2.apus.edu/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2015.04.008
Abdulkadir, Rahma, and Caroline Ackley. 2014. “The Role of Shari’a-Based Restorative Justice in the Transition from Armed Conflict to Peacebuilding: Do Somalis Hold the View That the Restorative Justice Aspects within Qisas Offer a Solution?.” Northeast African Studies 14, no. 2: 111-131. International Security & Counter Terrorism Reference Center, EBSCOhost (accessed January 3, 2017). http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tsh&AN=98799055&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Oyewole, Samuel. 2016. The fate of hostages: Nigeria’s conflict theatres in comparative perspective. African Security Review 25 (2): 193-207. http://www.tandfonline.com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/doi/full/10.1080/10246029.2016.1155466
