{"id":960,"date":"2014-02-18T13:15:03","date_gmt":"2014-02-18T19:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/lotta\/?page_id=960"},"modified":"2026-03-05T16:56:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T22:56:42","slug":"research-design-assignment","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/lotta\/research-design-assignment\/","title":{"rendered":"PS321 Research Design Assignment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>PS321 Seminar<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Research Design Assignment<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>RESEARCH DESIGN COMPONENTS:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I. Introduce the research question and narrow the scope of the research<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">A. Hook the reader and explain the compelling significance of the <strong>research question\u00a0<\/strong>&#8211; I cannot emphasize how important it is to think carefully through your research question. This is the heart of your paper &#8211; not your findings, not your thesis, not even your evidence or methods. Without a compelling question you are simply a robot.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">B. Introduce the thesis argument (make sure this is a contentious argument that requires defense) It is expected that this will be somewhat problematic. It is a &#8216;guiding&#8217; thesis statement- it (along with your research question) focuses your research and keeps you on a particular path.<\/p>\n<p>II. Explain the historical significance and develop a clear explanation of the direction of the research<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">A. Historical understanding and significance<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">B. Review of the course\/ relevant literature pertaining to the way you have structured your topic and framed your research question<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\">*Must include relevant peer-reviewed sources from your own research (a minimum of 7 specific and differentiated arguments should be referenced)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 60px;\">*You are welcome to use sources mentioned in class- our readings- but think about where you need to grow your understanding of the topic\/ question (consider carefully the citations referenced in course readings)<\/p>\n<p>III. A Clear explanation of the methodology for defending and explaining the thesis argument. This means you need to explain how (<strong>specifically<\/strong>) you are going to build and defend your historical case study.<\/p>\n<p><strong>GRADING RUBRIC:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>10% of your grade for this assignment is given in an either\/or fashion for following the &#8216;Care&#8217; section of the course syllabus<\/p>\n<p>25% of your grade for this assignment is based on the depth of your research question and the argument you develop in your thesis statement<\/p>\n<p>25% of your grade for this assignment is based on your explanation of the historical significance of this research and a comprehensive review of appropriate literature<\/p>\n<p>40% of your grade for this assignment is based on the clarity and demonstrated understanding of an appropriate methodology for defending your thesis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PS321 Seminar Research Design Assignment RESEARCH DESIGN COMPONENTS: I. Introduce the research question and narrow the scope of the research A. Hook the reader and explain the compelling significance of the research question\u00a0&#8211; I cannot emphasize how important it is to think carefully through your research question. This is the heart of your paper &#8211; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-960","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/lotta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/lotta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/lotta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/lotta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/lotta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=960"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/lotta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6931,"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/lotta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/960\/revisions\/6931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/lotta\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}