+1 862 207 3288 Research Design Project
For the Research Design project, you are to choose two countries to study (do not include the United States). A research design is
an essay paper that details something you would like to study further. It is a research proposal that demonstrates you know
something about the topic and what others have written about the topic (background/literature review), identifies how you would go
about further research (methodology), and identifies sources to be used in the research. You do not actually conduct the research
other than to provide background on the topic, develop a method for conducting the research, and identify sources to use at a later
stage in a project, if you were to continue with the project. Your research proposal should relate to some aspect of political
science from the post-World War II period, so nothing too historical. It is to be 4-5 pages long, double-spaced; Works Cited page
being 6th page of the final paper. Many students ask if they can use “I” in this paper – YES! As these are YOUR research proposal
ideas! Resources for the paper can be found on our course Research Guide, found on the Normandale Library web page.
Please follow the steps below in completing this assignment.
1) Identify a topic of interest to you and choose two countries (not the US).
2) Develop a research question/hypothesis (to answer the question).
Examples:
Research Question: Why did Denmark and Norway attempt to join the European Union in 1973, but only Denmark actually did?
Hypothesis: Denmark was more connected with trade to Europe than Norway. (Your research will eventually lead you to whether this was
the main cause or not)
Research Question: Why did the Arab Spring lead to revolution in Tunisia, but not in Saudi Arabia?
Hypothesis: Tunisia’s open use of social media and social groups allowed the people to connect more than was possible in Saudi
Arabia.
3) Background of the topic and two countries (this portion of the paper will make up about pages 2 to 3). You will use a
variety of sources to research the background on the topic and the 2 countries you choose for the paper. This is also often called
a literature review – a review of sources and what others have said on this topic. Please remember to cite the sources you use
within the text of the paper, as well as include them in the Works Cited – see below. Within the body of the paper, do not use long
web addresses, but just simple, in-text citations, such as (Klages, 2017) or (CIA Fact Book).
4) How would I conduct the research to answer the research question and determine if my hypothesis was correct? (this portion
will make up the last two pages of the paper). In this section, you will identify a proposal as to how you would conduct further
research. From my examples above, I could look at economic statistics, polling date, use official documents, conduct surveys and
interviews in the countries chosen. In this part of the paper, even think about what you could do if you had a research grant that
would allow you to travel to the two countries to conduct in-depth research. Be creative! Make it realistic, but try to think of
all the possibilities!
5) Works Cited page: should include all the sources you have used thus far and propose to use in the research to the best
extent you can identify such sources. At least 10 sources must be included.No specific citation style is required, just be
consistent and DO NOT just use web addresses as citation.
I chose the two countries to compare; South African and Zimbabwe, the following is my research topic question
Research Question: Should South African government imitate the Zimbabwean fast track land reform?
Hypothesis:
