INR 2002 Valencia College World War II Research Paper Students must choose any world or regional (involving multiple countries or nations) conflict, diplom
INR 2002 Valencia College World War II Research Paper Students must choose any world or regional (involving multiple countries or nations) conflict, diplomatic event, or matter of international law and write a critical analysis of the information and arguments presented by scholars who have written on this topic. The paper should NOT simply be a summary of the literature on this subject or a summary in an encyclopedia sense. Rather, the student needs to pose his or own argument and then write a research paper on, for example, the causes of conflict and/or cooperation in the region, the motivations and strategies of the actors involved, and how this event affected international relations into the future where the students argument could end up being supported by the evidence or not. Students should use material from the class, including the text, PowerPoint lectures, and lecture audio to form this paper, but students need to also use outside material, such as primary sources, other text found through research, academic articles, etc., to write the paper. Please cite all material properly, and you should be working on this gradually throughout the semester. Be sure to provide full citations for all references, including internet sources. The paper should be approximately 6-8 pages in length (not including title/cover, abstract, and reference pages), double spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font, parenthetical citations, and APA format. I will be posting writing guides also in the Research Paper section in Modules on the left side of the screen in Canvas to provide you with some guidance, including APA guidelines. The following is the grading rubric for the paper:
Grading Rubric for Research Paper
Thesis
10 points statement of argument followed by what you will address to attempt to prove the argument
Definition
20 points
Detail
40 points
Structure
20 points
Grammar
10 points Research Design Kit
Question:
1. What is the problem that you are addressing?
2. Try to reduce it to a one-sentence question.
Discussion:
3. What is the background of your problem?
4. Why is it important or interesting?
5. What is its theoretical relevance?
6. How does it fit in with other areas of political science?
7. What is the historical or policy relevance of the problem you are addressing?
8. What is its substantive significance?
Literature:
9. What other work has been done on this and related questions?
10. Demonstrate that your proposed research is not superfluous.
11. What other studies have been made of the same subject?
12. What will you contribute that is new?
13. What is the main relevant theoretical literature on your subject?
14. How does your proposed work relate to the general development of this relevant
theory?
15. Has any comparable work been done on related topics?
Hypothesis:
16. State your main hypothesis in as testable a form as you can.
17. State any subsidiary hypotheses.
18. Show as best you can how you derive your hypothesis.
19. Is it deduced from a more general body of theory?
20. Demonstrate how a test of your hypothesis will help answer you research question.
21. In your hypothesis, state which are the dependent variables, which are the
independent.
22. Demonstrate that your hypothesis is falsifiable.
23. If the hypothesis is in fact false, show how you will know it.
24. What potentially observable state of affairs does your hypothesis rule out?
25. Drive some alternative or competing explanations, and show how your research will
determine whether your explanation is more satisfactory than the competition.
Operationalization:
26. Discuss what you will mean by the concepts you will use.
27. Distinguish, if necessary, from alternative usages of these concepts.
28. What empirical data will you use to define your concepts or measure your variables.
29. Discuss the advantages and possible drawbacks of the operationalization you have
chosen.
Techniques:
30. What specific methods will you use to test your hypothesis?
31. What kinds of controls will you use?
32. How will you attempt to measure spurious correlations (or spurious lack of
correlation)?
33. Try to falsify the hypothesis.
34. Do the best you can to show that your hypothesis is wrongthat is, try to devise the
strongest tests possible for it (in social science, few hypotheses are absolutely right or
absolutely wrong.)
35. In the testing, try to specify or discover the range and scope of your hypothesisthat
is, the conditions under which you think it will hold (and then try to falsify it under
those conditions).
Interpretation:
36. Try to think what alternative interpretations of your findings (whatever they may be)
are possible, and try to test for these alternative interpretations.
37. Suppose your hypothesis is falsified?
38. What is the implication of this for the theory or body of theory you are working with?
Sources:
39. Where will you find the data you need?
40. Demonstrate, as best you can, that the information necessary for your research can be
found.
Outline:
41. Do your best at this point to outline the structure of the completed study.
Supplemental Guide to Writing Research Papers
While this guide may be a useful tool throughout your academic career, there are
questions and preferences that are often particular to a specific professor and
are not addressed in the Department Guide. This document is my attempt to
address shortcomings, which regularly appear in the research papers turned in
for my upper division and graduate courses. It will be amended as needed.
Here then, in no particular order, are things to keep in mind when writing papers.
Research papers should contain a clearly identified organizing thesis. It is
not enough to merely track down the facts and present them. A thesis
does not have to be extraordinarily complicated — sometimes a simple
thesis is best — but it does have to be there. Present your thesis in your
introduction (which is often the last thing you write) and then make sure
that the rest of your argument fits. It’s not a bad idea to periodically refer
back to the thesis during the course of your argument. In your conclusion,
show how the body of your paper worked to prove your thesis.
Expand your bibliography
o Range broadly in your search for source materials. Often,
students get so engrossed in their topic that they fail to establish a
broad research base. Just because you have tracked down a
substantial body of relevant primary material does not mean that
your paper has a complete bibliography. What is often missing is
the supporting secondary literature to show that you haven’t written
your paper in a vacuum and that you understand the basic
historical issues connected to your topic.
o Be creative in building both a primary and secondary
bibliography. Many students limit themselves to materials on the
immediate topic at hand. That should not be the case. For example,
if you were writing a paper on Teddy Roosevelt’s presidency, you
could easily include broader works about Progressivism, diaries,
letters, or memoirs of prominent public figures, and
monographs/journal articles about larger issues of the time like the
environment, labor, or specific reforms.
Block quotations should be indented one half inch on the left margin, but
never on the right margin. They should also be used sparingly — you’re
usually better off putting the idea into your own words or using smaller
segments of the quotation. Any quotation longer than five lines should be
put into a block.
Avoid short paragraphs that are only two or three sentences in length. In
some cases this works well for effect, but more often than not it makes
your writing sound choppy.
When citing letters from personal paper collections (both published and
unpublished), specific documents reprinted in books, or any similar
source, provide specific information that lets your reader know what the
material is. For example, when citing a letter, include the name of the
writer, the name of the recipient, and the date of the letter. It’s not enough
to give only the page number from a published source– your reader has
no sense of what it all means.
Bibliographies can be formatted any number of ways, but I think it is easier
for a reader to evaluate the depth of your research if you split it into
primary and secondary sources, and then into government documents,
diaries & memoirs, books, articles, theses, etc.
Be careful when using phrases like “many scholars agree…” or “Historians
argue….” If you do, then be prepared to show the reader who those “many
scholars” or “historians” are in your notes.
When using shortened footnote form after the first full citation, include the
author’s last name, a shortened version of the title, and the page number.
Be very careful about drawing conclusions based entirely on one source.
There are times when you have to work with what is available, but all
sources have their biases. Events rarely happen in a vacuum and relying
on one type of record is dangerous, potentially ignoring the complexities of
any given topic. In drawing significant conclusions, augment your notes
with other sources if possible.
When writing your paper, never place all of your faith in one source for an
extended period of time. You need to integrate multiple sources into your
narrative and notes.
Do not ignore regional journals, which are rarely indexed in electronic
databases but often contain valuable information.
Context is critical both in setting the stage for your paper and in presenting
your arguments. If you can’t tie what you are writing in to the big picture,
then you have not fully succeeded in explaining the importance of your
topic.
College-level papers DO NOT contain basic grammatical or spelling errors!
When you refer to little-known events, you should provide some explanation,
either in your narrative or in the accompanying footnote.
Be careful about the extent to which you use block quotations in your paper.
They should be reserved for situations where every nuance of the
passage is needed to provide impact for your narrative. In my experience,
the essence of most quotations can be woven into your existing narrative.
The end result is a much easier flowing paper.
Make sure that your sentence constructions are logical and flow well. The
natural tendency is to string clauses together without really crafting them
into good solid sentences. Often, what you are writing is not necessarily
incorrect from a grammatical standpoint, but it does not have the precision
required of a good graduate-level paper. Agonize over things like word
choice and phrasing.
There are times where you may find it advantageous to combine some of
your endnotes. If you do that, separate each reference with a semi-colon.
This is especially true when you cite the same source 2-3 times in one
paragraph. Just put one note at the end of the paragraph that refers to all
of the relevant pages.
I would prefer that you not use web sites in your citations unless the
information can be gotten in no other way. Web sites are not subject to the
peer review process and are thus not as thoroughly evaluated as most of
the print sources you are likely to use. For the same reason, one must
always be careful about books that are self-published or produced inhouse by an organization.
APA Citation Style
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association,
6th edition (first printing), 2010
Journal Article: paginated by issue, online and hardcopy [See the discussion of DOI in the notes below]
Devine, P. G., & Sherman, S. J. (1992). Intuitive versus rational judgment and the role of stereotyping in
the human condition: Kirk or Spock? Psychological Inquiry, 3(2), 153-159. doi:10.1207
/s15327965pli0302_13
Journal Article: paginated by volume, from a database or website without a DOI [See the discussion of
DOI in the notes below]
Hodges, F. M. (2003). The promised planet: Alliances and struggles of the gerontocracy in American
television science fiction of the 1960s. The Aging Male, 6, 175-182. Retrieved from
http://www.informaworld.com/TheAgingMale
Magazine Article
Mershon, D. H. (1998, November/December). Star trek on the brain: Alien minds, human minds.
American Scientist, 86(6), 585.
Websites: [see notes below]
Epsicokhan, J. (2004, February 20). Confessions of a closet trekkie. Retrieved October 12, 2009, from
Jammer’s Reviews website: http://www.jammersreviews.com/articles/confessions.php
[Page with a corporate author and the name of the website is the same as the name of the author.]
National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2009, May 28). NASA astronaut watches new Star trek
movie in space. Retrieved from http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/behindscenes
/star_trek.html
[Page with a corporate author and the name of the website is different from the name of the author.]
National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory. (2007, May 10). Mission
could seek out Spock’s home planet. Retrieved from PlanetQuest: Exoplanet Exploration website:
http://planetquest.jpl.nasa.gov/news/planetVulcan.cfm
[Page with a no author.]
The Roddenberry legacy of human potential: If only, if only. (2007, October 24). Retrieved January 7,
2009, from Star Trek Official Site website: http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/editorials
/article/2310913.html
Newspaper Article
Di Rado, A. (1995, March 15). Trekking through college: Classes explore modern society using the world
of Star trek. Los Angeles Times, pp. A3, A20-A22.
[Newspaper website that does not include page numbers. The square brackets show that this is a review.]
Ebert, R. (2009, May 6). [Review of the motion picture Star trek, produced by Paramount, 2009]. Chicago
Sun-Times. Retrieved from http://rogerebert.suntimes.com
Books
Okuda, M., & Okuda, D. (1993). Star trek chronology: The history of the future. New York, NY: Pocket
Books.
[Book with no author; see notes]
Star trek: Four generations of stars, stories, and strange new worlds. (1995). Radnor, PA: News America
Publications.
Book Article or Chapter
James, N. E. (1988). Two sides of paradise: The Eden myth according to Kirk and Spock. In D. Palumbo
(Ed.), Spectrum of the fantastic (pp. 219-223). Westport, CT: Greenwood.
Encyclopedia Article
Sturgeon, T. (1995). Science fiction. In L. T. Lorimer et al. (Eds.), The encyclopedia Americana (Vol. 24,
pp. 390-392). Danbury, CT: Grolier.
ERIC Document
Fuss-Reineck, M. (1993). Sibling communication in Star trek: The next generation: Conflicts between
brothers. Retrieved from ERIC database. (ED364932)
Wiki
Star trek planet classifications. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved January 7, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia
.org/wiki/Star_Trek_planet_classifications
Blog
Zompist. (2009, September 30). Star wars: Hope not so new anymore [Web log message]. Retrieved from
Internet Video
Crusade2267. (2006, November 02). For the uniform: One fan’s obsession with Star trek, part 1 [Video
file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul5q4PTME-M
PowerPoint Presentation
Oard, D. W. (2001). Bringing Star trek to life: Computers that speak and listen [PowerPoint slides].
Retrieved from University of Maryland TerpConnect website: http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~oard
/papers/cpsp118t.ppt
Parenthetical References
The sources that you use should be cited in the text of your paper, either in a parentheses or as part of the
text itself:
During the turbulent 1960s, science fiction programs on television reflected the public’s attitudes toward
the older generation (Hodges, 2000).
Hodges (2000) discussed how, during the turbulent 1960s, science fiction programs on television reflected
the public’s attitudes toward the older generation.
In a 2000 article, Hodges discussed how, during the turbulent 1960s, science fiction programs on
television reflected the public’s attitudes toward the older generation.
The references above refer to the entire source in a general way. If you are referring to a specific part of the
source – or quoting exactly – include the specific page number(s) of that part:
(Hodges, 2000, p. 179)
(Devine & Sherman, 1992, pp. 156-157)
(National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2007, para. 3) [document
has a corporate author]
(“The Roddenberry Legacy,” 2007, paras. 5-6) [document has no author; see notes]
(Star Trek: Four Generations, 1995, pp. 63-66) [document has no author; see notes]
(“Star Trek Planet Classifications,” n.d., Other Classes section, para. 2) [document has no author; see
notes]
Sources with three through five authors:
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, & Scott, 1966, p. 1701) [for the first time you cite it]
(Kirk et al., 1966, p. 1701) [for all other times you cite it]
Sources with six authors or more:
(Picard et al., 1987, p. 1701d) [for every time you cite it, but include up to seven authors in the full
reference. If there are more, include the first six, followed by an ellipse (…) followed by the last of the
names.]
Notes
Doublespace all lines. Indent the second and following lines 5 to 7 spaces or one half inch. Use one inch
margins and Times New Roman 12-point font. Do not justify.
Arrange the items on your reference list alphabetically by the author’s last name, letter by letter,
interfiling books, articles, etc. Items with no author are interfiled in this list by the first significant word of
the title.
Use only the initials of the authors’ first (and middle) names.
If no author is given, start with the title and then the date. Note that some authors on the internet use a
screen name instead of their real name and that an organization can also be an author (a “corporate
author”). See examples under books, websites, and blogs.
Article titles, book titles, and webpage titles: capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle.
(Capitalize all significant words of periodical titles and website titles.)
If the journal (or magazine) begins each issue with page one (paginated by issue), include the issue
number (not italicized) if one is provided. If the journal continues the page numbering from issue to issue
throughout the volume (paginated by volume), do not include it.
DOI: Digital Object Identifier is a string of numbers (and/or letters) assigned to individual journal articles
as well as to some other publications.
Include the DOI for articles that you retrieve both online and in hardcopy.
The database may provide the DOI as part of the citation, or you may have to look at the top or bottom of
the first page of the article to find it.
If a document has a DOI, then you do not need to include a website address (URL) or other retrieval
information. Your readers can go to http://www.doi.org and use the DOI to locate the article.
If you retrieve an article online or from a database, and it does not have a DOI, include the URL of the
journal’s homepage at the publisher’s website (not the direct link to the article). You may have to use a
search engine to find this website. If the URL to the journal’s homepage is too long and complicated, use
the URL of the publisher’s homepage. This is a judgment call that you will have to make. Do not include
the database’s name or URL instead (unless you are accessing a dissertation, an ERIC document, or an
older article from JSTOR).
Older hardcopy journals will not have a DOI, and it can be left out.
If you retrieve an online magazine, newspaper, book, or encyclopedia from one of our databases,
include the DOI or URL as discussed above and as shown under the examples for journals.
Websites:
If no author is given, start with the title and then the date. Note that some authors on the internet use a
screen name instead of their real name and that an organization can also be an author (a “corporate
author”).
If possible, include the month and day that the page was created.
If a webpage is likely to change over time, such as a wiki or personal website, include the date that you
looked at the page. Webpages that provide journal articles, books, or reports from publishing companies,
professional associations, and government agencies are less likely to change and do not require retrieval
dates. This is also a judgment call that you will have to make. The format for including a retrieval date
comes from the APA Style Guide to Electronic References, 2007.
If the date the page was created is not given, use (n.d.). See example under wiki.
If the name of the website is the same as the name of the author, you do not need to include it a second
time. This is especially likely to happen with the websites for government agencies and professional
associations (see the examples for National Aeronautics and Space Administration). If the name of the
website is obvious from the URL, you do not need to include it (another judgment call).
If the URL does not fit on one line, divide it before any punctuation marks (except for the “http://”).
If you are citing the web version of a hardcopy source, format it the same way that you would the
hardcopy source and include the relevant retrieval information.
The example for citing a PowerPoint presentation is adapted from the APA Style Guide to Electronic
References, 2007.
Parenthetical References:
If there is no author, use the first few words of the title. Unlike citations in the reference list, capitalize all
significant words. Article, chapter, and webpage titles are placed in quotation marks. Book,
periodical, report, and brochure titles are placed in italics. Note that an organization can also be an
author (a “corporate author”). (Also note that a webpage title may be italicized in the reference list at the
end even though it is in quotation marks here.)
?…
Purchase answer to see full
attachment
