Political Science 697 Dr. Gunther M. Hega

Winter 1999 Office: Friedmann 3406

Monday, 5:00-5:50 p.m. Tel.: 616-387-5885

Dunbar 3214 E-mail: hega@wmich.edu

Office hours: M. & W. 11:00-12:00 noon, M. 4:00-5:00 p.m., Tu. 5:00-6:00 p.m., and by appointment

This workshop is designed to introduce students to "the art" of writing a research proposal. During the course of the workshop, each student will develop a dissertation proposal (and attending grant proposals, where appropriate). While this will be done primarily in conjunction with the student’s thesis committee or major advisor, the workshop will provide a weekly support structure in which students will discuss the research question, research design, progress and any complications. The weekly sessions will be based on students presenting their own proposals in the making, and reading and critiquing the proposals of fellow students.

The objective of this course is for students to learn how to develop their own research project, from identifying a research question, reviewing the relevant literature, selecting the appropriate theories, formulating hypotheses, collecting data, choosing the method(s) of analysis, reformulating concepts and theories, to how to best present their results. We will read a guide to writing a generic research proposal and discuss selected examples of how to design a research project in the social sciences. Throughout the course, we will discuss specific examples of "good" research design taken from academic journals and monographs, and explore important theoretical, methodological, and practical issues in designing qualitative and quantitative social inquiry. Most importantly, students will develop their own research project and proposal, present it to their peers, and discuss the merits and weaknesses of their own and others’ proposals. By the end of the semester, students will have proposals in hand to submit to their dissertation committee, a research funding agency, or a professional conference.

Cantor, Jeffrey A. 1993. A Guide to Academic Writing. Westport, CT: Praeger.

Reading assignments will be drawn from the required books, occasionally from the recommended materials, and from journal articles that will be made available as the course progresses. Copies of the required books are available for purchase at the WMU Bookstore; recommended books and articles are placed on reserve in Waldo Library and in the library of the Department of Political Science in Friedmann 3301.

This course is offered on a credit/no credit basis. That means if you attain a grade of B or better you will receive credit, and a lesser grade means no credit. Grades will be based on four aspects of students' work: participation in class discussions, weekly writing assignments, presentation of research proposals in progress, and the quality of the final thesis proposal at the end of the semester.

Participation in class discussion, weekly writing assignments, presentation of the research project, and writing a qualitative or quantitative research proposal are integral and important parts of this course. As such, your grade will reflect all four. The relative weight assigned to each of these course requirements is:

Class Participation .............................................................20%

Writing Assignments..........................................................50%

Oral Project Presentation....................................................10%

Final Research Proposal.....................................................20%

Jan. 4: Session 1

Jan. 11: Session 2

Jan. 18: Martin Luther King Day—no class

Jan. 25: Session 3

Feb. 1: Session 4

Feb. 8: Session 5

Feb. 15: Session 6

March 1: Semester Break—no class

March 8: Session 8

March 15: Session 9

March 22: Session 10

March 29: Session 11

April 5: Session 12

April 12: Session 13

April 19: Final Proposal due

Unless instructed otherwise, you are expected to have the following assigned readings read prior to the session indicated and be ready to discuss them in class. Readings in italics are recommended. Books are on reserve in Waldo Library; articles are available on the course-material shelf in the Political Science Department Library in Friedmann 3401.