Paradigm Activity
1.Research Paradigm Activity
For this activity, you will be evidencing your understanding of research paradigms and modes of thinking.
You must find 3 scholarly, peer-reviewed research articles on any topic.
You must attach each article here in PDF. Along with the articles, submit your analysis. For each article, you will write:
· Minimum 300 words
· Identify research paradigm
· Positivist/Interpretive/Critical Epistemology
· Is this paradigm appropriate to the investigation? If so, why is it better than the alternatives? If not, what would be ideal?
Quick link:https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/7c31/a4019ab19db0123c90ba72250bc99d80ace5.pdf
2.Proposal #1 – Intro & Doc Setup
Dropbox for the first proposal deliverable. Here, you should be submitting a document that meets the following criteria:
· Full Document Outline w/ Table of Contents and Navigation Pane
· Full Introduction Draft
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· Minimum 1500 words
· Minimum 5 citations
· Must have all required sections for your context (Relationship to CPT not applicable to all, RQs/Hypotheses/Objectives differ, etc)
All late work will immediately receive -1 point as a hard grade cap. All work delivered on time and with sufficient completion may be revised for full credit up to the due date of the next proposal assignment.
3.Annotated Bibliography
An important element of research is the identification, organization, and rapid analysis of the literature. A valuable tool that I myself often use is the annotated bibliography.
The purpose of an annotated bibliography is to develop it according to a very specific theme, and accompany each citation with a brief (4-5 sentence) breakdown of the research design, results, etc.
For this assignment, you will submit the following:
· A highly focused annotated bibliography, titled accordingly and with an introductory written description of this theme
· Minimum 10 citations in APA 6th format
· Minimum 4-sentence analysis per citation, in which you identify:
· Research Goal
· Method
· Results
· Conclusions/Usefulness
4.Proposal #3 – Abstract & Cleanup
Your document submitted here should meet the following criteria:
· Contains an abstract between 150-300 words that passes muster.
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· For tips on writing an abstract, I highly recommend this resource: https://theprofessorisin.com/2011/07/12/how-tosday-how-to-write-a-paper-abstract/
· Contains all appropriate document features
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· Navigation Pane
· Table of Contents
· Proper Formatting
· Citation Style
· Title Page
5.Proposal #4 – Revision Milestone
At this point you should have completed all of the theoretical and research background/context work to be done. Now, it’s time to be sure you’ve heeded the lessons and my feedback. Don’t revisit this section again until 699 — submit something you’re proud of.
Document submission criteria remains the same for each submission, with each student responding to individual feedback from throughout the semester.
No late submissions will be allowed after the methods section is due.
6.Proposal #5 – Methods
I am going to be highly critical of this section, as I’ve warned all semester long. Do not be vague here.
Document criteria:
· Minimum 1500 words
· Must contain explicit subsections appropriate to paradigm
· Stating your method is not enough. You must go further.
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· If you’re doing interviews, we need to see a guide with citations and critical analysis
· If you’re analyzing a tool, we need significant details and visualization
· Must say WHY you’re choosing your method, CITE it, DEFEND it
· Must contain explicit data analysis plan
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· “I’m going to read” is not an analysis plan
· If you’re doing qualitative analysis, you must lay out your theoretical framework and explain how you will interpret and arrive at your answers
· If you are doing quantitative research, we need an explicit discussion of how you assembled your study. Questionnaire? Where did you get the questions/scales from and what are they assessing? How are they evaluated (likert scale? semantic differential?)?
· Minimum 5 citations
7. Explication Assignment
Concept Explication and Development of Measures
This assignment has two important components.
First, you are required to explicate a concept by performing a meaning analysis. In addition to explicating the concept, you are also required to develop measures that operationalize your concept.
Part I — Concept Explication
Your primary task is to identify as many different verbal/theoretical/nominal and operational/empirical definitions given to the concept by researchers in the field. Additionally, you are required to make analytical distinctions between the various definitions as well as identify commonalities among them. Finally, you should offer recommendations as to how the concept should be defined in order for it to be useful to scholars. Select one or more focal concepts and start a preliminary search of the literature. You may begin with terms you think you know something about, or want to know about. Or pick terms that are widely used (e.g., concepts that appear often in the index of your theory textbooks) or ones that seem to be used in ways that interest you. This portion of the assignment involves two essential research skills: literature search and analytical thinking. When you do the literature search, keep in mind that you are looking for variety of meanings associated with a concept, not an exhaustive listing of all research articles using the concept in essentially the same way. It is sufficient to cite one or two references for each use of a concept. Once you have collected the various definitions, try to construct conceptual groupings of meanings, or to define boundaries between different meanings associated with your focal concept. Look for differences in the unit of analysis, or in the level of abstraction, or in the use to which the concept is put. Is the concept assumed to be understood without definition, or do some authors attempt to define it? Is it a variable, or could it be defined as a variable? Does it have operational manifestations that are in opposition to its theoretical definitions? Educate yourself about it.
Part II — Development of Measures
The goal of this portion of the assignment is to get you to critically analyze measures used by other researchers and to improve your understanding of the process and mechanics involved in the development of measures. That is, once you have explicated different conceptual/theoretical definitions of your concept, your next task is to operationalize the concept. In order to document changes in individuals or other entities as a function of independent variables, scientists often have to make many informed decisions about the kind and type of measures to use for tapping into their variables. In making such decisions, they have to go through all prior operationalizations of the concept. This component of the assignment requires you to do precisely that: Review prior operational definitions as well as measures for the concept you pick. For each measure you review, comment about its reliability, validity, and history of usage in the field. Finally, as part of the assignment, you are also required to make a decision about which measure(s) you would like to adopt and why. This decision can vary for different research questions under different contexts. Therefore, it is in your interest to begin this portion of the assignment by stating a rough research question and outlining the context of the study before proceeding to develop measures for your concept.
As part of this assignment, you are required to turn in an outline (not exceeding 3 pages) of both Part I (explication — meaning analysis) and Part II (development of measures) beforehand to me via email.
Some Tips
Once you have picked two or three concepts, which you might enjoy explicating and developing measures for, please send me an email. (During the course of the assignment, you may realize that you need to modify the concept or even change it. This happens as often as not. Therefore, it is wise to get started on the assignment right away). You may also want to think ahead to your proposal and explicate a concept that will come in handy while designing your study. (Therefore, it is advisable to consult with other members of your class while making a decision about which concept to explicate).
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8.Proposal #6 – Full Draft
Submit your full proposal draft here for final feedback. Include all remaining sections and address all prior feedback.
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9.Oral “Pseudo-Defense” PPT Dropbox
Please submit here a narrated PowerPoint for your final presentation of your thesis proposal. Remember that this is not you reading a paper — this is more of a “sales pitch” than anything if you’re in need of a metaphor.
Requirements:
– If you missed the final executive session, this must be narrated. Must be narrated. TEST IT BEFORE SENDING. I should be able to open it up and hit Present/Play and just let it go. If you fail to meet this requirement you will automatically lose 30% of the grade (3/10 possible points).
– Introduction topics, including criteria such as your project motivation, the gap/needs that brought you to it, and what significant considerations and context surround the topic area
– RQs/Hypotheses/Objectives, operationalized and justified. There should be NO ambiguity here. (Remember, “What is the impact of Big Data on Security” or “How do we make X better?” are not specific enough.)
– Literature Review, presented as the primary topics you separated your review into, the reason they are important and frame your study successfully, and what key sources/authors you identified (the important few). Discuss how this literature further informed your research agenda, methodology, and consideration of conclusions/limitations for your thesis
– Methodology, as precise as you can make it. Sample, collection, framework (if qualitative), analysis, intended outcome
– Conclusion, timeline and future projections of issues, routes to completion, etc.
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