POLS 203 Assignment Page

By now, you have revised your thesis several times, although in many cases, the revisions have been very minor. For this assignment, you need to continue thinking about the quality and feasibility of your thesis/central argument. Remember, the thesis is the core of a social science paper—without a strong, well-developed, and supportable thesis, it is impossible to write a "good" social science paper. With this in mind, this next step in your research process requires you to back to a focus on evidence: finding evidence, evaluating evidence, and connecting it to your specific argument. Unlike the first second assignment, this assignment requires you find and assess a particular kind of evidence, namely, qualitative evidence. With this in mind, here are your requirements:

First, read the Introduction and Chapter Five in Harrison, Political Research: An Introduction and Chapter Nine in the Marsh and Stoker book. We were originally supposed to read these chapters for next week’s in-class session. Instead of spending class time discussing these reading, I have decided to cover these through our online session exclusively.

Second, based on your readings of these three chapters, write a concise summary of the key, or most important points, from the chapters. A paragraph on the Harrison chapters and a paragraph on the Marsh and Stoker chapter (about 200~300 words each) is sufficient. Following the summary, you are also required to highlight FIVE LESSONS from the readings that you feel are important to developing your current and future research projects. In other words, what did you learn from the chapters? These should be one to three sentence "bullet" points that specify the "lesson" and explain their relevance to you.

Third, you are required to find at least two relevant and reliable sources of qualitative evidence that you can use in your specific research project. Identify these sources and explain how they help to support your argument/thesis. If you cannot find actual sources, you must explain why (1) none are available and (2) what type of sources would be most useful for your research.

Fourth, based on your research, reassess and if necessary rewrite your thesis statement. As with past assignments, explicitly identify your dependent and independent variables and, if necessary, provide a brief definition of each. If you feel a revision of your thesis is not necessary, explain why.

Fifth and last, correctly and neatly compile a reference list/bibliography of the two sources (or more) you use for this assignment. You must use the Chicago style for all your references. The CSLA library provides information on the Chicago style online at: http://www.calstatela.edu/library/guides/3chicago.pdf

Other requirements

Follow all the instructions above. Failure to complete or address any of the foregoing steps will result in a large automatic deduction. In addition, as with all your papers, you must neatly type and double-space your response. Use standard margins (no less than 1" top, bottom, left and right; and no more than 1.25" ). Your hard copy is due in class on Monday, Feb. 9.

Post your assignment on the class message board. All assignments must be posted in one place—I will create a topic on the message titled, "Assignment No. 4 Responses." Post your assignment as a "reply" to this topic. You must also retype the subject heading as follows, LASTNAME—Assignment 2 (e.g., LIM—Assignment 4).

Carefully proofread your assignment. I will deduct 0.25 points for each "simple" or easy-to-catch mistake. I will 0.50 points for each mistake in your reference list/bibliography or 3.0 points if you fail to use the appropriate citation system.
Do you best on this (and every) assignment, rather than trying to do the minimum necessary. Minimal effort is usually obvious, and will earn a minimal grade.

ANY QUESTIONS MUST BE POSTED ON THE CLASS MESSAGE BOARD.

This assignment is due in-class on Feb. 16.






		ONLINE ASSIGNMENT NO. 4 A HARDCOPY OF THIS ASSIGNMENT IS DUE IN CLASS ON MONDAY, FEB. 16 ASSIGNMENT MUST BE POSTED ON CLASS MESSAGE BOARD BY 10:00 A.M., MONDAY, FEB. 16 BE Advised that you must turn in both a hard copy and post your assignment by the due date. Failure to fulfill either requirement will result in an automatic deduction. Assignment No. 4: Using Qualitative Evidence to Support Your Argument By now, you have revised your thesis several times, although in many cases, the revisions have been very minor. For this assignment, you need to continue thinking about the quality and feasibility of your thesis/central argument. Remember, the thesis is the core of a social science paper—without a strong, well-developed, and supportable thesis, it is impossible to write a "good" social science paper. With this in mind, this next step in your research process requires you to back to a focus on evidence: finding evidence, evaluating evidence, and connecting it to your specific argument. Unlike the first second assignment, this assignment requires you find and assess a particular kind of evidence, namely, qualitative evidence. With this in mind, here are your requirements: First, read the Introduction and Chapter Five in Harrison, Political Research: An Introduction and Chapter Nine in the Marsh and Stoker book. We were originally supposed to read these chapters for next week’s in-class session. Instead of spending class time discussing these reading, I have decided to cover these through our online session exclusively. Second, based on your readings of these three chapters, write a concise summary of the key, or most important points, from the chapters. A paragraph on the Harrison chapters and a paragraph on the Marsh and Stoker chapter (about 200~300 words each) is sufficient. Following the summary, you are also required to highlight FIVE LESSONS from the readings that you feel are important to developing your current and future research projects. In other words, what did you learn from the chapters? These should be one to three sentence "bullet" points that specify the "lesson" and explain their relevance to you. Third, you are required to find at least two relevant and reliable sources of qualitative evidence that you can use in your specific research project. Identify these sources and explain how they help to support your argument/thesis. If you cannot find actual sources, you must explain why (1) none are available and (2) what type of sources would be most useful for your research. Fourth, based on your research, reassess and if necessary rewrite your thesis statement. As with past assignments, explicitly identify your dependent and independent variables and, if necessary, provide a brief definition of each. If you feel a revision of your thesis is not necessary, explain why. Fifth and last, correctly and neatly compile a reference list/bibliography of the two sources (or more) you use for this assignment. You must use the Chicago style for all your references. The CSLA library provides information on the Chicago style online at: http://www.calstatela.edu/library/guides/3chicago.pdf Other requirements Follow all the instructions above. Failure to complete or address any of the foregoing steps will result in a large automatic deduction. In addition, as with all your papers, you must neatly type and double-space your response. Use standard margins (no less than 1" top, bottom, left and right; and no more than 1.25" ). Your hard copy is due in class on Monday, Feb. 9. Post your assignment on the class message board. All assignments must be posted in one place—I will create a topic on the message titled, "Assignment No. 4 Responses." Post your assignment as a "reply" to this topic. You must also retype the subject heading as follows, LASTNAME—Assignment 2 (e.g., LIM—Assignment 4). Carefully proofread your assignment. I will deduct 0.25 points for each "simple" or easy-to-catch mistake. I will 0.50 points for each mistake in your reference list/bibliography or 3.0 points if you fail to use the appropriate citation system. Do you best on this (and every) assignment, rather than trying to do the minimum necessary. Minimal effort is usually obvious, and will earn a minimal grade. ANY QUESTIONS MUST BE POSTED ON THE CLASS MESSAGE BOARD. This assignment is due in-class on Feb. 16. ANY QUESTIONS MUST BE POSTED ON THE CLASS MESSAGE BOARD.