Research Assignment
The course focuses on professionalism and career management, including ethical standards and skills in writing, interviewing, and presentations to navigate your career in the public service; For this professionally developed case study or applied research paper you need to research literature on a specific/narrow topic of mutual interest in the area of public administration & public policy.
Following are the expectations, requirements, criteria and guidelines for the research paper:
The research paper itself must include the following elements: [1] a cover/title page including your name and the date submitted, [2] a short abstract (less than 250 words); [3] a short problem statement or thesis; [4] a concise literature review; [5] the main body of the paper, divided into subject headings that are logical and appropriate for organizing your narrative; [6] a final section for your summary, conclusions or recommendations; [7] appendices (if any—not required); [8] a bibliography or list of references (may also be titled as “Sources Consulted” or “Works Cited”).
Typed as a Word document in Times New Roman 12 font; double-spaced; paginated (i.e., page numbers inserted); all titles or subject headings in bold; 1” margins.
Minimum of 12 pages, maximum of 15 pages (not including cover/title page, list of references, or any appendices).
The narrative must be clear, concise, and logically organized, with correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure.
All acronyms, abbreviations or technical terms must be defined clearly when first introduced.
Minimum of 10 appropriate scholarly or official sources used. Appropriate sources include books, peer-reviewed journal articles, statutes or congressional testimony, executive orders or directives, and official Web sites, reports, plans, white papers, policies, standards, strategies or guidelines by government agencies, think-tanks, associations, etc. Articles in trade journals or popular media (e.g., magazines, newspapers, etc.) may also be used on a limited basis to supplement or reinforce scholarly sources. Wikipedia and blogs are not acceptable sources. The required textbook for this course should not be cited or included as a source. If oral interviews are considered, these must be described in the proposal and approved in advance. Plagiarism will not be tolerated, and will result in penalty grades for this assignment and the course.
All in-text source citations and bibliography/list of references must be in consistent, proper, American Psychological Association (APA) style.
Graphs, tables, charts, maps and appendices are not required, but may be included if necessary or helpful. If included, these must be clearly and consistently labeled, and must be referred to within the narrative to establish relevance.
The paper must display your grasp and application of key concepts from this course, along with evidence of your own analysis, evaluation, and critical thinking regarding the issues addressed in your paper.
