As nuclear weapons become developed in more states

The essay is split into parts throughout the semester (intro, lit review, theory, and research design) I have already done the first 3 and need the research design done.

 

Overview:

The purpose of this assignment is to develop an empirical test of the hypothesis (or hypotheses) developed in your theoretical argument. You have seen examples of how previous students and scholars have developed and presented their empirical analyses. Now it is your turn to set up a research design to provide tests of your hypothesis.

My hypothesis: As nuclear weapons become developed in more states, the likelihood of international peace and security will increase.

 

Let me be clear that I do not expect your design to be anything near as sophisticated as what you have seen in published work. As scholars, we spend literally months or years developing robust tests of our hypotheses. Here, I expect to see that you understand the basic concepts of empirical testing of hypotheses. You are also not required to actually perform any empirical tests. Rather, you should set up a design that could be performed if you had adequate time and funding.

 

Directions:

 

 

First, describe your research design. This should include a discussion of your (1) unit of analysis (International), (2) dependent variable (International security and peace), and (3) independent variable(s) ( nuclear weapons).You are not expected to include control variables in your tests, though you might want to discuss a couple of control variables that might be relevant for future research. As you discuss your research design, be sure to explain how the variables match up with the concepts from your theory (as states continue to show the ability to have nuclear technology, the greater the destruction could be if war happened and the less likely there will be war in support).of this theory.. For example, if your theory predicts that high levels of state wealth should make coups less likely, you need to briefly explain why your variable (e.g., GDP/capita) is a good indicator of the theoretical concept (e.g., state wealth).

 

Second, explain how you could perform tests of your hypotheses. You can explain either a qualitative or quantitative approach. Quantitative approaches are expected to be very simple tests, such as crosstabulations, scatterplots, etc. For example, if my hypothesis is that higher levels of democracy should increase state wealth, I might explain how a correlation between the Freedom House indicator and GDP would provide evidence of this relationship. If I were taking a qualitative approach, I might explain how I could choose 6 states (3 democracies and 3 non-democracies), and then examine state levels of wealth in each country.

 

 

 

 

 

Technical Requirements:

All parts of the cumulative assignment should be double-spaced, 12pt font, Times New Roman, 1-inch margins. Your assignment must also be accompanied by APA (American Psychological Association) citations and a bibliography (not included in paper length). More information on APA can be found here:https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html

 

See below for guidelines specific to each part.

Research Assignment

 

Min. # of academic sources

 

Minimum page length

 

Maximum page length

 

Part 1: Introduction

 

2

 

1

 

1.5

 

Part 2: Literature Review

 

4

 

1.5

 

2.5

 

Part 3: Theory

 

2

 

2

 

3

 

Part 4: Research Design

 

3

 

1.5

 

3

 

 

 

PS230: Introduction to International Relations

Grading rubric

 

RESEARCH ASSIGNMENT PART 4:
DEVELOP A RESEARCH DESIGN

Criteria

 

Score (1-5)

 

Did the student discuss the unit of analysis?

Comments:

 

 

 

___

 

Did the student identify the dependent variable and explain why this measure captures his/her theoretical concept?

Comments:

 

 

___

 

Did the student identify the independent variable and explain why this measure captures his/her theoretical concept?

Comments:

 

 

___

 

Did the student make a clear link between his/her research design and the theory/hypotheses presented in the previous section?

Comments:

 

 

___

 

Did the assignment meet the technical requirements (length, font, writing style)?

Comments:

 

 

___

 

Does this assignment represent undergraduate-level work?

Comments:

 

 

___