POLS 320 ARC The Role of The Government in The Economy Empirical Research Paper
Question Description
you will do empirical research on ONE research question related to questions of the role of the government in the economy, as part of thinking about the question of what it truly means to be an individual and what the government can do to provide a supportive context.
Almost any topic is allowed, but you have to use the Quick Guide to Doing Social Science Research to do it, and you have to find 4-6 articles from ACROSS THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM.
No picking the answer you ‘like’. That’s just confirmation bias!!
Your mini-essay should be SIX paragraphs in length, following this format:
P. 1: Introduction with your research question underlined. Description of the question.
P. 2: RECENT history relevant to this question.
P. 3-5: Analysis of your evidence.
P. 6: Your preliminary conclusion, and consideration of what additional research would be helpful to better answer your questions.
Possible questions (there are many more)
- Economic effects (beneficial and not) of labor unions.
- Economic effects (beneficial and not) of undocumented immigration.
- Economic effects (beneficial and not) of monopolies.
- Economic effects (beneficial and not) of welfare.
- Economic effects (beneficial and not) of TANF.
- Economic effects (beneficial and not) of SNAP.
- Economic effects (beneficial and not) of environmental regulation
- Economic effects (beneficial and not) of public free K-12 education.
- Economic effects (beneficial and not) of raising the minimum wage.
- Economic effects (beneficial and not) of public utilities.
- Economic effects (beneficial and not) of raising or lowering taxes.
- Economic effects (beneficial and not) of government subsidies for new industries (batteries for electric cars, anyone?)
- Etc….
Quick Guide to Doing Social Science Research
Directions:
This is a how-to guide to bootstrap you up quickly on doing empirical social scientific research. No matter the question, this guide is helpful and can get you the information you need in both a reliable and timely manner. The method I teach you here is called “triangulation” and the benefits are twofold: first, you don’t have to go original research yourself, rather this method is based on comparing and contrasting answers that other researchers have gotten; second, triangulation corrects for potential bias in research by purposefully looking at answers all across the political spectrum.
How to Write Research Questions
Research Questions are things that you will need to know in order to write your paper. When writing your paper you may not answer all of the research questions but they will help guide your research.Research questions should be written in a neutral tone without wording bias.For example, a properly written research question would look like this:Do environmental regulations reduce total economic activity?Poorly written research questions look like this: How much do environmental regulations reduce economic activity?Another problem with research question is when we put values and ought questions into them. For example: Are environmental regulation worth the economic cost? Is it a good idea to have environmental regulations?These moral questions cannot be answered in scientific inquiry (we use moral philosophy to do that).Research questions generally involve one of three basic approaches:
- Causality (Does the death penalty reduce crime?).
- Data (how much, how often, monetary cost).
- Comparison (What is the difference between abstinence only and medically accurate sexual education?).
OK, now your turn! Use these guidelines to write your research questions.
Triangulation Worksheet
At the top: a RESEARCH QUESTION properly written using the examples above. Example: DOES raising the minimum wage cause businesses to lay off workers? IS THERE unequal treatment of persons of color by the police? DO women get paid less than men? Etc…Your Research Question: ________________________________
Lefty-liberal Center-left Middle Center-right Righty-RepublicanAt the bottom is RESEARCH with different POLITICAL LEANINGS. Notice how they are listed from more liberal to more conservative. You will find 4-6 articles from the Research Help and Tips section below that answers your claim, and then do a critical analysis of your findings.
Two main results: strong majority and split decision.
Case 1: Strong majority (5-0, or 4-1), report your results with relative confidence. There is a strong consensus that
Case 2: Split decision (3-2 or 2-3), report your findings with a RANGE, also telling the reader the main logic of why this range exists. The literature is mixed on whether or not
When should you use triangulation? Remember, triangulation is a METHOD of research, that is a METHOD for gathering observations. It is especially helpful when dealing with controversial issues, and issues of causality. Anything that seems difficult for you to determine should be triangulated.Research Help and Tips
Use these links to help perform the critical analysis required by triangulation.
- LAO/CBO/GAO (these are middle of the triangle).
- Think Tanks
- Rand Corp. (Center Right) http://www.rand.org/ (Links to an external site.)
- Cato Institute (R) cato.org (Links to an external site.)
- The Heritage Foundation (R) http://www.heritage.org/ (Links to an external site.)
- American Enterprise Institute (R) aei.org (Links to an external site.)
- Public Policy Institute of California (Center Left) ppic.org (Links to an external site.)
- Economic Policy Institute (L) epi.org (Links to an external site.)
- Center for American Progress (L) https://www.americanprogress.org/ (Links to an external site.)
- The Brooking Institute (Center L) brookings.org (Links to an external site.)
- American Civil Liberties Union: aclu.org (Links to an external site.)
- And many more! Search online!
- Interest/Advocacy Groups
- For any issue you are doing there are TONS of interest and advocacy groups. Be careful as they range from very high-quality unbiased sources to incredibly biased and total trash!
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