Description:
This is an introductory course to social research. The goal of this assignment is to develop a low-budget social research design. The full instructions are listed below:
The purpose of this assignment is to develop a research proposal based on a current social or geographic issue that you find interesting. The objective is to practice linking the research question and hypothesis generation stage of research with the selection of an appropriate primary research design, data collection method, sampling approach, and the consideration of ethical issues that may arise based on the type of research proposed. Since this assignment is meant to replicate the process of carrying out research as a student, it must be possible to carry out the primary data collection component of your proposed research project within a six-month period, and within a budget that does not exceed $500 (this means no research assistants or funds for personal travel).
Your assignment should be structured in paragraph and sentence format under general headings. You should not respond to each task in point form, but rather ensure that each is covered in your proposal under appropriate headings so that it is logical and easy to follow. Your assignment should be approximately 6 to 7 pages in length (12 point Times New Roman font, double spaced, pages numbers). Please observe and do not exceed the page limit.
Tasks Problem Definition (Approximately 1 page)
1. Select one newspaper or magazine article from the past year which covers a social or geographic issue you feel raises questions for future research. (This is purposely broad to allow you to select an issue that fits your own interest). Attach a copy of the article to your assignment (can be printed from the Internet).
2. Identify one issue of interest for future primary research that emerges from your particular newspaper article? Write an introduction that explains why this is a topic that is important and requires further research.
3. Based on the issue of interest that you have identified, define a research hypothesis or research question for your perspective study?
Literature Review (approximately 2 Pages)
1. Identify and synthesize the findings from at least 5 peer reviewed academic articles dealing with the topic that you have chosen. In this section of your proposal show that the topic of your proposal is part of a larger academic literature. If you cannot find any academic articles dealing with your topic, it might mean that you have to change your topic to something that has been covered more in existing journals. The main intent with any literature review is to justify the research question as worthwhile to pursue, and to explain how your research fits in with the theories, findings and methods that have already been developed. Do not simply list and summarize the articles that you find.
Research Design, Research Method and Sample Selection (Approximately 2 pages)
4. Identify and explain in detail the research design (eg. Experimental, longitudinal, cross sectional and case studies) and research methods (eg. Interviews, focus groups, ethnography, etc.) that you would use to test your hypothesis or answer your research questions. Explain why the research design and methods you have selected will enable you to delivery accurate, reliable and valid results. Also briefly describe the strengths and limitations of your research method: can you generalize from your sample to a larger population?
5. What is the complete population for your study, the sampling method, and the sampling frame that you would use in order to select respondents? Does your project focus on hard to-reach individuals, and if so explain what creative methods you would use to reach your target population?
6. Explain how you would administer your survey (eg. postal survey; telephone survey; personal interviews; focus groups, random on-street interviews, etc.). How large a sample would you target? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the way that you will administer the survey?
7. Develop a realistic timeline of research activities and a budget for any research related activities (eg. stamps; survey photocopies; long distance phone calls; etc). Research Ethics (Approximately 1 page)
8. Detail any ethical issues that arise from the population that you intend to study and the method of research that you plan to use.
9. How would you manage the ethical issues that arise based on the type of study you propose? (eg. informed consent form, anonymity of respondents; compensation for participation, university research ethics approval, etc).
Friday, 10 March 2017
Essay on Ayn Rand"s The Fountainhead
Description:
This project is a ~1,600 word essay on Ayn Rand"s The Fountainhead, on one of the three topics below:
(1) Howard Roark was Ayn Rand’s first complete presentation of a moral ideal. Judging from The Fountainhead, what is it about Roark’s character and his approach to life that Rand regards as ideal for a human being? Why does she think this? Which, if any, aspects of Roark’s character or approach to life do you think are worthy of emulating morally? Which, if any, should not be emulated? Explain.
(2) Ayn Rand is often criticized for creating “unrealistic” heroes. Why might someone regard Howard Roark as “unrealistic”? What do you think of this criticism? Is Roark an “unrealistic” character, a “realistic” one, or neither? Why? In explaining your answer, consider what Rand has to say in her essay “The Goal of My Writing.”
(3) In his courtroom speech, Howard Roark explains the nature, motivation and importance of those who create values (such as new artworks, technological inventions and innovations, and advances in theoretical knowledge). Why does he think that value-creation and what it requires of the creators is crucially important from a moral perspective? In your answer, consider what a character from another Ayn Rand novel, Atlas Shrugged, has to say about the process of value-creation, in the speech “The Nature of an Artist.”
Feel free to choose any one of the topics above, depending on how strong of an argument you can make.
Goals:
Create an essay on one of the three topics above. Emphasis on providing a clear and justifiable argument, and showing an understanding of the philosophic meaning of The Fountainhead.
Technicalities:
Hard max limit of 1,600 words.
Quotations from the book must be used and must be cited [Just the simplest form - Ex: "HOWARD ROARK laughed" (1).]
No required amount of quotations.
Deadline is in approximately a month - April 3.
?Style:
No restrictions on writing style. In other words, no need to "dumb down" an essay to make it seem believable.
This project is a ~1,600 word essay on Ayn Rand"s The Fountainhead, on one of the three topics below:
(1) Howard Roark was Ayn Rand’s first complete presentation of a moral ideal. Judging from The Fountainhead, what is it about Roark’s character and his approach to life that Rand regards as ideal for a human being? Why does she think this? Which, if any, aspects of Roark’s character or approach to life do you think are worthy of emulating morally? Which, if any, should not be emulated? Explain.
(2) Ayn Rand is often criticized for creating “unrealistic” heroes. Why might someone regard Howard Roark as “unrealistic”? What do you think of this criticism? Is Roark an “unrealistic” character, a “realistic” one, or neither? Why? In explaining your answer, consider what Rand has to say in her essay “The Goal of My Writing.”
(3) In his courtroom speech, Howard Roark explains the nature, motivation and importance of those who create values (such as new artworks, technological inventions and innovations, and advances in theoretical knowledge). Why does he think that value-creation and what it requires of the creators is crucially important from a moral perspective? In your answer, consider what a character from another Ayn Rand novel, Atlas Shrugged, has to say about the process of value-creation, in the speech “The Nature of an Artist.”
Feel free to choose any one of the topics above, depending on how strong of an argument you can make.
Goals:
Create an essay on one of the three topics above. Emphasis on providing a clear and justifiable argument, and showing an understanding of the philosophic meaning of The Fountainhead.
Technicalities:
Hard max limit of 1,600 words.
Quotations from the book must be used and must be cited [Just the simplest form - Ex: "HOWARD ROARK laughed" (1).]
No required amount of quotations.
Deadline is in approximately a month - April 3.
?Style:
No restrictions on writing style. In other words, no need to "dumb down" an essay to make it seem believable.
Patenting Biotechnological Inventions
The Dissertation will take the form of a contents page, an Introduction, 3 Chapters and a conclusion.
The first chapter would evaluate the theoretical justifications for the existence of an anticommons. It should:
Evaluate the economic justification of the patent institution (however, as a law student, I would defer from going into too much mathematical/economical detail)
Introduce Hardin"s Commons Theory
Evaluate the suitability of property rights being applied to intellectual property
Evaluate the suitability of Hardin"s Theory to intellectual Property
Introduce the Anticommons theory
Outline the practical examples of the Anticommons theory in Biotechnology
Evaluate Walsh et al"s argument that no anticommons exists.
The second chapter will explore the substantive case law and legislation of the USA, EU/UK, India and International Sphere.
The chapter will aim to assess how various jurisdcitions have responded to the anticommons in their case law or legislation.
In paraticular, this chapter must explore how different countries have adapted their laws to ensure that the patent system achieves it"s objectives of encouraging innovation while providing an economic incentive for researchers.
The primary focus should be on cases like Association for Molecular Pathology v Myriad Genetics and Madey v Duke University and how governments have reacted to prevent an anticommons like situation from occuring through the judicial interpretation of the patenting criteria. It would also be extremely essential to reflect on the case law in the UK, being in an English University.
The chapter will also evaluate various policy tools and solutions that have been offered to counter an anticommons situation, such as patent pools, CDOs and other means.
The third chapter will explore the wider social and economic implications of the anticommons in the context of patent law in general.
Explore the impact of aggressive patenting on agriculture - looking at issues like bio-piracy among developing countries.
The first chapter would evaluate the theoretical justifications for the existence of an anticommons. It should:
Evaluate the economic justification of the patent institution (however, as a law student, I would defer from going into too much mathematical/economical detail)
Introduce Hardin"s Commons Theory
Evaluate the suitability of property rights being applied to intellectual property
Evaluate the suitability of Hardin"s Theory to intellectual Property
Introduce the Anticommons theory
Outline the practical examples of the Anticommons theory in Biotechnology
Evaluate Walsh et al"s argument that no anticommons exists.
The second chapter will explore the substantive case law and legislation of the USA, EU/UK, India and International Sphere.
The chapter will aim to assess how various jurisdcitions have responded to the anticommons in their case law or legislation.
In paraticular, this chapter must explore how different countries have adapted their laws to ensure that the patent system achieves it"s objectives of encouraging innovation while providing an economic incentive for researchers.
The primary focus should be on cases like Association for Molecular Pathology v Myriad Genetics and Madey v Duke University and how governments have reacted to prevent an anticommons like situation from occuring through the judicial interpretation of the patenting criteria. It would also be extremely essential to reflect on the case law in the UK, being in an English University.
The chapter will also evaluate various policy tools and solutions that have been offered to counter an anticommons situation, such as patent pools, CDOs and other means.
The third chapter will explore the wider social and economic implications of the anticommons in the context of patent law in general.
Explore the impact of aggressive patenting on agriculture - looking at issues like bio-piracy among developing countries.
"law and morality are intertwined" Discuss.
https://graduateresearchers.com/place-order/Description:
The project is 12k words. I have already begun (7k in) by arguing that morality is inherently & conceptually connected to law. By discrediting the positivists and defining them in the process, I try to show the necessary conceptual connection between law and morality, and that natural law is the necessary foundation to that morality. In doing so, I define each term, and thereby consider Kant, the instrumentalists/utilitarians, and Aquinas. I select Aquinas as the best natural lawyer while disproving the others. I now need to consider how Aquinas"s understanding of natural law and morality ties into what law is/could/ought to be.
Macbeth – Final Assignment – Literary Essay
Macbeth – Final Assignment – Literary Essay
Task
Choose ONE of the following topics relating to the study of “Macbeth” by William Shakespeare and write a literary essay discussing the topic.
Length
1200-1600 words (penalty will be applied to essays that fall outside these limits)
Topics
Fathers and sons
The role of the supernatural
Critical Response
Description:
1. Identfiy what you consider the key points in either bell hooks"s "Sexism and the Black Female Slave Experience" or Hortense Spiller"s "Mama"s Baby, Papa"s Maybe". Using the work you have summarized as a critical framework, explain how the complexity of motherhood and womanhood are illistrated in "Narrative of Sojourner Truth". (2 pages)
2. Make the case for reading Hopkins"s "Hagar"s Daughter" as a example of Toni Morrison"s focus in "Unspeakable Things Unspoken" on how the unspoken in American history/culture gets manifested in literary works. (2 pages)
Please minimize usage of "passive voice".
1. Identfiy what you consider the key points in either bell hooks"s "Sexism and the Black Female Slave Experience" or Hortense Spiller"s "Mama"s Baby, Papa"s Maybe". Using the work you have summarized as a critical framework, explain how the complexity of motherhood and womanhood are illistrated in "Narrative of Sojourner Truth". (2 pages)
2. Make the case for reading Hopkins"s "Hagar"s Daughter" as a example of Toni Morrison"s focus in "Unspeakable Things Unspoken" on how the unspoken in American history/culture gets manifested in literary works. (2 pages)
Please minimize usage of "passive voice".
Fossil Species Account
Description:
In this project, you will be required to write a species account for three fossil species of your choice. Each account should be written in full sentences (where applicable), and be approximately 350 words in length.
See http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Apteryx_haastii/ for what a “species account” looks like; however, please note that this example is much longer than what you are require to write. Also, this example is of an extant species so different categories of information are indicated below.
The following categories are required, but you may add additional categories at your discretion.
Discovery:
Classification:
When existed and when extinct:
Geographic range:
Physical description:
Life history (diet, reproduction, habitat, etc):
Each account must include at least three references, and all information must be properly citied in text and in the reference section. You may not use web-references for this project; all references must be from journal articles, conference proceedings, etc.
Each account must include at least two figures (illustrations, photographs, or diagrams). These figures must be free from copyright infringement, such as creative commons or public domain licensing. The license information must be included in the account, either in the figure legend or at the end of the references.
There will be no mercy for any form of plagiarism! This includes copying, downloading, cutting-and-pasting, and not correctly referencing phrases/sentences/concepts/thoughts that are not your own.
In this project, you will be required to write a species account for three fossil species of your choice. Each account should be written in full sentences (where applicable), and be approximately 350 words in length.
See http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Apteryx_haastii/ for what a “species account” looks like; however, please note that this example is much longer than what you are require to write. Also, this example is of an extant species so different categories of information are indicated below.
The following categories are required, but you may add additional categories at your discretion.
Discovery:
Classification:
When existed and when extinct:
Geographic range:
Physical description:
Life history (diet, reproduction, habitat, etc):
Each account must include at least three references, and all information must be properly citied in text and in the reference section. You may not use web-references for this project; all references must be from journal articles, conference proceedings, etc.
Each account must include at least two figures (illustrations, photographs, or diagrams). These figures must be free from copyright infringement, such as creative commons or public domain licensing. The license information must be included in the account, either in the figure legend or at the end of the references.
There will be no mercy for any form of plagiarism! This includes copying, downloading, cutting-and-pasting, and not correctly referencing phrases/sentences/concepts/thoughts that are not your own.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)