The assignment for week six will help you develop your critical eye when it comes to reading the literature. The goal is for you to use this as an opportunity to
identify the research design and methods that are being carried out by the authors. This skill will serve you moving forward as it will allow you to draw from
the literature for your own research moving forward. Looking to the literature for clues can be helpful when it comes to designing your own research as you
move forward in the program.
Select two articles from the list below—ONE FROM THE QUALITATIVE LIST AND ONE FROM THE QUANTITATIVE LIST and in two pages double-spaced (per
article) address the following:
Include the full reference for the article using the writing style specific to your program on the title page.
Criminal Justice = APA
International Relations, National Security, Military Studies, and Intelligence Studies = Chicago.
Since multiple writing styles are in use within this course, on your title page, please note which style you are using within your assignment. This will help me
cater my comments to the style you are using. The style you use need to be the one that is used within your program of study.
State the main goal(s) of the study
Summarize the research design, and discuss the research method(s) used to answer the research question or assess the hypothesis.
Summarize the results of the study.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the study’s research design.
Provide a discussion on how the study can be moved forward. For example, how can the methods be used in your own research proposal? In what other
research might these methods apply? Include two well phrased research questions that could be used in follow-on studies to the one reviewed.
Format: You should have 1-inch margins on all 4 sides of your papers; your title page should include your name and date; you should use 12-point times new
roman font throughout.
Things to keep in mind:
Avoid using the first person in formal writing and instead write with an academic voice throughout. Academic voice is usually written in the third person (he,
she, it), not first person (I, we) or second person (you). Be consistent in voice and person. See Grammar Girl, “First, Second, and Third Person,” Quick and Dirty
Tips for Better Writing, January 20, 2011, http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/first-second-and-third-person.aspx/. Furthermore, the academic voice avoids
abbreviations, contractions, jargon, and slang. Even informal academic discussions are more formal than casual chats among friends.
The body of your work should be made up of no more than 20% direct quotes.
As you proofread your assignment I encourage you to work with Belcher, Wendy Laura. 2009. “Editing Your Sentences” In Writing Your Journal Article in 12
Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success. Sage. This resource has a nice step-by-step process for enhancing your writing.
Note: In the case of a broken link each of these articles can be found either within the APUS online library or on the open web.
QUALITATIVE ARTICLES
Hafez, Mohammed and Creighton Mullins. 2015. “The Radicalization Puzzle: A Theoretical Synthesis of Empirical Approaches to Homegrown Terrorism.”
Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 38, no. 11: 958-975.
(Alternate) Kilcullen, David J. 2012. “The City as a System: Future Conflict and Urban Resilience.” The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs 36, no. 2 (Summer): 19-
39.
Quantitative Article
Kalyvas, Stathis N. 1999. “Wanton and Senseless: The Logic of Massacres in Algeria.” Rationality and Society 11, no. 3: 243-285.
(Alternate)
Bueno de Mesquita, Bruce, Randolph M. Siverson, and Gary Woller. 1992. “War and the Fate of Regimes: A Comparative Analysis.” The American Political
Science Review 86, no. 3 (September): 638-646.