samedi, janvier 22, 2005
I don't get it
So far, after having attended two of Bill's "Intro to Political Analysis" classes, I'm still not sure what our objective is. Maybe after writing this it will be more clear to me, or maybe to someone reading who can then explain it to me.
Here is the course description from the outline he provided to us:
The course offers an introduction to the preparation and study of political phenomena, especially as required in public policy analysis. It will introduce students to the different stages of the research process, from developing research puzzles to the production and testing of hypotheses and examining different avenues of qualitative research in political science. It will then look at the study of public policy in that context. Students will be required to develop and present research on a topic of public policy at the different stages of the course and give feedback to their peers. As such, this course will function as a mix lecture/seminar.
And so we have to start our research now. For this week, we need to have prepared a few research questions regarding our policy area (mine is Environmental Policy), and then a couple possible answers / hypotheses. I think we're kinda supposed to just brainstorm and jot down some of the broader areas of our topic, so maybe for me the protection of oceans and marine life, reduction in air pollutants, rules governing industry...? I guess my confusion at this stage is that it seems like we need to do a fair amount of research already to be fairly familiar with the different areas of our policy topic. I got a couple books from the library, and I'm reading the Government of Canada page regarding the CEPA 1999 (Canadian Environmental Protection Act).
Since our mark consists solely of our work on various aspects of this project, I guess the description of the final project itself is confusing me too:
This paper will be the presentation of a final research proposal, outlining the different stages of the research process dealing with an issue of your choice. The paper will be 12-15 pages in length, and will be the culmination of the different presentations you have made during the semester.
What I keep coming back to is: are we doing research on the policy area itself, or are we doing research on the research process? This "presentation of a research proposal" is unclear. We are proposing research? To whom? | ¶ 12:05 p.m.
Here is the course description from the outline he provided to us:
The course offers an introduction to the preparation and study of political phenomena, especially as required in public policy analysis. It will introduce students to the different stages of the research process, from developing research puzzles to the production and testing of hypotheses and examining different avenues of qualitative research in political science. It will then look at the study of public policy in that context. Students will be required to develop and present research on a topic of public policy at the different stages of the course and give feedback to their peers. As such, this course will function as a mix lecture/seminar.
And so we have to start our research now. For this week, we need to have prepared a few research questions regarding our policy area (mine is Environmental Policy), and then a couple possible answers / hypotheses. I think we're kinda supposed to just brainstorm and jot down some of the broader areas of our topic, so maybe for me the protection of oceans and marine life, reduction in air pollutants, rules governing industry...? I guess my confusion at this stage is that it seems like we need to do a fair amount of research already to be fairly familiar with the different areas of our policy topic. I got a couple books from the library, and I'm reading the Government of Canada page regarding the CEPA 1999 (Canadian Environmental Protection Act).
Since our mark consists solely of our work on various aspects of this project, I guess the description of the final project itself is confusing me too:
This paper will be the presentation of a final research proposal, outlining the different stages of the research process dealing with an issue of your choice. The paper will be 12-15 pages in length, and will be the culmination of the different presentations you have made during the semester.
What I keep coming back to is: are we doing research on the policy area itself, or are we doing research on the research process? This "presentation of a research proposal" is unclear. We are proposing research? To whom? | ¶ 12:05 p.m.
