Assignment

Final Project Proposal

To recap: the instructions for the final project are laid out in the syllabus: 1. A clearly defined research question;

2. A review of the relevant literature (most of which may come from

the course itself);

3. A theory section breaking down the idea behind your answer to the

research question;

4. One or a series of testable hypotheses;

5. A research design that proposes and/or tests (if possible) one, some,

or all of these hypotheses.

6. A presentation and discussion of your empirical results, if you have

them, or the importance of your empirical results, if you do not, and

how they help us answer, or potentially re-approach, the study of

social networks at large.

Introduction Do have: • (Optional) A “hook” that captures your readers’ attention • A clearly defined research question:

How do extremist groups gain support from moderate civilian audiences?

• A thesis that provides a preliminary answer to that question Extremists invest in local propaganda that communicates a commitment to invest in public goods and governance and downplays extremists’ use of violence against civilians.

• (Maybe) a roadmap for the paper (but this isn’t necessary)

Introduction Do NOT have: • Several paragraphs of background or anecdotal information leading

into your research question and thesis From time immemorial……

Literature Review Do have: • 5+ sources to draw upon in the relevant literature • A discussion of the relevant literature organized into sections that

clearly link to your research question and thesis, with appropriate citations.

Walter & Phillips (2019) and Mitts, Phillips, and Walter (2020) address the incentives for rebels to produce online propaganda and the influence of that propaganda on civilian radicalization. This paper builds upon their foundation to explore how extremists develop localized media strategies to capture moderate civilian hearts and minds.

Literature Review Do NOT have: • A ”literature dump” of everything that has ever been written with no

context in the paper Several authors have written about rebel propaganda and radicalization (Mitts 2019; Walter & Phillips 2019; Mitts, Phillips, and Walter 2020).

• A broad discussion of the literature without citations Several authors have written about rebel propaganda and radicalization

• A bullet pointed list of citations

Theory Section Do have: • A more in-depth discussion of your argument in the proposal –

breaking down how social networks play a role in addressing your research question • Go into the mechanism – how is the thing you are describing

spreading/clustering? What is the role of networks in this solution?

• (Optional) a diagram or visual conveying the information

Theory Do NOT have: • An only slightly longer version of your thesis • Another literature review in which you restate what the literature

says but offer no novel explanation of your own • Bullet points (write this in paragraphs)

Hypotheses Do have: • 1+ statements that provide a testable claim that, if correct, provides

support for your theory If my theory holds, then as extremist control of urban territory increases, so will their dissemination of local governance- oriented media

• Measurable things. Hypotheses that are really abstract are hard to wrap our minds around

Hypotheses Do NOT have: • A restatement of your theory in abstract terms

As extremists seek to establish dominance across several social, economic, and political domains, their desire to influence the perceptions of local civilians increases

• Untestable or redundant hypotheses As the number of nodes increases in a network, so will the number of nodes in the network.

• Really abstract hypotheses As the number of nodes increases in a network, so will the number of nodes in the network.

Research Design Do have: • A measurable independent and dependent variable

The dependent variable in this analysis is the number of propaganda releases containing themes of public service provision. I would measure this by……. The independent variable in this analysis is …… I would measure this by……..

• An idea of where you would get the data for your analysis, or at least what kind of data you would need

I would collect propaganda data from Twitter repositories storing extremist content disseminated between 2011 and the present.

• A proposed method of analysis • As this will be an observational study, I would/will subject this data to a

regression analysis, controlling for [x,y,z] and applying time and regional fixed effects as appropriate.

Research Design Do NOT have: • Unmeasurable components of your design

I will conduct a social media analysis • Vague or impossible sources of data • A short, unexecutable plan that repeats the theory or hypothesis • An exact copy of an existing design from an article

Discussion/Conclusion Do have: • A discussion of how results in support of your theory would

contribute positively to the field in which you have positioned your project

Results supporting my hypotheses would represent a significant contribution to the field of counter-extremism by illustrating the role that local media plays in the extremists’ toolkit of support strategies. [Expand on this contribution in 2-4 sentences]

• (Optional, but recommended) a discussion of the challenges you would face in carrying out this research design

• No “don’t have” for this section – it’s pretty flexible.