Capstone EMSH699week3

The Hypothesis and Research Questions Once the study has been introduced and the problem to be studied has been defined, then it's time to very specific about what the results will be.

If the analysis is quantitative--a study of an array of numbers that develops statistics-- then a hypothesis is defined. A hypothesis is a definitive statement that can be proven true or false through research. For example:

HYPOTHESIS: People are safer now than before 9/11.

... is not a good hypothesis. How can the term 'safer' be defined? What are the criteria? In contrast:

HYPOTHESIS: The earth is warmer now than in 1900.

... is a good hypothesis. Temperature data exists from both 1900 and now, and a statistical analysis can be set up to evaluate whether or not he hypothesis is true or false.

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If the study is qualitative--a study of words that will produce evidence--then research questions are developed. Research questions are worded in such a way that the research can answer them, and so the answers will be unambiguous as possible. For example:

RESEARCH QUESTION: Was Hurricane Katrina inevitable?

... is not a good research question, because it can't answered definitively by any research. Conversely,

RESEARCH QUESTION: How were the lives of people around Fort Hood changed after the shootings?

... is a good research question, because it can be answered through a review of documents, surveys, interviews, etc.

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Once you have your hypotheses and / or research questions developed, then you're pretty much ready to begin your research.

The Introduction An effective introduction has many features.

First, it is compelling--there are lots of things that your readers could be doing right now other than reading your report. Why should they be reading your report? What about the project that you're accomplishing makes it worthwhile for a reader to invest in learning about what you have done? Emergency Management and Homeland Security are serious topics, so it follows that your research will address serious issues.

Second, what is the background and context for your study? What features of the world or world events have come together to create the problem that you will be studying? How far-reaching are the potential impacts that make the study important? What is the applicability--that is, if you study an earthquake in California, will the results of your study extrapolate to earthquakes elsewhere?

Third it contains the appropriate references to support the information. Remember, as a part of graduate level writing, you must support all statements and accounts through appropriate references, preferably from academic, peer-reviewed sources. You may also use news sites and other non-academic sources, but in today's age of false news, you should ensure the quality of the reference. This is another reason to have multiple references to show multiple perspectives of any statement.

Within the Introduction as subheadings are the background, problem statement, and the purpose of the research.

An introduction can be enhanced by a story. If you're evaluating an earthquake, tell the story of your earthquake. If you're evaluating a terrorist attack, tell the story of the attack. Humans are wired to learn from stories much more readily than from facts and figures, so use that to your advantage.

The Problem Statement After the study has been introduced, the next thing to do is figure out what the problem is. An earthquake in and of itself is not a disaster. Drugs coming across the border from Mexico is not in and of itself a security issue. The problem typically occurs at the next level of consequence. The earthquake becomes problem when it harms people and infrastructure. The drug smuggling becomes a problem when enforcement officers are attacked or user's lives are damaged. Both emergency management and homeland security are human issues--so when you are defining your problem, be sure to dig deep enough to define the human problem. There will be one. At least one.

For every disaster or security issue, you will have a choice as to what problem you want to address. This is part of the project refinement and definition process. You will want to scope your project broad enough so that you can find or develop adequate data to do an analysis, yet narrow enough that the quantity of data doesn't overwhelm the study and make the results meaningless. You only have16 weeks and 50+ pages of writing to work with--so don't try and solve the entire problem of Hurricane Katrina. That just won't turn out well.

Once you have a good idea of what problem you want to examine, it is time to find out if this is an actual or perceived problem. You will accomplish this through supporting literature. You will read other research studies through academic, peer-reviewed journals to find out if this is a supported problem. This takes us from what we individually perceive as a problem to what is shown through the literature to be a problem. You should explore business sectors beyond Emergency Management and Homeland Security. For example, if collaboration among agencies was a problem, such as occurred at Hurricane Katrina, look at the healthcare sector; look at the private business sector. What are the collaboration problems that have occurred in these sectors.

Once you have figured out what problem you want to study and what the scope of your project will be, then go ahead and write out the problem statement. The statement should provide both a human impact that will be evaluated and a scope of study.

Randall Hanifen posted on Feb 3, 2024 12:01 AM

Week 1

EMHS699 K001 Winter 2024 RO

Announcements Week 1

During this course, you will accomplish a research project on an emergency &

disaster management / homeland security topic of your choice. You must gather

data, apply research concepts and analytical processes to that data, draw the

appropriate conclusions & recommendations, and produce a report of a minimum

of 50 pages that meets APA publication quality. Your final paper must provide

original knowledge to the field of emergency and disaster management and

homeland security that has not existed before. This contribution can be as large or

small as you wish to design it, as long as the contribution is original.

The first month of the course will focus on the design of your project and putting

all of the required approvals and authorizations in place. Then, you will have

approximately two months to conduct your research. The final month will be a

process of review and improvement of the final project report, at the end of which

you will have produced a product that honors your institution, your education,

your profession, and that you can truly be proud of.

A great deal of information is available in the classroom to help. Within the first

few days of the course, be sure to examine everything under every section. Read

the syllabus thoroughly. Read every assignment guideline. Look through the

resources and these lessons so that you will know where to find things when you

need them. Each area has resources that contribute to your overall research

project.

Be sure as you familiarize yourself with the course that you take the time to look

under every section. You will find graded items under two different buttons:

'Discussions', and 'Assignments'. Read the instructions carefully and be sure to

complete all graded tasks.

There are several graded Discussions. To receive full credit for a discussion, you

must create an original posting, respond to a minimum of two peers, and respond

to everyone who has responded to you. These tasks MUST be accomplished during

the assigned weeks. There is no point in attempting to have a discussion after

everyone has moved on. DO NOT post a document to a discussion. You don't want

to make your input difficult for your reader to get to.

You must make a submission for every item on the Assignments page. Feedback

will be returned on every assignment. It can be found on the Assignments page,

not in the Grades section. After each grade is posted, go back to the assignments

page and read the feedback.

Here is an approximate outline for when you should be accomplishing each activity

in the project development process:

Wk1: Read the Capstone Manual and the appropriate style manual; Take the CITI

course and read the IRB requirements; Introduce yourself in the discussions.

Wk2: Develop and submit your prospectus; submit the CITI completion certificate;

submit the required IRB approval documents; upload your prospectus to the

discussion for peer review.

Wk3: Develop and submit your draft research proposal; review classmates'

projects in the discussion.

Wk4: Revise and submit your final research proposal; include the CITI certificate

and the approved IRB forms. Instructor acceptance will constitute approval to

accomplish your project.

Wk5: Develop your annotated bibliography.

Wk6: Finalize your annotated bibliography and write your literature review.

Wk7: Gather the data you will analyze.

Wk8: Finalize data gathering.

Wk9: Begin the analysis process.

Wk10: Complete the analysis process; provide a progress report in the discussion.

Wk11: Write up your research findings.

Wk12: Write your conclusions & recommendations.

Wk13: Submit your rough draft.

Wk14: Revise your rough draft in accordance with instructor feedback.

Wk15: Submit your final project report; provide your conclusions &

recommendations in the discussion.

Wk16: Fill out and submit the approval and transmittal documents; discuss your

projects in the discussion.

Happy researching!

Dr. Hanifen