CASE STUDY PAPER

Case Study: You must do the following: Case Study Proposal:

• Select a peer-reviewed article in a public administration concentration from JSTOR (www.jstor.org) or EbscoHost (www.ebscohost.com).

o The selected peer-reviewed article  must be an empirical study  must discuss

• one research question • at least one dependent variable • at least one independent variable • at least one control variable • at least one hypothesis • at least three studies in the literature review section of the selected

peer-reviewed article • at least one research method (qualitative or quantitative) • at least three findings

• Submit the selected peer-reviewed article as the case study proposal for the instructor’s approval in the Case Study Proposal folder under the Assignments tab on CANVAS on June 11, 2014.

Case Study Paper: (You will score zero points for plagiarism) • Use the selected peer-reviewed article to address the issues in the outline provided below

in at least 4,000 total words (12 pt. Times New roman font, one inch margins on all sides, left and right indentation set at zero, and before and after spacing set at zero). The title page and the reference page will not count toward the minimum word requirement.

Research Question (4 points possible)

• Identify and discuss the research question and the hypotheses in the peer-reviewed article.

• Explain how clear and precise the research question is. Variables (40 possible points)

• Explain the dependent and independent variables in the selected peer-reviewed article. • Describe how the author(s) of the selected peer-reviewed article conceptualized

(defined) the dependent and independent variables in relation to previous studies in the literature review section of the selected peer-reviewed article.

• Explain how the author(s) operationalizes or measures the dependent and independent variables. In your explanation, be clear about whether the measures the author used are nominal, ordinal, interval, and/or ratio and whether the measures are taken from previous studies. Identify and discuss at least two questions the author used to operationalize the dependent variable.

• Identify and discuss at least two questions the author used to operationalize the independent variable(s).

• Formulate at least three Likert scale questions with the appropriate responses to operationalize the dependent variable in the peer-reviewed article.

• Formulate at least three Likert scale questions with the appropriate responses to operationalize one independent variable in the peer-reviewed article.

• Formulate at least two index questions with at least 7 appropriate responses to operationalize the dependent variable in the peer-reviewed article.

• Formulate at least two index questions with at least 7 appropriate responses to operationalize the independent variable in the peer-reviewed article

Relationship of Variables, Literature, and the Research Question (6 points possible)

• Discuss step by step how the author linked the dependent and independent variables to o the research question in the selected peer-reviewed article o the hypotheses in the selected peer-reviewed article o the previous studies in the selected peer-reviewed article.

Research Methods (9 points possible)

• Discuss the sampling method(s) used in the peer-reviewed article and why. • Explain the data collection method(s) used in the peer-reviewed article and why. • Discuss the method(s) of data analysis used in the peer-reviewed article and why.

Research Method Assessment (6 points possible)

• Assess the appropriateness of the research method or methods in the peer-reviewed article.

Empirical Data and Key Argument (6 points possible) • Discuss the extent to which the empirical data used in the peer-reviewed article answered

the research question and supported the key argument in the peer-reviewed article.

Findings (9 points possible) • Describe at least three findings of the peer-reviewed article that show that the author(s)

answered the research question and proved the key argument. Use the following headings to organize the case study paper:

• Research Question • Variables • Relationship of Variables, Literature, and the Research Question • Research Methods • Research Method Assessment • Empirical Data and Key Argument • Findings

Submit the selected peer-reviewed article in the Case Study Proposal folder and the Case Study paper in the Case Study Paper folder under the Assignments tab on CANVAS. Due Dates: June 11, 2014 for Case Study Proposal; July 2, 2014 for the Case Study Paper.