Final Paper [Graduate Students Only]

Paper Topic Approval: By Monday, October 19th (4A)

Annotated bibliography: Due Monday, November 2nd (6A)

Rough Draft Paper: Due Monday, November 16th (8A)

Peer Reviews: Due Wednesday, November 25th (9B)

Final Paper Due: Friday, December 4th (10C)

Graduate students are expected to complete a research paper (approximately 15-20 pages long double-spaced) that analyzes an existing state, federal or local policy and its implications for management. Completing the research paper will include selecting a topic, writing an annotated bibliography, completing a draft paper, conducting peer review, completing revisions. You can choose whether to work on this research paper alone, or to collaborate in a team of no more than three people.

Paper Options

The purpose of this assignment is to identify a natural resources policy topic that you want to investigate in more detail. While you can choose a policy that is grounded and applied, the purpose of this assignment is to explore the research related to this topic. Therefore, you will be expected to search the current literature on this topic and utilize high quality sources. You are welcome to review web sites, agency information and other plans and reports—however, the goal of this is not to just report on practice, but learn about the underlying policy concepts, theories, or the latest research that inform practice.

You can choose whether to work on this topic alone, or to collaborate in a team of no more than three people. Regardless of who you choose to work with, or whether you choose to work alone, your research paper can address a number of types of questions. You can:

§ Review the effectiveness of a policy in solving natural resource management problems.

Example Research Question: What is the impact of the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds on aquatic habitat management in Oregon?

§ For a given natural resource management issue, review the policies (or classes of policies) and their implications for the given issue.

Example Research Question: What policies affect oak habitat restoration in the Willamette Valley and how do these policies help or hinder efforts to increase the amount of oak habitat in the Valley?

§ Compare potential policy solutions to a given natural resource management issue.

Example Research Question: What are the benefits and consequences of a cap-and-trade policy versus a carbon tax in regulating the emissions and/or sequestration of greenhouse gasses?

§ Analyze an existing policy dataset for management implications (or collect your own data!).

Example Research Question: How does voter support for local and statewide conservation initiatives and referenda vary between those measures in which endangered species management is an explicit goal and those with broader goals like open space conservation?

You are not limited to only the references in your annotated bibliography. Your analysis should be based on evidence collected from reputable, high quality sources, and any web-based information should be carefully evaluated for accuracy and/or bias. The paper should be in a policy analysis form, which means it should provide evidence-based information to help guide decision makers. This assignment is not a position paper, an advocacy piece, an opinion piece, or a comparison of these types of information.

What you will hand in

Paper topic (1 page maximum)

§ A proposed title for your paper

§ A central research question that you plan to answer

§ A brief abstract summary of your topic

Annotated bibliography

The goal of the annotated bibliography is to get you thinking about and reading on your topic ahead of time and to allow me to give you some initial feedback on your proposed paper. The annotated bibliography should include:

§Any revisions you wish to make to your paper title or research question

§An expanded abstract summary of your topic (1 page maximum)

§ List of 8-10 references, with a brief paragraph description for each reference describing the relevance of each to your topic (also, please select a citation style for your references)

Rough Draft for Peer Review

The draft research paper for this class should be approximately 10-15 pages long (double spaced) and should be an evaluation, assessment, or analysis of an existing state, federal or local policy and its management implications. The paper should include:

§Title

§Abstract

§Introduction

§Methods

§Findings/Results

§Management Implications

§Conclusions

§Literature Cited

§A minimum of 1-2 relevant figures or tables that help the reader quickly digest your findings

Please bring two copies of your peer review to class (1 to submit to your peer reviewer, and 1 to submit to me). Please discuss alternative format proposal with me prior to submitting your rough draft.

Peer Review

Students will review at least one paper from another student or student team. Peer reviews will follow a rubric handed out in class. Peer reviews should be constructive critiques that identify both strengths and weaknesses in the rough draft, and make specific suggestions for improvement. Please bring two copies of your peer review to class (1 to submit to the author of the paper you reviewed, and 1 to submit to me).

Final Paper

Final papers must incorporate feedback from rough draft peer reviews. You may expand to up to 20 pages upon revisions following your peer reviews. Please deliver final papers to my office or to the SRTC office (rm 218) by 5pm, December 4^th (late papers will be penalized 5% per day beginning on Monday December 7th).

Grading

The final paper will be graded according to the following rubric. Preliminary products, however, will only receive feedback from me and credit for completion.

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Tips from the PSU Library Web Site

Looking for Articles in Scholarly/Professional Journals

Journals are important sources of both primary and secondary information, and are useful for most research projects. Finding articles from journals that are appropriate for your needs is a multi-step process.

The search tool used to provide access to the library catalog, PSU Worldcat, provides access to article level records from a number of databases: Academic Search Complete, JSTOR, WorldCat, etc. When a relevant article is found within the search results you can often use the Find It @ PSU button to locate the full text of the article, either online or in the library's print collection. You can also request the item via InterLibrary Loan if it is not available locally.

I prefer Web of Science as an alternative to the standard PSU library search engine. You can access Web of Science by clicking on the link on this page: http://library.pdx.edu/dofd/resources?letter=W.

Finding Related Sources

If you find a good article in your topic area, check the references in the article. Many databases (e.g., Web of Science) will also let you see how many times has your article been cited, and what articles have cited your article. Those citations may lead to you additional sources or different perspectives. Finally, look at the keywords, terms and other information in your key article and use those terms for subsequent searches.

Critical Evaluation of Information Sources

In evaluating the credibility of an information source there are several key areas to consider:

* The Authority of the author and the publisher: Are they well qualified to speak to the topic at hand?

* The Objectivity of the author: Is the author selling a position or using the piece as a soap box?

* The Quality of the work: Does the work follow a logical structure? Is the work repeatable?

* The Currency of the work: How recently was the research done and the work published?

* The Relevance of the work: Is the work adequately contextualized?

There is no right or wrong answer to these questions, but you should evaluate the credibility of information holistically from all of these areas combined.

For additional information on evaluating sources, go to:

http://guides.library.pdx.edu/content.php?pid=369846&sid=3030081