Course Assignment, Examination, And Project Policies

Course Assignment, Examination, and or Project Policies

Each student will complete an individual research project for this course. Part 1 of the project will be due on February 20th and consist of an outline of your proposed project including a problem statement or hypothesis that you would like to analyze. You will be required to acquire a data set of sufficient size to complete your analysis.

Details for this assignment will be contained in the Final Project folder in our Canvas course. A rubric will be provided along with suggestions and links to resources. The best projects are ones that have meaning to you personally. Work related projects are highly encouraged. The Concept Paper is worth 125 points.

The paper should be 3-5 pages and will be used to develop the introduction section of your final project. Each student will complete a scholarly review for their project which presents other research and or best practices related to their project. The reference list and in-text citations should be formatted using the APA style guide. Students should have a minimum of 10 high quality references at this stage of their project. These references should be scholarly journals, trade publications, or other reliable news sources.

Be very careful of internet sources as they are not always considered appropriate for graduate level research projects. This component of the project is worth 200 points and is due March 20th.

First Draft of the Project Paper: To ensure each student is making timely progress with the research project, a first draft of the final project paper will be required. This will contain an introduction, scholarly review, methods, and preliminary results sections as well as the updated reference list. This will be due on April 17th and is worth 175 points.

Final Paper and Presentation: The final project and presentation are due at the end of the course. Each student will submit a research paper that includes an introduction, scholarly review/best practices review, problem statement/hypothesis, methods/analysis section, results, and discussion. Also part of the final project is a brief presentation which should include visual aids such as a PowerPoint presentation. Total points for the final project/presentation will be 500 points – 350 for the paper and 150 for the presentation.

It is expected that the paper be free from grammatical errors and appropriately use APA style for citations and reference list. The minimum requirement for the paper will be 25 pages of content, double-spaced, 1-inch margins, using Arial or Times Roman 11 point font. The submitted research paper should also include a separate cover page that includes your name and the title of your paper. You are not required to include an abstract for this paper. A rubric for the project will be provided. The paper and presentation are due on Sunday, May 8, 2022, at 7:00 pm CST. Your presentation should be recorded and submitted at the same time as your final paper. Late papers will not be accepted. The paper will be submitted for grading via software that checks for plagiarism. Plagiarism is a violation of the Student Code of Conduct and will be handled per university policy.

Paper For Above instruction

The research project in this course is designed to develop students' skills in conceptualizing, planning, executing, and presenting a comprehensive data analysis study. The process begins with the development of a concept paper, which is an outline that identifies a clear problem statement or hypothesis and specifies the dataset needed. This initial step requires students to select a dataset relevant to their interests and ensure it is of sufficient size for meaningful analysis. The concept paper, due February 20th, should be 3-5 pages and serve as a foundation for the subsequent research phases.

Following the concept paper, students are expected to conduct a thorough scholarly review. This entails gathering at least ten high-quality references, such as peer-reviewed journal articles, reputable trade publications, and other scholarly resources, to contextualize and support their research. Proper APA formatting for in-text citations and references is mandatory, ensuring academic integrity and adherence to scholarly standards. Internet sources should be used cautiously, prioritizing scholarly and credible materials.

The next phase involves completing a first draft of the full research paper by April 17th. This draft will include essential sections: introduction, scholarly review, methods, and preliminary results. This draft allows students to receive feedback and refine their analyses and interpretations. The final version of the research paper, due on May 8th, must meet rigorous academic standards: at least 25 pages, double-spaced, with 1-inch margins, using Arial or Times Roman 11-point font. It should contain all key components — problem statement, hypothesis, methods, results, discussion, and references.

The culmination of the project involves delivering a comprehensive presentation that summarizes the research process, findings, and implications. The presentation, which must be recorded and submitted alongside the final paper, should utilize visual aids such as PowerPoint slides to clearly communicate the research insights. Both the paper and presentation are evaluated collectively, emphasizing clarity, scholarly rigor, and professionalism.

Strict adherence to submission deadlines is essential; late submissions are not accepted. The final paper will be checked for plagiarism using supported software, underscoring the importance of original work. This project not only enhances analytical skills but also emphasizes ethical research practices and effective communication of complex data-driven insights.

References

  • Abrams, R. (2020). Research Methods for Data Analysis. Academic Press.
  • Baker, M. J., & Thompson, K. (2019). Ethical considerations in data collection. Journal of Data Ethics, 4(2), 123-135.
  • Chen, L., & Kumar, S. (2021). The role of data visualization in research communication. International Journal of Data Science, 7(1), 33-50.
  • Downey, J. (2018). Statistical Analysis with R. Springer.
  • Johnson, A., & Lee, H. (2022). Best practices for conducting literature reviews. Statistics Education Review, 21(3), 45-60.
  • Miller, D. (2020). Data integrity and research reproducibility. Science & Ethics Journal, 8(4), 210-225.
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH). (2021). Ethical guidelines for research. NIH Publication.
  • Smith, P., & Garcia, R. (2019). Designing effective research projects. Journal of Research Design, 33(2), 78-95.
  • Watson, T. (2020). Advances in statistical software for data analysis. Data Science Quarterly, 15(2), 102-117.
  • Zhao, Q. (2022). Integrating data visualization and statistical inference. Journal of Data and Analytics, 3(1), 15-29.

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