Final Project
The philosophy of this class is that you learn best by doing. To this end, you will conduct a semester long research project culminating in a final paper. Just like in the real world, this will be a highly iterative process, meaning you will be submitting many drafts and receiving continuous feedback throughout the semester, both from me and your peers. The paper will be prepared in stages, corresponding to the materials presented in class each week. You will work in groups of 6 students and present your progress in class each week. You will also be completing weekly peer reviews of other students’ projects.
Find previous final project examples below. These should be used as a general guidance for expectations of weekly deliverables.
Final Project Abstract Examples
Assignment Instructions
Find brief assignment instructions for each of the graded deliverables throughout the semester. As you will see, each graded deliverable is a culmination of previous ungraded deliverables. These instructions are intended to offer general guidance, and help you understand how each deliverable adds to the next in an iterative manner.
- Introduction Section Instructions
- Methods Section Instructions (under construction)
- Results Section Instructions (under construction)
- Discussion Section Instructions (under construction)
Workflow
Find your group assignments here: Spring 2020 Group Assignments
Weekly schedule in overview:
- Submit project component to Blackboard by Sunday 5 pm
- Complete peer review by class time
- Revise based on instructor and peer feedback (you will receive written feedback from me by end of Wednesday each week)
- Re-submit project component for further feedback (optional but encouraged)
Deadlines for Project Components (graded assignments noted with asterisk):
| Assignment | Deadline | Day of Week | Time |
| Research topic | 26-Jan | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Team charter | 26-Jan | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Final research topic | 2-Feb | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Annotated bibliography | 9-Feb | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Problem diagram | 9-Feb | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Research objectives | 9-Feb | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Variables | 9-Feb | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Questionnaire | 16-Feb | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Interview Guide | 23-Feb | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Introduction section* | 23-Feb | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Power calculations | 1-Mar | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Data collection plan | 1-Mar | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Sampling Plan | 1-Mar | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Questionnaire (final) | 8-Mar | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Interview Guide (final) | 8-Mar | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Data dictionary | 22-Mar | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Table shells | 22-Mar | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Methods section* | 22-Mar | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Team Charter Review | 22-Mar | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Qualitative themes | 29-Mar | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Descriptive tables | 5-Apr | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Bivariate tables | 5-Apr | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Multivariate tables | 12-Apr | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Results section* | 12-Apr | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Final ‘Flash’ presentation | 19-Apr | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Complete draft | 19-Apr | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Final research report* | 26-Apr | Sunday | 5:00 PM |
| Final presentation* | 30-Apr | Thursday | 6:00 PM |
Peer Review
Feedback is an essential part of the research process. In this class, you will get a lot of experience giving feedback and have a lot of opportunities to receive it. Beginning in Week 2, you will provide feedback to one other team each week on whichever project component was submitted. The peer review schedule is rotating, so you will review work from a different group each week and become familiar with the work of all groups throughout the course of the semester. Peer reviews should be structured as follows:
- Briefly summarize the project
- Give your main impressions of the project component being reviewed
- Give 3 specific comments and suggestions for improving upon it
Please see the attached Spring 2020 Peer Review Schedule to determine which group you will be reviewing each week.
| Peer review | Deadline | Day of Week | Time |
| Peer Review- Research topic | 6-Feb | Thursday | 6:00 PM |
| Peer Review- Research objectives | 13-Feb | Thursday | 6:00 PM |
| Peer Review- Questionnaire | 20-Feb | Thursday | 6:00 PM |
| Peer Review-Interview guide | 27-Feb | Thursday | 6:00 PM |
| Peer Review- Data collection plan | 5-Mar | Thursday | 6:00 PM |
| Peer Review- Table shells | 26-Mar | Thursday | 6:00 PM |
| Peer Review- Qualitative themes | 2-Apr | Thursday | 6:00 PM |
| Peer Review- Descriptive tables | 9-Apr | Thursday | 6:00 PM |
| Peer Review- Multivariate tables | 16-Apr | Thursday | 6:00 PM |
Journal
You will submit three journal entries during the course of the semester. Each entry should be no more than 2 pages, double spaced. It should include your reflections on your experience in the course (in and out of class). Suggestions for content are given below, but you are not limited to these topics.
- Group process in general (housekeeping). What meeting times have you chosen for group work? Do you prefer supervised group work or meeting on your own? How have you divided up tasks to be done within the group? How were these decisions made? What software are you each working on and how do you plan to produce the final proposal?
- Group decision-making in specific. Describe group brainstorming sessions. What ideas emerged? What option was decided upon? How did the group reach that decision? What ideas didn’t work out and why?
- Progress on weekly assignments and research project. What has been completed? What is still being worked on? What is your time line for completing upcoming tasks? Are you comfortable with your progress?
- Practical application. Describe how you might take skills from this course and put them to use in your work (real or hypothetical). What obstacles might you encounter? How might you approach those problems?
The final journal will be in the form of a letter to next year’s students, and should include advice and experience from the entire course.
| Journal | Deadline | Day of Week | Time |
| Journal 1* | 20-Feb | Thursday | 6:00 PM |
| Journal 2* | 26-Mar | Thursday | 6:00 PM |
| Journal 3* | 30-Apr | Thursday | 6:00 PM |
Group Charter and Evaluation
Each group will develop a charter and evaluation form outside of class. At mid-term, groups should schedule a meeting to review the charter, reflect on work dynamics to date, and plan for any needed changes going forward. Each group should write a short summary of this meeting. At the end of the semester, each student will complete an evaluation form to assess overall group dynamics and individual contributions.
Problem Sets
You will each complete 3 Problem Sets designed to assist in learning to program in R.
| Problem Set | Deadline | Day of Week | Time |
| Problem Set 1* | 13-Feb | Thursday | 6:00 PM |
| Problem Set 2* | 19-Mar | Thursday | 6:00 PM |
| Problem Set 3* | 9-Apr | Thursday | 6:00 PM |
Grading
Grades will be distributed according to the weights below. Classroom participation will be assessed on the basis of preparation for class and active involvement in discussions.
- Final written research report (25%)
- Introduction, Methods and Results Sections (5% each)
- Final presentation (10%)
- Problem Sets (3) (5% each)
- Peer reviews (10%)
- Participation (10%)
- Journal entries (3) (5% each)
