Overview

The writing assignment will require you to choose a reading from the class that makes theoretical claims [excluding Przeworski, Dahl, Schmitter and Karl, who do not present theories] (or outside the class with my approval), extract the research question and theoretical claims from that reading, and test those claims through an interview of someone who was born and lived outside of the U.S. about the politics of their country. The goal is to test a theory proposed by an existing reading. You should not come up with your own research question, but use the one from your chosen reading.

The purpose of the interview is to apply evidence from someone with in-country experience to either support or refute the theory from your chosen reading. The writing assignment should combine information obtained from the interview, contextual information about the country where the interviewee is from and information about the theory as a way of linking what the theory would predict happens to evidence from a witness to what actually took place.

Thus, the goal of the paper is 1) to correctly represent the theory which you are examining, 2) to integrate evidence from the location you have chosen to test the theory, and 3) to use information from your interviews and other contextual evidence to evaluate whether your chosen reading's theory is empirically validated in the case you have chosen.  

Detailed tutorials about deriving a research question and the desired structure of the assignment are available in the following links (as they become available): research question tutorial, writing assignment guideLinks to an external site., interview questions tutorialLinks to an external site., paraphrasing tutorialLinks to an external site., claims to evidence tutorialLinks to an external site..

NOTE: Evidence drawn from interviews and overall should be about the country where your interview subject is from. There should not be any extensive discussion of the United States, either as your main case or as a comparison case.

Who can you interview?

There are several (but not many) limitations as to whom you can interview. The person must 1) have been born in another country, 2) have spent a significant part of their lives in that country (or another country outside of the United States). The person may be a relative, another UCF student or a member of your broader community. The person may NOT be enrolled in this class. The person should also consent to have the audio of the interview you conduct with them recorded as a way of validating that the interview took place.

Here are some resources if you're having trouble finding someone.

Topic Approval

Topics for the writing assignment MUST be submitted for approval by March 25th at 11:59 PM for full credit to my e-mail: *This Text is Removed by Studyfull for Privacy & Security Purposes*. This should include your research question, the chosen reading(s) you will engage with, the interview subject’s basic biographical information, and some possible interview questions. You lose one point from your assignment grade for every day that the topic is late. Students must submit any revisions within 3 days of reply to retain full credit.

Formatting Requirements and Due Date

Papers should be at least 7 full pages double-spaced (before citations), 12-point Times New Roman font, use in-text citations, and cite at least one academic source. Students are required to consult with me through either e-mail or during office hours before proceeding with their topic. Please see the rubric for detailed requirements. Papers MUST have in-text citations. Readings must have page numbers to correspond to the material from the readings that is being cited. Papers are due Sunday, April 28th at 11:59pm to Turnitin.com link on WebCourses. There is a 2.5 point penalty for every 12 hours the assignment is late. No assignments will be accepted after August 8.

You must upload both your paper and an audio recording of the interview with your submission. Not submitting a corresponding audio recording or other documentation of your interview will result in a 25-point penalty (a complete deduction from the "Interview Relevance" category of the rubric). Interviews do not have to be in English. I can understand interviews in Spanish, Russian, and some Arabic dialects that at least resemble Levantine.

Writing Assignment RubricCriteriaRatingsPointsTopic ApprovalTopic proposal and (potential) revisions are submitted on time. There is a one point deduction for each day the proposal is late and a one half point deduction for each day a revision is late.
10.0 ptsNo topic submitted for approval.
0.0 pts10Research Question10 ptsThere is a research question. 5 pts10Understanding of Readings25Interview Relevance25Application of Evidence

Evidence from interview is clearly connected to reading and represents a faithful test of the theory. There is a clear refutation/confirmation of the theory that is supported by evidence from the interview. 25 pts

Evidence from interview is not well integrated with the theories from the readings. There is no attempt to confirm or refute theory from readings. 15 ptsEvidence from interview is completely disconnected from theory presented in the essay. 5 pts25CitationsAll sources are cited in-text.
5.0 pts5Total: 100 points