Research Project This project is an opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills you have acquired throughout the course to a research question of your interest. You may pick any research question that you find interesting. You will then execute a research project to thoroughly evaluate this research question by examining the literature related to your research question, formulating a theoretical argument, stating a hypothesis between your outcome of interest (dependent variable) and potential explanatory factors (independent variables), identifying data relevant to test your hypothesis, use statistical tools to evaluate your hypothesis, and draw conclusions about whether or not your hypothesis is supported. This project will proceed in four steps(most of which you have already done):

1. Identify a research question of interest, the dependent variable that you would like to understand, and the independent variable(s) you think explain the dependent variable. (1 page)

2. Conduct a literature review of at least 5 prior academic research articles that address your topic of interest. (4-5 pages)

3. Submit a research proposal that outlines the puzzle motivating your project, demonstrates how your proposal engages with the existing literature and builds on the Advanced Academic Programs Krieger School of Arts and Sciences Johns Hopkins University 5 existing literature, presents a theoretical argument about how your outcome variable of interest is influenced by your primary independent variable of interest, identifies how the dependent and independent variables are operationalized and what data is used to measure those variables, and how you plan to statistically analyze that relationship. (8-10 pages)

4. Submit a final research project that statistically analyses the proposed hypothesis that addresses your research question of interest, presents tables and/or figures that demonstrate the relationship between your dependent and independent variable, draws a conclusion about whether or not your proposed hypothesis is supported, and how your project contributes to the existing literature (18-20 pages). Note: this is a cumulative project in that you will be submitting portions of your research project throughout the course with the final submission being your final research project. At each step you will receive feedback before you procced to the next step so that your final submission incorporates the feedback from the instructor, your own editing, and culminates in a complete project.

Further details are on the attached documents. You have already completed many of the items listed on the attached documents. these items will feed into the final essay. I believe you already completed the memo portion but I will have to confirm that as well as the final due date.