International Organisations
Question: United Nations Security Council been effective in maintaining peace and security in the post-Cold War international order?
You must use Quantitive methods.
IO Term Paper Guidance
The following is a detailed description of how I would like you to write and structure your papers. Feel free to use these sections as a template for your papers.
THIS IS IMPORTANT: YOU ARE WRITING A RESEARCH DESIGN RATHER THAN A TRADITIONAL PAPER, DON’T FREAK OUT, IT IS NOT AS COMPLICATED AS IT SOUNDS, MAKE SURE YOU READ THE DIRECTIONS BELOW.
1. Title: This should be a ‘What’ or a ‘Why’ title. For example ‘What is the impact of World Bank Structural Adjustment Programs on Human Rights’ or ‘Why do some democracies have better human rights records than others?’ Here you can narrow in on a particular aspect of the title that you choose.
2. Introduction (About 250 Words): Here I want you to
a. introduce your question
b. tell me why it is important
c. briefly explain to me your theoretical argument
d. briefly summarize your expectations about what you think you would find if you were to conduct empirical analysis.
e. transition to a discussion of other research on the topic
3. Literature Review (About 750 Words): Here I want you to
a. Discuss the previous research on this topic
b. Summarize the previous research by theme i.e. Some research has made …argument (Citations). Other research has made …different argument (Citations). Research has found that ‘X’ affects ‘Y’ in a particular way (Citations). And so on…
c. Tell me how this research informs your own theoretical argument
d. Transition to your theoretical argument
4. Theoretical Argument (About 1100 Words): Here I want you to
a. Tell me your theoretical argument about this particular issue.
b. Your argument should add value to the existing research through i, ii or iii below
i. Resolving a puzzle found in the previous literature or
ii. Informing us about a previously un-researched or under-researched area or
iii. Augmenting existing research by pointing out inconsistencies or taking existing arguments in new directions or areas of interest
c. Your argument should generate some expectations. My argument leads me to expect that ‘the longer countries have been under world bank programs the worse will be respect for human rights.’
d. Formalize these expectations in hypotheses.
e. Transition to your ‘tests’:
5. Research Design (About 650 Words): Here I want you to explain how you would go about testing your argument empirically.
Specifically
a. Time Period & Geographical Sample
i. Describe what would be the appropriate time period for you to test your arguments and why
ii. Describe what would be the appropriate geographical sample for you to test your arguments and why
b. Variables
c. Dependent Variable
i. Explain to me what your dependent variable is, remember this is the factor that you want to explain, perhaps respect for physical integrity rights or economic and social rights, or something more specific. Tell me how you are going to measure this concept, describe the measure that you are using, any quirks that mean it might be limited in some way, and where you got it.
d. Independent Variable
i. Explain to me what your independent variable is, remember this is the key factor that you think affects your dependent variable, ie they key thing that impacts respect for some type of right. Tell me how you are going to measure this concept, describe the measure that you are using, any quirks that mean it might be limited in some way, and where you got it.
e. Control Variables
i. Explain to me what your control variables are, remember these are all the other factors that may also affect respect for whatever your dependent variable is. There may well be a number of these that you need to include to make sure that any potential link between your independent variable of interest and your dependent variable is not spurious. Tell me how you are going to measure these various concepts, describe the measure that you are using, any quirks that mean that they might be limited in some way, and where you got them from.
6. Conclusions (About 250 Words): Here I want you to
a. Summarize why your argument is important, what you expect to find,
b. Discuss the theoretical implications of your work
c. Discuss the policy implications of your work
Questions that always seem to arise
1) How many references do I have to have?
There is no right number for this. What I would say is that you should have read enough journal articles and books on your topic so that when you get to the literature review in each you can say, yes I have read, that one and that one and that one etc and move onto that particular manuscripts argument then you have read enough.
2) Where can I find journal articles? Web of Science is your best bet and it is available through the UCL online database.
http://metalib-a.lib.ucl.ac.uk/V/?func=find-db-1-title&mode=titles&scan_start=w&search_type=start&restricted=all
3) Where can I find human rights and other data?
CIRI data www.humanrightsdata.com
PTS data http://www.politicalterrorscale.org/download.php
World Bank data, they have a really good selection of a wide variety of factors
http://databank.worldbank.org/ddp/home.do?Step=12&id=4&CNO=2
POLITY data http://www.systemicpeace.org/polity/polity4.htm
Conflict data http://www.prio.no/CSCW/Datasets/Armed-Conflict/