TROY UNIVERSITY MASTER OF SCIENCE IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS DEGREE PROGRAM IR 6601 RESEARCH METHODS IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS PROFESSOR INFORMATION Insert name mailing address phone optional FAX optional and email address website URL optional Insert brief bio SAMPLE Dr James F Rinehart is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at Troy University In addition he serves as Director of the Master of Science in International Relations degree program From 1995 to 2001 Dr Rinehart taught in the Graduate Program in International Relations at the United States Army John F Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School USAJFKSWCS Ft Bragg North Carolina He also served as its Academic Director Dr Rinehart received his Ph D in International Relations from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University He is the author of two books Revolution and the Millennium China Mexico and Iran Westport CT Praeger 1997 and Apocalyptic Faith and Political Violence Prophets of Terror New York Palgrave Macmillan 2006 as well as numerous articles and academic papers on the subjects of religion and international politics revolution terrorism American foreign policy and international law conflict management He holds a B A in Economics from the University of Florida He is a member of the International Studies Association ISA He currently serves as Treasurer of ISA South and is a member of its Executive Council TEXTBOOKS AND OR OTHER MATERIALS NEEDED Textbooks Other Materials list all texts required for the course including ISBN 2 Optional In addition to these required texts there will be a few class handouts in the form of case studies Each of these will be available via the Internet Students should have their textbook from the first week of class Not having your textbook will not be an acceptable excuse for late work COURSE CATALOG DESCRIPTION IR 6601 Research Methods in International Relations 3 An investigation of the research methodologies employed in the study of International Relations including research design variables and hypotheses citations and reference qualitative analysis and quantitative techniques A substantial research paper is required in the course Note MSIR candidates must achieve a grade of B or better in IR 6601 to complete degree program requirements COURSE OVERVIEW This course represents the methodological core of the MSIR program In it students will sharpen their skills of expression including grammar and rhetoric demonstrate a working knowledge of research design approaches demonstrate an ability to create an empirically based research design proposal learn to apply descriptive and inferential statistical analysis techniques understand the role of research in decision making demonstrate an ability to use common statistical software packages and learn about various research related ethical issues These skills will be demonstrated through the successful design and execution of a major research project 20 25 pages in length This assignment has two components Students are required to prepare a 2 3 page research design proposal All papers must make use of some form of empirical data to describe or explain some phenomena test hypotheses or to answer one or more research questions The design proposal must include a problem hypothesis statement and a description of the independent and dependent variables that the student plans to use and how they will operationalized The proposal must also include a bibliography with at least ten citations Students follow citation rules from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association APA The research paper itself must be well organized and written in clear grammatically correct prose It must include a short abstract statement introduction to the problem studied a literature review a section that explains the research methods utilized a findings section and a conclusion It must also include two or more well cited graphical or table representations of empirical data used as part of the research project that is 3 created on their own Students are encouraged to choose research topics that are relevant to them or are work related STUDENT LEARNING OBJECTIVES Compare and contrast differing explanations of international events Recommend international policies Assess the effectiveness of major instruments of international relations Recommend ways to improve or better use major instruments of international relations Explain the philosophy of social science research Apply scientific method to a research topic Plan a research project Write a substantial research paper Support a conclusion based on empirical research COURSE OUTLINE PROVIDE AN OUTLINE OF THE COURSE TOPICS STUDENT EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT PROVIDE A DETAILED EXPLANATION OF HOW STUDENTS WILL BE EVALUATED AND THEIR ASSIGNED WORK ASSESSED REFERENCE ALL QUOTATIONS AND THOUGHTS THAT ARE NOT YOUR OWN Use either the American Psychological Association s Publication Manual or Turabian s Manual for Writers of Term Papers Theses and Dissertations for referencing and typing guidelines SUBMITTING WORK 4 SAMPLE Your papers should be written in Standard English using a 12 pitch format 1inch margins and double spacing in WORD document format Please do not send them in the body of the e mail itself but rather as a WORD document attachment You can use any font you choose although I prefer Times New Roman Submit all correspondence and assignments as attachments by email to the professor Please include IR 5551 in the subject line When submitting your papers please include the following information in this order Course number and title first and last name and subject MAKE UP WORK POLICY SAMPLE Missing any part of this schedule may prevent completion of the course If you foresee difficulty of any type i e an illness employment change etc which may prevent completion of this course notify the instructor as soon as possible Failure to do so will result in failure for an assignment and or failure of the course See Attendance above If I have not heard from you by the deadline dates for assignments no make up work will be allowed unless extraordinary circumstances existed such as hospitalization Requests for extensions must be made in advance and accompanied by appropriate written documentation if the excuse is acceptable to the instructor Computer problems are not an acceptable excuse INCOMPLETE GRADE POLICY Missing any part of the Course Schedule may prevent