1. SECKIN BARIS GULMEZ s.b.gulmez@rhul.ac.uk www.pir1600.wordpress.com

2. Assignment: Research Design 2000-2500 words Due for 12 noon on Tuesday 23 rd November 2010 We will devote the next four weeks preparing for the assignment. Research design is not an essay. A decent research design should comprise 6 main sections. Research design experience will be particularly beneficial while writing your graduation dissertation, and master and PhD theses.

3. 6 Sections 1. Essay title 2. Research question. Why is your research question essential? 3. Literature review. what else has been written on the topic, how does this relate to what you want to investigate? 4. Hypotheses: It should be an empirical statement, not a question, and one that can be verified with empirical evidence. You can have more than one hypothesis, but more than three is not advisable.

4. 6 Sections 5. Methodology: Outline the methods and sources that will be used to answer the research questions and test the hypotheses. You will not actually have to carry out the research, but you should make a statement about what sort of research method would be appropriate and why. 6. Annotated bibliography: A list of the main readings for this subject with one or two sentences on what the book/article is about and its main approach.

5. Topics 'The Falling Turnout of Young People in British General Elections' 'Turkish Accession to the European Union' 'The Political Economy of the Global Financial Crisis‘ 'US Foreign Policy under Barack Obama‘ 'Constitutional Reform in Britain'

6. Example My PhD topic!! Don’t choose it! Create your own Title: Understanding the Euroscepticism in Turkey Question: Why is there an increasing pace of negative attitudes/criticisms in Turkey against the EU since 2002? Literature review: analyze the existing literature on negative attitudes within Turkey against the EU

7. Example Hypotheses: (My hypothetical (possible) answers to the question before actually conducting the research) 1. Turkey has always been against the idea of Union with Europeans 2. The rising criticisms of the EU in Turkey are due to the fact that Turkish people react against double standard conditions of the EU (e.g. Cyprus problem). 3. It is due to the fact that Turkey react to a great portion of the EU which opposes Turkey’s membership.

8. Example Methodology: With these methods, I will test the validity of my hypotheses. Maybe all of them are true may be non of them 1. interviews with the members of the parliament in Turkey and the European parliament. 2. Surveys on Turkish and European academics as regards Turkey’s EU accession. 3. Documentary analysis: press review, speeches of the political leaders.

9. Group Work Today, we will practice on the first two sections. Pick up a partner. Both partners will choose a topic. Find a question and a title. Discuss it with your partner why you chose the particular topic and question. Why is the topic important? Why is the question crucial? Title? Good and concise to cover the topic?

10. Assignment for next week Choose your own research title and question. Literature review: Choose at least 5 academic sources (books and/or journal articles) about your topic. Write down your literature review (500-600 words). Specify who said what about your topic in the literature. Do they offer an answer to your question? Compare an contrast.