Module 14

 

WEEK FOURTEEN / Week of April 19

 

We’re in the home stretch. Please…

 

1) Conduct your survey.

 

2) While waiting for your survey results, revise your sections 1, 2 and 3 of your research project write-up. These are the Intro/Background, Review of the Literature, and Method sections.

 

3) Upon receipt of your survey results, complete section 4, Results. Note that this section asks you to graphically display your results… you must do this in a way that allows your reader to see both the questions and graphical depictions of results for each question.

 

4) Write DRAFTS of sections 5, 6 and 7.

 

5) Send me your availability for our final presentations (which will take place live via Zoom). Once we have a day and time scheduled for this, you will invite your contacts at your Community Partner organization, and any other supporters you met along the way, to dial in to your Zoom presentation. The final presentation will be an opportunity for you to share your research, including graphical results. Plan on a presentation of 10-12 minutes plus Q&A. 

 

Presentation day/time options are as below… please advise me of your available for EACH of the listed options… don't just tell me which is best:

 

Monday, April 26 1:00 pm

Monday, April 26 2:00 pm

Monday, April 26 6:00 pm

Monday, April 26 7:00 pm

Monday, April 26 8:00 pm

 

Tuesday, April 27 12:30 pm

Tuesday, April 27 6:00 pm

 

Wednesday, April 28 4:00 pm

 

Thursday, April 29 2:00 pm

Thursday, April 29 3:00 pm

Thursday, April 29 4:00 pm

Thursday, April 29 5:00 pm

Thursday, April 29 6:00 pm

Module 13

 

Week 13 / Week of April 12

 

Taxing and spending… Chapter 12. In addition to completing Blog #17, your final chapter-related blog post, please be sure to send me your revised survey EXACTLY AS YOU PLAN TO ADMINISTER IT, along with a detailed description of EXACTLY HOW you plan to administer it. You will need to administer your survey no later than Sunday of this week if you hope to complete the assignment by the end of the semester.

 

·     Blog entry #17: Read and reflect on Chapter 12, Taxing & Spending. 

·     Do some research online and find 4 different state or local taxes that are levied on taxpayers who live in your neighborhood. They should be 4 different kinds of taxes, such as sales tax, tobacco tax, hotel tax and property tax. 

·     Summarize the tax rates a person who lives in your neighborhood is subject to paying with regard to each of the 4 kinds of taxes, and how these compare to the rates paid by a person who lives in a nearby city. For example, sales tax in my city of East Palo Alto is 9.75%. The sales tax rate in adjacent Palo Alto is 9.0%.

·     Are there ways an individual can avoid paying these taxes? 

·     Does everyone pay the taxes equally? 

·     Are they regressive or progressive? Why might local tax rates vary within a county?

·     Use concepts from the chapter to make your answers well-informed.

 

Module 12

 

Week 12 / Week of April 5

 

Budgets and service delivery. Public administration. Chapter 8. Survey!

 

You’re in the home stretch everyone… just two more chapters to read, your research project to complete, and a final. This week, please read chapter 8 on Budgeting and Service Delivery and respond to the Blog #16 prompt below. 

 

·     Blog entry #16: It can be said that a budget is a statement of values. What values underlie the way your CP gets and spends its money or resources? Which Hallmarks, if any, are expressed in the way your CP manages its budgeting and service delivery? If it’s helpful, relate this concept to your own personal experience – in what ways does your own personal budget of time and/or money reflect your values?

 

You’re also ready to prepare a draft of your survey. Just like you did in your Research Methods class, please prepare a full and complete draft of the survey exactly as you plan to use when you conduct it. That means your questions should be in exactly the words you plan to use, the format you plan to use, the order you plan to use, and laid out on the page with whatever introductory statements you plan to use. You may refer to your Methods project to remind yourself of this final format. If you did not take a Research Methods class, please let me know so we can walk through this together in more detail. Then please send me your survey by email for review. If you have not yet completed your “Method” section draft, you’ll need complete this and send it to me as well. Do not conduct your survey until I have approved both your survey instrument and your proposed method. 

 

Module 11

 

Week 11 / Week of March 29

 

Local government structure and leadership. Chapter 11. Powers of states and localities. Common concerns and regional efforts. Blog #15. Catch up with Blog #14 as needed... as of this posting, you all need to do that!

 

·     Blog entry #15a: Read and reflect on Chapter 11, Local Government Structure and Leadership. Describe the community in which your CP operates… is it a city, a town, a rural area? What kind of mayor does the community have (describe with reference to the structures outlined in your textbook)? Does that form of mayor seem appropriate for the community? Why or why not (again, be specific when referencing the structures outlined in your textbook and how they might be appropriate or inappropriate for various communities with different needs)? Does your CP have any interaction with local government officials?

 

·     Blog entry #15b: Watch Before the Flood. How are states and/or localities depicted in the film in terms of their ability to respond to the forces of climate change? Spend 30-60 minutes also researching online how the state and county in which you live are taking measures to address climate change at the state and local levels. Are those measures required or optional? Advise professor if you have trouble finding the film… NDNU’s library can help if needed.

 

Module 10

Week 10 / Week of March 22

 

This week, your reading will focus on state legislatures, chapter 6. For your Blog #13, please read and reflect on Chapter 6. Then do a little research. How did California’s state legislature and/or local governments use their powers during either the Obama or Trump presidencies to preserve state and local values in the face of conflicting Federal policies and directions?

 

Blog #14. Early in the week, let’s check in by phone or Zoom to talk about your research project topic. Please email me your availability for that check-in. After that conversation, you should be able to research and write a draft of Sections 1, 2 and 3 of the Research Project assignment. Post the drafts for these first three sections on your blog as Blog Post #14.

Research Project

RESEARCH PROJECT

 

Student’s Name

 

State & Local Government, 2021

 

Research Project & Paper

 

 

 

Original Title for yourPaper

 

            Please develop a question that can be answered through a small primary research project. Quantitative research is preferred; however, some qualitative research projects will be approved where this form of inquiry is most appropriate. Your project should be designed such that the results of your research might be of use to your Community Partner. Your Community Partner contact will be invited to join us when you present your results via Zoom.

            Your final paper should be 8 double-spaced pages in length with standard font and font size.  Margins no greater than 1 inch, please.  Your final paper MUSTinclude proper in-text citations and a Bibliography. Any paper that does not include them will be returned unread.

            Include the following required sections:

1)         Introduction & Background. Provide background and context for your project. Include in this section the problem to be solved, the question you have posed, any assumptions that structure your inquiry and your initial hypothesis.

2)         Review of the Literature. What have other people already written about your topic? 

3)         Method. How was your research conducted? Include a copy of your survey or questions, and describe in detail how you conduct the survey. Explain why this is the best method. If there are known weaknesses to your method, explain what they are as well as why it is necessary to proceed with known methodological weaknesses.

4)         Results. A factual summary of your results. Include a graph or chart or other visual display of your data. Also include any factual description needed to explainthe data.

5)         Analysis. So what? This is where you will interpretyour data. What do the results mean in the context of your initial question? Can you situate your own data within the context of the information you cited in your Literature Review? If methodological weaknesses were present in your study, indicate whether and how they limited the usefulness of your results.

6)         Conclusion & Areas for Future Research. A summary conclusion and indication of what if any additional research avenues your project has created. Did your research create more questions than it answered? What future studies might be useful in answering these new questions? In what ways do your conclusions support, expand or contradict the research of others? 

7)         Bibliography and Contacts. Include all items consulted for this project and list contact information for your Community Partner and any interviewees.

Week 9

WEEK NINE / Week of March 15

 

I hope you all had a restful Spring Break. This week, we will explore the roles and responsibilities of Governors, political actors who have become increasingly interesting, engaged and impactful over time. With respect to the material in Chapter 7, Governors, please write blog entry #11 as outlined below:

 

·     Blog entry #11: Read and reflect on Chapter 7, Governors. Then use your favorite media outlets to research how actual governors have exercised their roles and powers during the pandemic. Find at least 3 examples in which the actions of our pandemic-year governors have illustrated concepts described in our textbook. Cite the concept by page number in your blog entry.

 

We also turn to your research project starting this week. I will post the Research Project assignment to the class website. Please don’t get too far ahead… for now, just think broadly about the assignment and write a blog entry as described below. You should not move forward with your research yet – I will need to work with you to make sure your plans are on track.

 

·     Blog entry #12: Initial thoughts & planning / proposal relating to Research Project. Write a short answer in response to EACH of the following questions. 1) What is the question you propose to answer? 2) What has already been written about it? 3) How is your question unique? 4) What kind of research will help you answer the question? 5) How will this research be conducted? 6) How might your CP or similar organizations use your findings?