Final Paper

[meliapetersen]

Hello @lecy, I am trying to get started on my paper but having a little bit of an issue with where to start to find a program to do my evaluation on. Are there any resources you can suggest to find a simple program that would be a good fit for this project? Thank you!

[lecy]

Melia - you can choose any program, really.

For the sake of research design, the complexity of the program will be a function of (1) how hard it is to create a meaningful treatment and comparison group, and (2) the complexity of the theory of change.

On the simple end you could think about things like, do nicotine patches help people quit smoking. The treatment and theory of change are both pretty straight-forward.

More complex cases will be any programs where participation is voluntary and participants will be different than non-participants. Does chess club make kids smart? Well, who is your comparison group here?

Or programs where the treatment is complex. If you look at moving to opportunity studies, they randomized housing vouchers to move poor families to more affluent suburbs and tracked outcomes for a decade to see if the family was better off. What is the treatment here? What does moving actually represent? It's better schools, access to different jobs, better or worse access to transit, removal of old support networks (for better or worse), creation of new peer networks, etc. The study period is extremely long as well.

I would pick any topic that interests you, and select a basic program related to the topic. You can quickly find a real program (good nonprofits and your program idea), but you are also welcome to use a hypothetical program as long as you can describe it in detail.

Just find something where you can focus on one type of intervention. So promise neighborhoods consist of a bunch of programs and activities within specific communities.

Does that help?

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For a hypothetical case, as an example, I did a quick google search on how to quit smoking and find:

Nicotine withdrawal symptoms usually reach their peak 2 to 3 days after you quit, and are gone within 1 to 3 months. (1) It takes at least 3 months for your brain chemistry to return to normal after you quit smoking. (2) The last two symptoms to go usually are irritability and low energy.

So the study should last at least three months. You would have to be a little creative about identifying a treatment and control group. They need to volunteer for a program designed to quit smoking, and then you need to figure out a way offer the patch to some and not others. Stop smoking campaign people can sign up for by social media (so you can contact them at the end) and they commit to starting on a date and receiving instructions and encouragement? Motivate them with the chance to win free patches?

For those that don't win, how many will buy the patch themselves? Then your control group will be problematic, because you have to remove a very non-random segment. Do you give half the winners the patch the start, and the other half start the program and receive it after 3 months? Would they be less likely to buy it themselves if they were going to receive a free 3-month supply in a couple more months?

Those are the selection issues I would like you to think through.

[lecy]

Just throwing some ideas out:

Do those signs that tell you your speed actually slow people down?

Do bans on assault rifles work (and what does work mean)?

Does Habitat for Humanity help improve economic well-being of poor families?

Does exercise improve focus (right to play nonprofits might want to study this)?

Does social media cause depression?

Do introverts do better in online programs? Do extroverts do worse?

Does watching Fox News change your ideology? (that one would be hard)

[meliapetersen]

@lecy This helps a lot, thank you so much!

[jrcook15]

Hi Professor Lecy, Can you please open the submission link button for the final paper in Canvas?

[lecy]

Please try now

[castower]

Hello @lecy

I have a question concerning formatting for the final paper. I know the first page should be in memo format similar to the template example, but does it matter how the rest of the paper is formatted? Should we adhere to a certain style like APA?

Thanks! Courtney

[lecy]

I am not particular about the formatting as long as it is organized and the sections are clear. My eyes are grateful if you use appropriately-sized fonts and 1.5 point spacing.

In-line APA style or numbered footnotes work great for citations. I care less about the citation formatting (Chicago, APA, etc.) and more that if I have a question about how you are using source material I can find the answer quickly. If you are citing alpha values for your metrics, for example, sources and page numbers are appreciated.

Thanks!