Editing Designing Internet Research (Spring 2025) (section)

== Assignments ==

Your assignments consist of two major projects: (1) weekly response papers and in-class discussion, and (2) a final research project. Your grade in the course will be assessed in the [[#Grading and Assessment]] section of this page.

There will be no exams or quizzes. Unless otherwise noted, all assignments are due at the end of the day (i.e., 11:59pm on the day they are due).

=== Reflections ===

;Deliverables: (1) Post a new message in the appropriate [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1800155/discussion_topics the discussion board in Canvas]; (2) Respond to at least one of your classmates before class.
;Due Date: (1) the day of class before 6:30am (on any day with reading); (2) the day of class by 3pm (on a day with reading)
;Maximum length: 500 words

This quarter includes 13 class sessions with required readings. As a result, you must each write 13 response papers that address the readings for each day of class with required reading. Response papers should be ''no more than'' 500 words (about one single-spaced pages). Please respect this maximum to manage the workload for yourself and others. So everyone will have a chance to incorporate them into their readings, response papers should be posted to our course website the day before (i.e., '''before 6:30am on Tuesday and Thursday''') so that everybody can read and construct their responses before class.

Regarding content, response papers allow you to engage the readings by identifying common or conflicting premises, thinking through potential implications, offering supporting or conflicting examples, posing well-supported objections, or outlining critical extensions. Providing a short quote or two that directly engages the texts is often helpful. Please also pose one or two open-ended questions that may serve as jumping-off points for our in-class conversation. A good response paper will include minimal summarizing, at most, and focus more on responding to ideas. Justify your reflections with evidence from the text and beyond; for example, don't just say what you wonder about or find interesting without explaining why you find it interesting.

After you post your reflection, please read all of your classmates’ responses before class and ''briefly'' respond to a minimum of two of your classmates’ posts '''before 3pm on the day of class''' and nominate at least a question or two for discussion.

=== Final Project ===

For the final project, I want you to take what you've learned in the class and apply it to an original research project. As a demonstration of your learning in this course, you will design a plan for an internet research project and will, if possible, also collect (at least) an initial sample of a dataset that you will use to complete the project.

The genre of the paper you can produce can take one of the several forms including:

# A draft of a manuscript for submission to a conference or journal.
# A proposal for funding (e.g., for submission for the NSF for a graduate student fellowship).
# A draft of the methods chapter of your dissertation.

In any the three paths, I expect you take this opportunity to produce a document that will further your to academic career outside of the class. If none of these approaches work for you, I'm willing to discuss other possible deliverables.

I am open to having folks select a fourth path for their final projects. In any case, I will want a clear set of deliverables articulated in writing as part of the [[#Final Project Identification]] assignment.

==== Final Project Identification ====

;Due Date: April 18 23:59 PM
;Maximum paper length: 800 words (~3 pages)
;Deliverables: Turn in [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1800155/assignments the appropriate Canvas dropbox]

Early on, I want you to identify your final project. Your proposal should be short and can be either paragraphs or bullets. It should include the following things:

* The genre of the project and a short description of how it fits into your career trajectory.
* A one-paragraph abstract of the proposed study and research question, theory, community, and/or groups you plan to study.
* A short description of the type of data you plan to collect as part of your final project.

==== Final Paper ====

;Paper Due Date: June 13
;Maximum final paper length: 8000 words (~27 double-spaced pages)
;All Deliverables: Turn in in [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1800155/assignments the appropriate Canvas dropboxes]

Because the emphasis in this class is on methods and because I'm not an expert in each of your areas or fields, I'm happy to assume that your paper, proposal, or thesis has already established the relevance and significance of your study and has a comprehensive literature review, well-grounded conceptual approach, and compelling reason why this research is so important. Instead of providing all of these details, feel free to start with a brief summary of the purpose and importance of this research, and an introduction to your research questions or hypotheses. If you provide more detail, that's fine, but I won't give you detailed feedback on these parts.

Whatever you choose to turn in for your final project should include:

* a statement of the purpose, central focus, relevance and significance of your project;
* a description of the specific Internet application(s) and/or environment(s) and/or objects to be studied and employed in the research;
* key research questions or hypotheses;
* operationalization of key concepts;
* a description and rationale of the specific method(s), (if more than one method will be used, explain how the methods will produce complementary findings);
* a description of the step-by-step plan for data collection;
* description and rationale of the level(s), unit(s), and process of analysis (if more than one kind of data are generated, explain how each kind will be analyzed individually and/or comparatively);
* an explanation of how these analyses will enable you to answer the RQs
* a sample instrument (as appropriate);
* a sample dataset and description of a formative analysis you have completed;
* a description of actual or anticipated results and any potential problems with their interpretation;
* a plan for publishing/disseminating the findings from this research
* a summary of technical, ethical, human subjects, and legal issues that may be encountered in this research, and how you will address them;
* a schedule (using specific dates) and proposed budget if applicable

I also expect each student to begin data collection for your project (i.e., using the technical skills you learn in the class) and describe your progress in this regard in your paper. If collecting data for a proposed project is impractical (e.g., because of IRB applications, funding, etc.), let's talk. I would love for you to engage in the collection of public datasets as part of a pilot or formative study. If this is not feasible or useful, we can discuss other options.

I prefer that you write this paper individually, but I'm open to the idea that you may want to work with others in the class.

===== Outline / Draft =====

;Due Date: May 23
;All Deliverables: Turn in in [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1800155/assignments the appropriate Canvas dropbox]

I want you all to turn it an outline or draft several weeks before the final project so that we can discuss this in our final set of one-on-one consulting meetings. Although the specific format will vary based on the nature of your project and your progress on it, it should demonstrate major progress on your final deliverables for the class and provide an answer—in outline form—to every applicable item on the list in the [[#Final Project]] section above.

I you're looking for an outline format that is useful for writing papers, I typically use what my groups calls [[Matsuzaki outlines]] (and which are described in details on our wiki). The Matsuzaki outline is particularly well suited to quantitative social scientific work, and probably less good for others. That said, folks have used it successfully for a range of projects.

If you're looking for information on how to organize a quantitative academic paper in the social sciences, check out my page on the [[structure of a quantitative empirical research paper]].

===== Final Presentation =====

;Presentation Dates: June 3 and 5

More details will be posted about the expectations and format for final presentations closer to the deadline.

=== Grading and Assessment ===

The [[User:Benjamin Mako Hill/Assessment#Writing Rubric|writing rubric section]] of [[User:Benjamin Mako Hill/Assessment|the detailed page on assessment]] gives the rubric I will use to evaluate both your [[#Weekly Response Papers]] and your [[#Final Projects]].

Your participation in the course will be assessed using my detailed [[User:Benjamin Mako Hill/Assessment#Participation Rubric]]. Please also pay close attention to [[User:Benjamin Mako Hill/Assessment#Maintaining Participation Balance|the section on maintaining participation balance]].

I have put together a very detailed page that describes [[User:Benjamin Mako Hill/Assessment|the way I approach assessment and grading]]—both in general and in this course. Please read it carefully I will assign grades for each of following items on the UW 4.0 grade scale according to the weights below:

* Weekly response papers: 30%
* Participation in class discussion: 20%
* Fina project identification: 5%
* Final project outline: 5%
* Final project presentation: 10%
* Final project paper: 30%