Editing Text as Data (Spring 2026) (section)

==== Final Paper ====

;Paper Due Date: June 12
;Maximum final paper length: 8000 words (~27 double-spaced pages)
;All Deliverables: Turn in in [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1883473/assignments/11284649 the appropriate Canvas dropbox]

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 dataset to be analyzed — its source, scope, and any known limitations;
* 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 and text preprocessing;
* 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 description of how you validated your text analysis approach;
* 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 and analysis for your project 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 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 15
;All Deliverables: Turn in in [https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1883473/assignments/11284647 the appropriate Canvas dropbox]

I want you all to turn in an outline or draft several weeks before the final project is due. 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 Paper]] section above.

If you're looking for an outline format that is useful for writing papers, I typically use what my group calls [[Matsuzaki outlines]] (described in detail on our wiki). The Matsuzaki outline is particularly well suited to quantitative social scientific work.

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 1 and June 3

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