Public Affairs 7900: Graduate Capstone Research Paper in Public Affairs

The objective of PA 7900 is to synthesize and apply the knowledge, skills, and values acquired in the core curriculum to a public policy or management problem. The active use and integration of material from core courses in public policy, public sector economics, public management, and decision support and quantitative methods in the capstone paper informs issues faced by public policy analysts and managers. The course also prepares students to critically assess policy and management analysis as well as prepares students to produce their own analysis that informs a real world policy or management issue. In preparing the paper, students will be expected to produce high-quality policy and/or management analysis while operating under a tight deadline. In the structured environment of the class, we will walk through the major steps of completing the paper over the course of 12 weeks (11 class sessions). This step-by-step approach should position students well to be able to complete a similar analysis in a job situation under even tighter deadlines and with less structure. Students will also engage in activities designed to foster skills related to the effective presentation of the analytic results to various stakeholders.

Students will be gain:

• The ability to analyze, synthesize, think critically, solve problems and make decisions
• The ability to integrate, synthesize, and apply knowledge across the curriculum in a professional public service context.

Capstone Assessment: 30%

Weekly assignments and participation: 20%

Final paper: 40%

Oral presentations: 10%

Midway through the semester (March 6), all students will be required to submit their capstone assessment to Carmen. Late submissions will not be accepted. This assignment comprises 30% of the final grade for the course. The assessment is intended to test a student’s ability to integrate the knowledge and skills gained throughout her or his graduate program and apply it to practice. While students will be consulting with their groups on their capstone projects, collaboration with other students on this assessment exercise is strictly prohibited. In this assessment, students will be expected to address the following four issues:

1. Clearly define the problem addressed by your capstone project. What evidence is there that this is a significant problem worthy of our attention? Who are the relevant stakeholders and what are their roles? Also, identify any previous policy or management efforts to address the problem.
2. Critically assess previous evaluations of the same or similar topic. Components of this assessment should include design, data, statistical methods, internal and external validity, and the counterfactual.
3. Discuss how you plan to address the problem. Why are you choosing this approach, and why is this preferred over other approaches you examined? Further, discuss the rationale for the outcome measures you have chosen.
4. Discuss the policy or managerial alternatives you will be examining. What are the specific criteria you will use to compare the alternatives?

The capstone assessment also constitutes the University’s required master’s examination for the Master of Arts (MA) degree. The capstone assessment committee, approved by the Dean, will be comprised of Dr. Jaggars (instructor), Dr. Erynn Beaton, and Dr. Stephane Lavertu. While the instructor assigns the grade for the assignment as part of the course grade, the examination committee evaluates separately whether the student achieves a successful pass (“Pass” or “Marginal Pass”). Students who fail the written comprehensive exam will be required to stand for an oral examination with the exam committee, during which they will have the opportunity to expand further on their answers to the written exam. The exam should take place within a day or two after the committee has determined that the written assessment was insufficient. MA students failing the oral exam will be required to take a second capstone class in a future semester and also successfully pass the capstone assessment for that course.

An MA student has only two chances to pass the capstone assessment. Students passing the assessment but failing to achieve a “B” or higher in the course will be required to take another capstone class and assessment. Both criteria (“B” in the course and “Pass” or “Marginal Pass” on the assessment) are required to graduate.

For Master of Public Administration (MPA) students, the capstone assessment will simply serve as a midterm examination for the course. Completion of a capstone class with a grade of “B” or higher satisfies the College’s capstone exit requirement for the MPA degree. All other degree requirements must also be successfully met in order to graduate (See Master’s Handbook for full requirements).

Twenty percent of the course grade will be comprised of successful completion of weekly assignments and regular attendance and participation in the course. These assignments are “collaboration friendly” because, while you should write each of these assignments yourself, you are welcome to consult with your group on your thinking. You will also receive formal feedback from group members on your first drafts, and you should incorporate that feedback into your second drafts.

Weekly Assignments

• First drafts of sections of your papers must be turned in by 12:00 pm via CarmenCanvas on the dates specified in the course outline table below. Students in the same group (to be announced in the first class) are expected to provide substantive written feedback on the drafts to one another by the following class. The grade for the draft is based on timely submission of assigned work and the quality of the work turned in. Quality of the feedback will be graded by the TA and is worth 1 point each week.
• The second draft for each section of your paper is to be submitted by 12:00 pm via CarmenCanvas on the dates specified in the course outline table. The grade for the draft is based on timely submission of assigned work, the quality of the work turned in, and how well students responded to feedback on the first drafts. Each draft (with the exception of the executive summary) is worth 2 points. The instructor will provide more extensive written and oral feedback for the second drafts. After turning in the second draft for each component (Introduction/ Analytic Framework/Literature Review; Methodology/Data; Results; and Conclusions) for grading, it is the student’s responsibility to address the feedback and incorporate that in the final paper. The instructor will generally not review additional drafts of that section.
• When you turn in the second draft of each section and your final paper, you must also submit a document that explains how you have addressed the comments you received on the draft sections (these are the “revision statement” assignments in the course outline below).
• One point per day will be deducted from your final course grade for unexcused late submission of the weekly assignments. Feedback on late submissions is not guaranteed. Grades will be accessible on Carmen.

Attendance and Participation

• Notify the instructor in advance if you are unable to attend a class session.
• Active and constructive participation in class discussion is a critical part of this course. Students are expected to attend each class session, come prepared to discuss questions raised by the readings, and provide constructive feedback to peers.
• One point will be deducted from the course grade for each unexcused absence. Excused absences may include religious holidays, illness, or other emergencies. To negotiate an excused absence, you must discuss it with the instructor in advance.

The paper is an integral component of the policy/management analytic process, serving as a bridge between the core curriculum and the world of practice. The paper is the written analytic presentation of a policy or management issue. Dunn (2008, 1) defines this analysis as the “process of multidisciplinary inquiry designed to create, critically assess, and communicate information that is useful in understanding and improving policies.”

Paper topic

By the beginning of the course, each student will have chosen a paper topic and identified their data, whether quantitative or qualitative. The topic can come from the student’s internship, job, and/or research started in the core courses, other courses, or from other personal or professional interests.

Below are a few example topics students have investigated:

• “Access Denied: A Quantitative Analysis of State Characteristics Affecting Decisions to Adopt Medicaid Work Requirements”
• “From the Great Migration to the Great Recession: An Analysis of the Impact of Race on the Economic Health of Ohio’s Small and Mid Sized Legacy Cities”
• “Education, Equity, and Environment: A Quantitative Analysis of the Common Core Standard’s Efficacy in Closing Ohio’s Achievement Gap”
• “Mind the Efficiency Gap: A Comparison of How Efficiently State Legislative Districts are Drawn Depending on Who Holds the Pen”
• “Workplace Wellness Programs: A Case Study of Four Ohio Local Governments”
• “What Gives? A Quantitative Analysis of Annual Giving Strategies at a Major, Public University”
• “Clean Water: A Qualitative Analysis of Best Management Practices of Water Quality Improvement Projects in Central Ohio”
• “License to Discriminate: A Comparative Analysis of the Effectiveness of State LGBTQ Nondiscrimination Laws in Employment”

Final Paper Evaluation

Forty percent of the final grade will be based on the final paper, which will involve putting together the various sections you have worked on throughout the term. Here, it is important that the components actually fit together with appropriate transitions (which will be discussed in class). Below, the point value for each component of the final paper is designated.

1. Title Page and Executive Summary (5 points)
   The title page should include “The Ohio State University,” “John Glenn College of Public Affairs,” your paper title, your name, the phrase “A Capstone Paper submitted in partial fulfillment for the Master of Public Administration Degree [or] Master of Arts Degree,” and the semester and year of completion. The executive summary, written last, should provide the reader an overview of the various sections of the paper, including the main research questions and highlights of the conclusions. The executive summary should be no more than one single-spaced page.
2. An Introduction (10 points)
   This provides an overview of the topic being studied and its importance/relevance within the proper political, organizational, or other appropriate context. The introduction should also provide a concise statement of the particular research question, hypothesis or hypotheses being investigated. Typically, the introduction should also briefly report the results or findings and their implications.
3. Analytic Framework/Literature Review (15 points) 
   This will provide a more detailed background on the topic. Here, you should provide a relevant review of the appropriate theoretic and practice-oriented research drawing from academic journals and professional literature. You will also draw on relevant material from some of the other classes you have taken. It should establish what the important or unanswered questions are regarding your topic. Thus, this review of the literature should provide a theoretical basis that sets up your analytic framework. This section also includes an analysis of relevant stakeholders. 
4. Methodology, Data and Hypotheses (15 points)
   This section clearly presents your research problem or hypotheses and describes whatever methodology you will use to examine or test your hypotheses. You should be clear regarding what evidence or results would lead to support or rejection of your hypotheses. In this section, you should also describe any data you use, its source(s), and descriptive statistics. You should also discuss the steps you will take to ensure the validity of the research design or project methodology, and you should discuss any potential methodological problems you might encounter. 
5. Results (15 points)
   This is where you discuss your findings of the tests of your research hypotheses: Are your hypotheses supported or rejected? If you are doing an empirical study, make sure that you present the results in easy-to-read tables and that you refer to the tabular results in the text.
6. Recommendations and Conclusions (15 points)
   Succinctly summarize main findings in the context of the literature and provide recommendations. Public service professionals do research because they are interested in improving policy and management. You should make recommendations that follow from your findings. Resist the temptation to make recommendations that are not supported by your analysis, prior research and your coursework. Be sure to draw upon the knowledge and skills that you have acquired in the core courses (Management, Policy and Law, Economics and Public Budgeting). When you are making recommendations make sure that these are feasible in light of all of the knowledge you acquired (e.g., Legally problematical? Resistance to change? How to negotiate the political environment?)
7. References and appendices (if any) (5 points)
   Any non-original ideas should be referenced. All of the papers in the references should be cited in the text using APA style (This is very easy to organize using Word’s references features.)
8. Good grammar/organization/presentation (15 points)
   It is important to clearly communicate the results of your analysis. The quality of the prose is important in terms of being able to relay your findings.
9. Revision Statement (5 points)
   Provide a statement describing how you addressed the feedback received throughout the term.

There will be a 5 point daily penalty for late papers, and papers turned in more than 3 days late will receive an Incomplete (which also means you will be required to take a second capstone course).

Communicating your results through oral communication is a critical skill in public affairs. You will have the opportunity to present your research to the class twice during the semester. An interim presentation will allow you to practice your presentation skills. At the end of the course, each student will convey the results of the capstone paper to the class through a short oral presentation, along with a brief question and answer period. The presentation will constitute 10% of your final grade in the course. Students will be graded upon clarity of presentation, degree of organization and time management, quality of slides, and Q&A interactions.