NRES 598
Human Dimensions of the Neighborhood Environment
University of Illinois
Fall Semester 2016

Final Paper Instructions
Final Papers are due no later than class time on Wednesday, December 7, 2016.

Please submit your paper as a Word (.doc or docx) or Adobe (.pdf) file via email (to krassa@illinois.edu),
 and include your name as part of the filename in case your paper is separated from your email.

The simplest rule to follow in writing this paper is that you will test aspects of the theories from the semester using the neighborhoods in which you and your peers live as laboratories. In short, your task is to discover whether there is evidence to support the theory or proposition you've chosen to explore. Some of the theories you have read were "old" and based on data collected fifteen years ago; some were based on aggregated county level data; and some even were devoid of explicitly explicit tests or evidence (as presented).  Remember, you should use most or all of the neighborhoods in your paper, not just the one you visited.  This will allow you to see whether your "theory" works in a variety of settings-- and help rule out the one you visited as a "special case" where it works (or doesn't). Note, however, that this does not preclude you from reporting anecdotes, examples, etc. from the neighborhood in which you live. It merely says that your evidence must include the broader collection of neighborhoods as well.

Since students almost always ask for length requirements, I offer this guide.

First and foremost, be thorough and complete.
Cover your subject completely; in the professional world, book and journal editors rarely punish an author for writing lengthy papers if what is being said is important and worth the readers time. Nonetheless, short papers that offer a complete and accurate analysis are very highly prized. In either case, completeness and accuracy are the important criteria, not length. Thus, long papers padded with irrelevant material are to be avoided just as much as short but incomplete papers. That said, given that you will need to introduce your topic, offer relevant literature, explain and present your data, compare your findings with expectations from the literature, make assessments and draw conclusions, (Hint: the boldfacing in the prior sentence may provide a clue as to content or sections that should be included in your work.)

Finally, I shall nevertheless offer a rough estimate for the length of the papers at about 10-12 pages of text (net of photos, graphs, tables and bib).The student who has read this entire discussion will realize that this is not a goal but a guess; your paper should be accurate ands complete, and will be graded accordingly. MS students should aim for professional or journal quality and style in written work; similarly, you should aim to produce a paper you think will impress an employer or the admissions committees of doctoral programs.

Regarding the content of the paper:

1.  Start with a theory in which you are interested.

Begin with an explicit discussion of the theory in which you are interested or the theories which you believe go together or should be integrated.  Remember, most of the theories we have covered "speak" to each other and are in some way dependent on each other.  Be sure to make reference to the readings from the class and other sources you have found.  Explain your theory so that any moderately intelligent reader can understand it.  Avoid jargon unless you define it first. Be explicit with references to class material and other readings. This paper is your opportunity to demonstrate that you have learned something, and your proper use of the literature and concepts from the course will be taken as evidence that learning occurred. Moreover, innovative investigations requiring additional book or field research will be recognized as significant.  Finally, although all papers will discuss multiple theories from the class (even though you may choose to test just one) because many of them are interrelated), the best work usually involves the development of hybrid theories or original theories built out of the multiple perspectives covered in the readings and classroom discussions.  This, of course, requires more thought coupled with a deeper understanding of the semester's materials.

Next, turn to a discussion of practical statements (research questions and hypotheses) that make linkage statements that are testable in our setting.  For example, after a discussion of  public places and third places (mostly, Duany and Oldenburg pieces), you might ask whether successful public spaces increase commitment to place, increase collective action, residential stability, or involvement in local civic affairs.

2.  Discuss what you are using as evidence.

This is the "operationalization" of your ideas so that they can be examined in our context.  Talk about how you are actually measuring the things you discuss above.  Continuing with that same example, define a public space, and then talk about which neighborhoods have them and which do not.  Define the other terms, such as commitment to place or involvement in local affairs.  Obviously, say what it means generally, then talk about how you are measuring it given the information the class has collected from the different neighborhoods. 

3.  Present your evidence.

Talk about what the evidence from the different neighborhoods shows.  You may do this collectively, statistically, or as a comparative series of neighborhood case studies.  For most of you, the latter method will work best: provide a description of the neighborhood (as relevant to your question), what you "found out" in each neighborhood regarding your "independent variables" (the things that cause something else), and what result you got (what the "dependent variables" show, i.e. whether the "caused" things support your thesis or not).

4.  Conclusions.

Discussion of your findings.  If your theory was supported, discuss more about what it means that your theory operates at an explicitly local level.  If the evidence was mixed, discuss what might cause that: does the theory need improvement, could the concepts be measured better or more accurately, or are there other forces at work that produce the response you are examining?  If there is no evidence at all in support of your theory, discuss why you think your theory may have failed.  Does it not apply at the local level?  Is Champaign-Urbana unique in some way that makes a generally valid theory fail?  ETC.  Remember, there is nothing bad about showing that your theory is incorrect. Perhaps not as glamorous as being right, but most knowledge progresses by casting doubt on invalid theories!

And last but not least, discuss what might better test your theories.  What might the ideal tests look like (are they possible)? How close did you come?

5.  References.

Be sure to cite the sources you used, give attribution for quotes, theories, etc. whether from class or from other sources.  The good paper will demonstrate research done beyond class exercises and reading assignments; it also will tell the reader what that research entailed by including them in the references (and of course, talking about them in the text!).

Give attribution for data that is not posted on the course web site. In other words, if you cite something from class you need to recognize that was the source it but you do not have to give the full reference (although that would be good practice especially if you plan to use this paper or research for other purposes such as publication, PhD program applications, etc.)

In all writing, no matter the purpose or audience, I recommend adopting the "better safe than sorry" rule. And I do not mean just for this class. Always cite your sources unless you are not absolutely certain that you do not need to. Don't be a victim: plagiarism, including the accidental failure to cite references, is the single most common academic and professional violation!

6.  Click here for more Final Paper Hints and Suggestions.