Developing Research Question and Coming Up With a Research Design

Please note that this is a final exam, find attached the study material to familiarise yourself, as well as the exam structure and grading rubric,
the writer is required to go through these documents to familiarise him/herself.
Final Exam Fall 2022
Course Title: Research Methods
Calmly read ALL instructions before beginning the exam. RE-READ all instructions after completing the exam.
When using the exam sheet, please, answer only in the provided space and try to keep your answer to the recommended length.
You can complete the exam by typing or handwriting (e-ink) your answers, but typing is recommended. Make sure that your handwriting is clear enough, as illegible writing may compromise your final grade.
There are three questions in this exam: one question developing a research question based on a given topic (20 points), and two questions on coming up with a research design to answer a given research question (40 points each). Make sure you carefully read the questions and respond to them as fully as possible, drawing on the material studied in the course so far.
The exam is worth 100 points; the value of each question is given next to each question.
Make sure the time you spend on each question is proportional to the points allocated!
Good luck!!
1 QUESTION 1
1 Based on one of the following two scenarios, develop a research question that could be used for an empirical research design, and explain your reasoning for creating this research question. Make sure the research question meets the criteria for a good research question we discussed in class, and explain how your research question meets each of these criteria.
I provide several related subtopics below, but as long as the research question deals with the topic in a broad sense, you can diverge from the suggested subtopics.
2 Argue the societal and scientific relevance of the research question in a short paragraph for each. For the scientific relevance, you do not need to have formal citations: focus on arguing based on the assumption that although some research on the topic has been done, nobody has ever tackled your specific topic in recent years.
Scenario 1: Recently, a corruption scandal rocked the European parliament. Media reported on the fact that several prominent members of parliament, including the vice-chair of the parliament Eva Kaili, had received Qatari bribes. Looking at the news and various events, you start thinking of various interesting research topics related to this observation:
* Are there systematic differences in the occurrence of corruption between countries and institutions? What determines whether some states are more prone to corruption than others? Does it have to do with having a democratic regime or not? Or does it matter more whether there is a stronger judicial and criminal system in place?
* How do citizens react to such corruption scandals? Does it increase citizen distrust, political cynicism, perhaps also populism?
* What is even considered corruption by politicians themselves? I.e. taking bribes is obviously corruption, but what about having dinners with lobbyists, or other behaviors that—while not illegal—are seen by some as ethically dubious?
Scenario 2: In Fall 2021, the COP26 climate summit caused everyone’s attention to shift towards the issue of climate change. Looking at the news and various events, you start thinking of various interesting research topics related to this observation:
* How do negotiations on such a climate summit work? What is the role of governmental leaders, social movements and NGO’s in all of this? To what extent are stakeholders involved?
* In the fight against climate change, governments have had a hard time meeting environmental targets. Has their thinking on how to meet these targets changed due to what they observed during the lockdowns? Or has that had little to no impact?
* Several leaders were criticized for taking (private) planes to the summit. This may hurt how much the public actually believes these leaders will be willing to act to prevent climate change – and be willing to change their own behaviour. How does the public perceive leaders’ competence and commitment on climate change? Does this affect their own willingness to engage in environmentally friendly behaviours such as recycling or eating less meat?
* After the summit, media seemed to shift their attention quite quickly to other issues. What is the role of these focusing events such as climate summits in creating a ‘buzz’ and increasing the salience of these issues amongst media and the public?
Points
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