The research assignment will be accumulated throughout the course. You will be required to choose a country, other than the United States or US territories or US commonwealth, etc. such as Puerto Rico, Guam or the US Virgin Islands.
This week you will collect basic socio-economic data and other relevant description information on your country.
Section 1, you need to submit:
the name of the country and it’s geographic location;
basic socio-demographic information, including population, major ethnic groups, religions;
economic information, including GDP, GDP per capita, the most important goods and services produced, major categories of imports and exports, the name of the national currency; and,
type of government, membership in major international organizations such as the UN, the IMF, the World Bank and major regional organizations such as the EU, the Euro Zone, ASEAN, NAFTA, etc. (Don’t list every organization that the country you select belongs to, just the most important ones).
Much of this information will also be used in subsequent weeks as you build on what you learn each week.
Your assignment should be submitted as a Word document, so remember to use paragraphs and a report structure to your report.
Expectations for the research assignments:
1) Respond to all of the week’s topics and sub-topics;
2) Cite (APA style) all the information presented, not just direct quotes;
3) Reference (APA) style) the sources at the end;
4) Use proper paragraphing; and,
5) Present the information in a clear and professional fashion.You can find that information at websites like CIA Factbook, and The World Bank (links are below). You can also find useful information about your country at web sites in the country of your choice.
Do not use Britannica.com.
Your research paper this week should be between 250 and 350 words. Shorter submissions will be penalized. Longer assignments are acceptable only if the extra words add substance to your report. At the bottom of your assignment, you should include a word count (how many words are in your post).
Structure your paper as a report. Do use multiple paragraphs. Do NOT attach your report, instead type it into the text box or upload it as a Word document as per the instructions after you click on on Research Assignment above.
You must cite all the information used in your report and include the sources in your reference listing. Use APA format for citations and references – see the APA Powerpoint linked below.
Remember: you should not “copy and paste” information. Plagiarism Plagiarism – Alternative Formats is penalized with a zero in the assignment the first time, and a zero in the course the second time. Use your own words and quote only facts or numbers)
Remember to include citations to your sources in the body of your assignment and to provide the references at the end of your post. Where possible, please make the links to any web information clickable links. Remember the references and links must be to the article you used, not just to the web site. Be sure to include the full URL, otherwise your link will not be clickable.
In addition to the links below, do use the web for additional useful information. Remember that each country will have multiple web sites that provide country specific information.
Wikipedia
CIA World Factbook
World Bank
If you have any questions or concerns, email me.
Your submission this week must be at least 250 words long, in order to receive full credit.
Section 2 should be a continuation of Section 1. Now that you have selected a country and know basic socio-demographic and socio-economic information about it, during Section 2, you need to relate it to this week’s material. In particular, we will use the United States – the world’s largest economy – as the comparative. You compare your country to the United States on each of the economic variables listed below.
GDP and GDP Per Capita: compare these values for your country with those for the United States, keep the year used as close as possible (the same year is preferred, if available), be specific about the currency in which the numbers are expressed – you should be able to obtain all values in US Dollars. If the values are in Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), do note that – most likely they will be in PPP.
Using the data you collected for question 1, compare the standard of living of your country to that of the United States (remember that by definition, GDP Per Capita is the universal measure of standard of living, but you may also include other variables if you wish).
What is the most recent inflation rate and does it compare to the inflation rate for the same year in the United States?
What is the most recent rate of growth of the country and how does it compare to the economic growth rate for the same year in the United States?
What explains the recent economic growth, or lack of growth in your country?
Section 3-
You need to refer again to the economic data of the country you chose and relate it to week 3’s material. Specifically, you need to respond to the following questions:
What is the country’s unemployment rate? How does it compare to the United States’ unemployment rate? Are they better off or worse off than us?
What is the country’s currency? What is the exchange rate with the dollar? Does it have a floating or fixed exchange rate, or does it use the dollar as its currency?
Who are its’ main trading partners? Is foreign investment important for them? Does the country have a trade deficit or surplus? What percent of the GDP are exports? (you can just divide the value of exports by the GDP).
Using the information about unemployment, inflation (Paragraph 2 report), and trade, what is your general assessment of the country? Are they experiencing stability and growth or an economic crisis? Please use your own words.
Section 4, your project consists of finding at least two different current-news articles related to the country you selected. The articles have to be no older than three months and must be related to the economy of the country.
Explain how your articles are consistent with your own findings. You need to relate the articles to any of the concepts discussed during the previous weeks: GDP, inflation rates, unemployment, government monetary policies (money supply, exchange rates) or fiscal policies (taxes, government spending), international trade (trade balance, exchange rates), production, economic growth, etc.
Your articles articles MUST be from a news source. They cannot be from a blog, professional journal, dictionary, data site, or encyclopedia (that includes Wikipedia).
You should try finding news from any public newspaper, magazine, TV station or their websites; such as foxnews.com, yahoo.com, cnn.com, wsj.com, nytimes.com, economist.com, etc. You can also use similar international websites, such as Reuters, BBC, France24, etc. Your best source for news reports may well be from news sites in your country. Just keep in mind that not all countries have a free press.
*Section 4 must be at least 350-500 words long
