You need to answer a series of questions regarding the research design of that article which will be provided.
TITLE OF SELECTED ARTICLE:
Social identity and attitudes toward foreign policy: evidence from a youth survey in Turkey
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1-Provide a brief summary of the article (not more than 250 words). Avoid repeating the abstract. (10 marks)
| Cifti (2013) researches the connection between attitudes towards foreign policy and social identity among Turkish university students. Cifti begins by explaining the changing orientation of foreign policy from West to East. The move towards working with Middle Eastern governments is motivated by electoral reasons, as the politicians want to accumulate votes from their supporters. Accordingly, Cifti (2013) explains that understanding attitudes of the university students is important for research. Firstly, the findings will reveal an empirical perspective of the topic, given that past research was mainly theoretical. Secondly, the paper addresses existing research gaps on the awareness of the micro-level foundations of foreign policy. Lastly, Cifti’s research addresses the political attitudes of Middle East’s youths, an area that has not been studied adequately.
Accordingly, Cifti conducts an original survey on the students of Cumhuriyet University, located in Turkey. 800 students filled in questionnaires and the results were analyzed. The researcher found that social identity played a critical role in the student’s perception of foreign policy. In this case, Muslim students supported the policies of politician Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi from the Justice and Development Party, while most students believed that Turkey was better off liaising with European Union instead of Middle Eastern nations. Regardless of the choice, Cifti proved that religious, national or international affiliations impacted the youth’s view of foreign policy.
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2-Identify the research question raised in the article. Why is this question relevant, and how does the author justify it with the literature review? (15 marks)
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The research question raised in the article is: What is the relationship between social identity and attitudes towards foreign policy among Turkish youths? Accordingly, the question is relevant because it promotes empirical research, which will supplement the theoretical findings in existing research. Furthermore, the question reveals the perceptions of Turkish youths in foreign policy issues. Cifti (2013) acknowledges that little attention is paid to understanding the political attitudes of Middle Eastern youths. Cifti (2013) uses the literature review to justify the question. For starters, the literature review focuses on how the foreign policy of Turkey has changed, and it impact on public opinion. Cifti (2013) also explores the factors that influence foreign policy and whether the citizens have a role in public opinion. In essence, the literature review is designed to reveal information that can address the research question. At the same time, the review uncovers research gaps on the topic, which Cifti (2013) will reveal in the data collection and analysis. The literature review provides a context and background on which Cifti (2013) bases the research.
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3-Identify the challenges related to definitions and conceptual debates. (15 marks)
| The definitions and
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4-Identify the type of data and collection method used in the article. What are their limitations? Which other types of data or collection method would you have used? (15 marks)
| The researcher used questionnaires, which were designed as a computer survey. The questionnaires were filled in by 800 students, who represented male and female genders. Nonetheless, this approach has its limitations. The first limit concerns location, as the students had to be in the computer labs of the university. This means that anyone outside the lab could not participate. Secondly, the participants can give dishonest answers, which affects the reliability and validity of the research. Moreover, the respondents could have different interpretations of the questions and give inappropriate answers. Henceforth, I would use focus groups. Focus groups entails using open-ended questions that require detailed responses. Forthwith, I can gauge the perception of the students concerning foreign policy. Moreover, focus groups provide a wide range of information that could be relevant to the research. It is possible to seek clarification, which results in accurate responses. I would also use interviews and issue semi-structured questions. Interviews can yield detailed information about the topic. Moreover, there is clarification of questions or answers, leading to accurate findings. |
5-Identify the methodology/ies used in the article. Are they qualitative, quantitative or mixed? How are they suited to address the research question? (15 marks)
| The researcher used the quantitative methodology in the paper. For one, the respondents had fixed response options, as evidenced by a list of identity categories to a question. Generally, the questions appeared structured, a characteristic associated with quantitative research. Cifti (2013) also uses a large sample size, which is appropriate for quantitative research. In addition, Cifti (2013) translated the findings to percentages and presented the figures in graphs. The methodology suits the question asked by the researcher. For one, the quantitative approach is used to determine the relationship between a dependent and independent variable within a population. In the research question, there is evidence of a dependent and independent variable. The dependent variable, in this case, is the social identity, while the independent variable is the attitudes towards foreign policy. The population is Turkish university students.
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6- Explain the place of theory in the article. Does the author adopt a deductive or inductive reasoning? (15 marks)
| Theory is important as it supports the research question, and is used to determine what data will be collected and how it will be analyzed. In this case, the researcher developed a conceptual framework based on the idea of multiple identities, and argued that social identity could be constructed in relation to international or national environments. The research uses a deductive reasoning approach. For one, Cifti (2013) begins by identifying theories that explain the growing importance of social identity in shaping foreign policy in Turkey. Thereafter, Cifti (2013) formulates a conceptual framework based on multiple identities. The researcher then claims that it is possible to construct social identities and uses this argument to analyze the findings from the survey. Based on the data collection and analysis, Cifti (2013) proves that social identity is related to foreign policy attitudes among Turkish learners. The researcher uses the top-down approach that is characteristic of deductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning is also appropriate for the quantitative methodology used in the paper.
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7-Provide critiques of the overall research design of the article. As examples, critically address methodological, ethical, ontological and/or epistemological assumptions. (15 marks)
| The research design has its strengths and weaknesses. For one, the researcher used the quantitative approach, whose results can be replicated by other researchers. The data collection and analysis was very detailed, making it easy to replicate the research. Moreover, the sample size was large enough to create an accurate generalization of the results. There is also greater objectivity because the structure of the questionnaire had limited options. Further, the researcher tried to eliminate any bias in the findings by selecting a university that was not dominated by any political group. However, the approach has its limitation. For example, there is less detail on the attitudes of the youth towards foreign policy. Although the researcher was able to establish a connection between social identity and foreign policy, there is no more in-depth insight that can explain why students felt the way they did about foreign policy. Moreover, the paper was ethical to a large extent. For one, there is no evidence of misuse of data obtained from the participants. Additionally, the researcher engaged the participants in the data collection process by inquiring about their economic status, study year, and courses. In addition, Cifti (2013) does not reveal any names or any other revealing details about the participants.
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