Lesson Report:
**Title:**
**Establishing Research Scope, Identifying Credible Historical and Empirical Sources**
*Synopsis:*
In this lesson, students were guided through the next phase of their research project: setting the scope of their investigation by specifying historical timelines and identifying both historical and empirical sources. The instructor provided insights on the importance of setting clear start/end dates for the research scope and emphasized the importance of finding credible, contrasting historical sources. Additionally, students were instructed to begin identifying empirical data that they can incorporate into their projects. Various students also shared their research progress, and the professor gave individualized feedback to ensure everyone is on track.
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**Attendance:**
– Hamdan and Sanak had camera issues at the start and were reminded to turn them on.
– All other students, including those online, appeared to be present and participating.
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**Topics Covered:**
1. **Class Introduction & Review of Document Submission:**
– The instructor began by confirming whether students had uploaded research documents previously.
– Students were asked to hold on to these documents as they’ll be used later in the lesson.
2. **Clarifying Research Scope:**
– Emphasized the importance of defining a *historical scope* (starting and ending dates) for the research.
– Example: Drawing parallels between research on political dynamics in Afghanistan, highlighting differences depending on whether the time frame starts in the 1800s, 1990s, etc.
– Students were reminded that the scope had been covered in the previous class, and they should have already defined their scope by this point.
– Example references:
– Focus on Afghanistan and the difference between analyzing “The Great Game” period vs. analyzing the Taliban’s rise in 1991.
– Students were encouraged to choose credible historical sources that provide strong timelines of key events.
3. **Focus on Opposing Perspectives in Sources:**
– Discussed how multiple sources with different perspectives enrich analysis, especially in literature reviews.
– Example: Different scholars interpreted the causes of the Soviet-Afghanistan conflict in contrasting ways, which affects broader research conclusions such as who bears responsibility for the war.
4. **Feedback on Individual Student Research Progress:**
– **Student 1:** Working on political leaders in Kyrgyzstan. The instructor advised them to seek documents providing political histories linked to policy shifts.
– **Student 2 (Danaya):** Researching domestic violence statistics in Kyrgyzstan. Advised to compare national statistics with international ones—highlighting the need to contextualize data within global patterns.
– Students were encouraged to seek empirical data related to their research topic. Empirical sources might include:
– Governmental, international organizations, or statistical databases.
– The instructor provided a technical tip on how to save website information as PDFs using the print function on a Windows machine.
5. **Empirical Source Collection:**
– Definition: Data or statistics essential for research analysis.
– Example: One student working on domestic violence in Kyrgyzstan was advised to gather local incident reports and compare them to international trends.
– Students were reminded to collect at least two empirical sources, save them as PDFs, and upload them to their Google Drive folders.
6. **Technical Support:**
– The instructor gave tips for saving web pages (especially empirical data) as PDFs, as some students were struggling with this.
– Recommendation to use tools like *Ctrl + P to print to PDF* on Windows; alternatives for Mac users were discussed.
7. **Check on Progress of Empirical and Historical Source Uploads:**
– The instructor reviewed the students’ Google Drives, providing feedback based on the type and number of documents uploaded.
– Each student was checked for the quality and relevance of their sources and given feedback on how certain documents might fit (or not fit) into their research.
– Specific guidance tailored to different research topics:
– For instance, researching soft power in Turkey, one student was advised to use comparable sources from Nye.
– For research on domestic violence, another student was reminded to maintain a clear comparative focus between pre-Soviet and modern eras.
8. **Interactivity: Students Troubleshooting Their Research:**
– Example: A student asked whether legal documents related to Kyrgyz policy could be uploaded. The professor helped refine their strategy to better align their research questions with the sources they need.
9. **Final Instructions on Next Steps & Homework:**
– Students were assigned to analyze the documents they had found, ensuring they answered essential research questions.
– For next week: A formal homework assignment will be posted, asking students to write a document analyzing their collected sources in preparation for further thesis-related work.
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**Actionable Items:**
1. **Attendance:**
– Ensure Hamdan and Sanak have their cameras on for better monitoring of class attendance next time.
2. **Google Drive Folders/Document Submission:**
– Students need to ensure all relevant historical and empirical sources are uploaded by the next session.
3. **Data Organization:**
– Students should create folders for documents (i.e., *history documents folder*, *empirical sources folder*).
– Ensure students convert their websites/documents into PDF format using Windows/Mac instructions.
4. **Individual Progress Follow-ups:**
– Follow up with Danaya regarding refining her comparative approach to understanding domestic violence.
– Encourage Asel to focus on developing a timeline of diplomacy by examining Russian/Chinese media sources.
– Check-in with Hafasa about finding theoretical sources for social movement theory.
5. **Homework Assignment for Next Class:**
– Students to answer questions based on their documents to help with source collection/analysis for their thesis proposals.
– Upload homework answers to e-course for review.
6. **General Research Guidance:**
– Encourage more in-depth theoretical source collection (e.g., locating the originators of theories being applied).
– Students should develop clear linkages between the theory and empirical/historical documents collected.
Homework Instructions:
NO HOMEWORK
Justification: At the very end of the transcript, the professor refers to assigning homework next week, but no specific tasks were actually assigned during this session. Specifically, the professor says, “We’re going to have a homework assignment for next week,” but does not provide any detailed instructions for the current class, hence there is no homework for this session.