Author: chris

he topic of your project needs to be a contemporary societal problem, such as healthcare reform, immigration reform, privacy rights, euthanasia, First Amendment Rights, stem cell research, capital punishment, corporate prisons, legalizing drugs, ageism, animal rights, cloning, prayer in schools, racial profiling, recycling/conservation, sexism, outsourcing jobs, workplace bullying, etc. The topic must focus on a single aspect, as in “How far do corporations intrude into the private lives of their employers?” or “The social costs of financing the distribution of custom-designed drugs.” You may suggest another topic to use, but the instructor must approve the topic during the Week Two Discussion.

The Final Research Project will present research relating the responsibilities of a critical thinker to contemporary society. In this assignment, you will do the following:

• Research one aspect of a contemporary social problem.
• Define the problem.
• Propose a possible solution for the problem.
• Create an argument that supports your thesis position. You should take on the perspective of a critically thinking researcher. The argument must present a thesis statement and evidence to support the thesis statement.
• Evaluate the ethical outcomes that result from the position you take on the issue and explain how those outcomes would influence society and culture.
• Interpret statistical data from at least two peer-reviewed scholarly sources.
• Evaluate evidence using the following standards: validity, reliability, and bias related to the chosen topic and accurately identify strengths and weaknesses.

Research and Define the Problem

You must take on the perspective of your major field of study and explain in your paper what that perspective is and how it informs your view of the topic. The topics listed above are far too broad to write about in 10–12 pages (3,300–3,900 words). Instead, you must choose a narrowly defined thesis and approach it from the perspective of your field.

Example: If you are an economics major, and you are interested in immigration reform, you should approach a very specific aspect of immigration reform through the lens of economic theory and practice. A specific thesis question would not be, “How does illegal immigration influence the U.S. economy?” One could write thousands of pages on such a topic. Instead, a better question would be, “How do illegal immigrant hotel workers in Chicago impact the economy of Northern Illinois?” You would then want to do the research and determine the positive and negative impacts they have, ultimately trying to conclude how illegal immigration in this area should be approached ethically.

How to Hone Your Thesis: It is important that you start your research early in this course. Try to find the most important contemporary questions and theories in your field of study and then align the most important questions with a very specific aspect of the general topics above. For example, if you are a psychology major, you might want to start thinking within the realm of healthcare reform or aspects of mental health and criminality in the prison system.

Your Argument

You must present a complete argument, including a major claim with at least five points of evidence, information, or data that will prove the claim.

• The thesis statement must be
  • A clear, simple declarative sentence as the first or last sentence in the opening paragraph of the essay.
  • Of such a nature that it can be substantiated, corroborated, verified, and proved through appeal to primary or secondary academic research source materials.
• The introductory paragraph must
  • Present the thesis statement, an explanation for the importance of the topic, and its relation to the student’s field of study.
• Beliefs, opinions, and personal opinions must not be introduced at any point in the essay.
• All beliefs and opinions should be supported with academic evidence. Sweeping generalizations with no supporting academic evidence do not reflect adequate critical thinking skills.
• Do not include rhetorical questions in your essays. All the questions that are pertinent to your project need to be answered in your essay and your answers again need to be supported with evidence from peer-reviewed journal articles and academically published books.

Attributes of Good Critical Thinking in Papers

• Your paper should include academic sources that explain multiple sides of the issue.
• The evidence that you use should come from high-level researchers engaged in your field of study.
• Your interpretations of the evidence should be objective and state the conclusions and theses presented in the evidence clearly and fairly.
• Your paper should place the various forms of evidence in relation to one another and demonstrate why one form or perspective is stronger than the other positions that one could take on the issue.
• Your paper should point out the limitations of current evidence and attempt to indicate areas for future research.

Ethical Outcomes of the Position You Take

After you have defined the problem and created an argument about how one ought to respond to the issue, you need to explain the ethical outcomes of the position you have taken. This should again be in relation to the field of study in which you are working. There might be different ethical outcomes that result from your analysis. For example, going back to the example issue above, from an economic standpoint, illegal immigrants might contribute positively to the economy of Northern Illinois in a specific number of ways. Thus, an economist who believes that positive impact to the economy is the greatest good would say that one should promote the use of illegal immigrants. However, because these workers are often paid less than others and eliminate jobs that could be done by residents of Chicago, there could be other negative ethical outcomes that would outweigh the positive impacts to the economy. It is your goal to draw out the ethical implications of your thesis and explain the underlying rationale that is the foundation for your claim that one action is better than another.

• Critical thinkers are those who can outline the positive and negative ethical impacts of their positions. In addition, they are able to provide a rationale for why they believe a specific position is the right position, even when it leads to negative outcomes.
• Critical thinkers are also able to be honest and objective about the limitations and gray areas that pertain to their theses.

Final Research Project Requirements

The Final Research Project may be presented as a formal research paper (essay format), a PowerPoint presentation, a video, or a podcast equivalent to a minimum of 10 – 12 pages in APA format (approximately 3,300 – 3,900 typewritten words, excluding title page and reference pages). Written essays must adhere to all APA formatting standards and requirements, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

PowerPoint presentations must include the full text (at least 3,300 words) in the speaker notes portion of the slides, with appropriate citations, and full reference pages. PowerPoint presentations must adhere to the basic principles of PowerPoint presentation design and must include citations and references according to APA standards and requirements.

Videos and podcasts must include a full transcript, in APA format, including appropriate in-text citations and a references page.

Quotations:

There must be no more than 15% quoted content in the body of your essay. All quoted material must bear quotation marks and a full quotation citation.

Source Documents:

• There must be 10 or more source documents used, cited, and referenced.
• Multimedia sources (such as videos) may be used, but no more than two such sources may be used. If multimedia sources are used, then they must be authored and distributed by credible sources, such as universities, law schools, medical schools, or professors, or found in the Ashford University Library.
• Where print documents are used for source materials, those must be peer-reviewed, scholarly journal articles, and academically published books. Popular media sources (e.g., newspapers, magazines, television and radio shows, etc.) may not be used. Materials from advocacy groups (e.g., Greenpeace, Human Rights Campaign, National Organization for Women, etc.) may not be used.
• Two of the peer-reviewed scholarly sources used must include statistical evidence, which must be accurately interpreted.
• Sites such as ProCon.org and Wikipedia should not be used.
• Religious texts are neither peer-reviewed nor scholarly and so may not be used in any way.

Summary Conclusion:

You must have a summary conclusion as the last paragraph(s) of the project, presenting the major point of the essay and the evidence supporting that point.

Word Count:

The content body of the project must be 3,300 words or more. The word count does not include anything in the title page, running header, or reference list. It is expected that you meet all logistical requirements of this paper.

readings and class discussions we have talked about the relationship and distinctions between morality and ethics. Morality deals with basic principles of right and wrong or good and bad. Ethics deals with behavior and actions.

Search the Internet or digital Library located on the Colorado Platform to find two examples of a code of ethics and/or code of conduct for an organization or group. Provide a cut-and-paste copy of the codes in your assignment or summarize them briefly.

Apply what you have learned from the module to identify, describe, and analyze the moral principles, ethical and legal requirements, and implications with respect to criminal behavior (if relevant) that are reflected in each element of the code of ethics case examples that you have found. In the concluding page, evaluate the effectiveness of morals, ethics, and law in contributing to the effectiveness of the code overall.

Discuss and cite either or both of the course textbooks and at least one additional credible or scholarly source to support your analysis and positions. Use APA style guidelines, citing references as appropriate. Your paper should be two to three pages in length, not counting cut-and-pasted codes. Before submitting your final version, be sure to submit a draft version to the TurnItIn Checker on the Colorado Platform.

• 1000 Essay which demonstrates how your novel follows the steps of narrative structure (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution, denonement)
• Must Include Outline
• 1. Identify and Explain the differences between the two types of fiction-short story and the novel.
• 2. Identify and Explain major elements of fiction and how they apply to the novel.
• 3. Respond personally and critically to a novel in well developed expository prose.

Suppose you were recently hired for a new position as the computer forensics manager at a medium-sized communications company. One of your duties will be to analyze, test, and select forensic tool standards for the company.

Write a four to five (4-5) page paper in which you:

1. Analyze the five (5) categories of tasks performed with computer forensics tools and provide an example of a software tool that performs each task.
2. List the questions you would ask when evaluating and selecting forensics tools. Select the question you believe is the most important and provide a rationale.
3. Explain how a comparison table can assist a decision maker when analyzing computer forensic tools.
4. Select one (1) Windows-based and one (1) Linux-based forensic software tool and create a comparison table analyzing the functions and sub-functions of each.
5. Describe the benefits of the NIST’s CFTT project and how it can assist decision-makers in analyzing and selecting forensic tools.
6. Create an expense budget for the tools you would consider utilizing at the company and provide reasoning and planned function of the selected tools.
7. Note: Submit the expense budget as an exhibit for the assignment. It is not included in the required page length.
8. Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Compare and contrast the various types of computer forensic tools.
• Use technology and information resources to research advanced issues in computer forensics.
• Write clearly and concisely about topics related to computer forensics planning using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions.

Suppose you were recently hired for a new position as the computer forensics manager at a medium-sized communications company. One of your duties will be to analyze, test, and select forensic tool standards for the company.

Write a four to five (4-5) page paper in which you:

1. Analyze the five (5) categories of tasks performed with computer forensics tools and provide an example of a software tool that performs each task.
2. List the questions you would ask when evaluating and selecting forensics tools. Select the question you believe is the most important and provide a rationale.
3. Explain how a comparison table can assist a decision maker when analyzing computer forensic tools.
4. Select one (1) Windows-based and one (1) Linux-based forensic software tool and create a comparison table analyzing the functions and sub-functions of each.
5. Describe the benefits of the NIST’s CFTT project and how it can assist decision-makers in analyzing and selecting forensic tools.
6. Create an expense budget for the tools you would consider utilizing at the company and provide reasoning and planned function of the selected tools.
7. Note: Submit the expense budget as an exhibit for the assignment. It is not included in the required page length.
8. Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Compare and contrast the various types of computer forensic tools.
• Use technology and information resources to research advanced issues in computer forensics.
• Write clearly and concisely about topics related to computer forensics planning using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions.

Suppose you were recently hired for a new position as the computer forensics manager at a medium-sized communications company. One of your duties will be to analyze, test, and select forensic tool standards for the company.

Write a four to five (4-5) page paper in which you:

1. Analyze the five (5) categories of tasks performed with computer forensics tools and provide an example of a software tool that performs each task.
2. List the questions you would ask when evaluating and selecting forensics tools. Select the question you believe is the most important and provide a rationale.
3. Explain how a comparison table can assist a decision maker when analyzing computer forensic tools.
4. Select one (1) Windows-based and one (1) Linux-based forensic software tool and create a comparison table analyzing the functions and sub-functions of each.
5. Describe the benefits of the NIST’s CFTT project and how it can assist decision-makers in analyzing and selecting forensic tools.
6. Create an expense budget for the tools you would consider utilizing at the company and provide reasoning and planned function of the selected tools.
7. Note: Submit the expense budget as an exhibit for the assignment. It is not included in the required page length.
8. Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Compare and contrast the various types of computer forensic tools.
• Use technology and information resources to research advanced issues in computer forensics.
• Write clearly and concisely about topics related to computer forensics planning using proper writing mechanics and technical style conventions.

Prepare a 500 to 750-word letter or memo to your proposal decision-maker requesting permission to pursue research to develop your proposal idea. In your correspondence, provide your decision-maker with justification for the research project. Include a description of the benefits you believe the proposed idea will bring to the organization. Your document must make it clear you are contacting the decision-maker to request permission to move forward with your research.

Following are some potential scenarios.  Use these as a starting point to come up with a situation and expand on it based on your own knowledge and experience.  You are encouraged to create your own scenario.  The examples below are only for ideas or if you are unable to think of a suitable problem to research and solve.

• Crowding in your place of employment results in shared office space and limited resources. A proposed solution could be implementation of a telecommuting program to permit some employees in suitable occupations to work from home on a full- or part-time basis. Think about how employees will communicate and how the company can support communication.
• Your child’s elementary school does not have an effective communication process with parents and the community. You can develop a strategy to facilitate a streamlined communication. Your report may be directed to the school’s principal or even the PTA.
• Rising health care costs are a concern nationwide. To address your company’s issues, you are proposing implementation of a wellness program. The benefits of implementing a program like this are many, ranging from lowering health care costs to boosting morale. Think about how communication within the workplace would help with this implementation.
• Communication among members of a local church is difficult to facilitate and the leaders are seeking a solution to the communication issues. You could propose establishing a website or other social media for congregation members to read updates, participate in discussion, contact other members, and so on.
• Communication among different offices within your own organization may be difficult. Propose some interoffice communication strategies to facilitate communication and show how these might affect the organization’s bottom line.
• Social media is now an important aspect of doing business. You could write a report recommending that your company set up an interactive customer blog or use social media to improve customer service.

Note: You use a letter format when the recipient is outside your organization. You use a memo format when the recipient is in the same organization as you are.

Follow guidelines for setting up a letter or a memo.  Including a logo as part of your letterhead (if you are writing as a company) adds credibility to your letter.  Your memo or letter must be persuasive, identify and justify the problem you are researching and for which you are making recommendations. You also want to show how these problems are lowering productivity or costing the company money.

You need to include three to five annotated bibliographic entries to demonstrate that you understand how to do this type of research. This means researching your proposed topic in the UMUC Library and finding some articles, relevant published material or current websites that will support your proposal. You must list the citations in proper APA format and write a two to three sentence description about the material in the source you identified.  

The objective of the Course Project is to provide you with practice in creating, justifying, and explaining a decision-making proposal. All elements involved in the creation of this proposal, from problem definition through action plan, must be covered. Further, the proposal, as constructed, must meet the tests of any sound business plan, namely that it has specific and measurable goals and objectives, clearly defined activities, stipulated time frames during which those activities will take place, and clearly defined measurable outcomes.

The subject matter of your paper should be business-oriented in nature and should avoid decisions that depend largely on intuition to solve.

Although the length of the paper is not predetermined, a 10–15 page analysis, including data and appendices, is probably correct. You will also share a summary PowerPoint presentation with fellow students during the Week 6 Discussion.

The Final Course Project Proposal with the PowerPoint presentation is due by the end of Week 7 (graded).

Required Outline

The following outline is required for your Course Project.

• Executive Summary (less than one page)

  This summary is a short, carefully worded description of the problem situation that identifies the recommended solution. A brief justification and explanation of the selection method is to be included, highlighting factors that contributed to selecting the recommended alternative.

• Decision Problem Overview 

  Describe the nature and scope of the decision problem selected, its history together with causes, and the outcomes of any previous attempts to deal with it.

In order to define the problem correctly, the following questions should be addressed.

• What is the general nature of the problem?
• What event triggered the situation?
• Are we imposing any constraints on the situation?
• What are the underlying elements of the problem?
• Are there dependencies on other decisions?

Briefly introduce the key decision elements—objectives, alternatives, consequences, and uncertainties; details are to be discussed in the following sections.

• • Objectives Statement 

    Explain each objective in detail. Separate objectives into fundamental and means objectives. A minimum of three objectives is required.

 

• • Alternatives 

    Describe each alternative, and explain how the alternatives differ from one another. A minimum of three alternatives is required.

 

• • Selection 

    Describe the alternative recommended and why. Explain the tradeoffs you utilized or present a weighted scoring model. Explain why you feel that this report contains sufficient information to make a decision on the problem. Describe any additional information that would be useful to have.

 

• • Consequences 

    Explain how you determined the values for each alternative and their corresponding objectives. Show your consequence table, either in this section or as an appendix. Include the bases for forecasts and any techniques or tools used to estimate consequences. Discuss the reliability of your predictions. Indicate what events were considered to be uncertain, explain the probabilities of their occurrence, and what information you used to establish your confidence level in these probabilities. A minimum of two uncertainties is required for the paper.

 

• • Implementation, Monitoring, and Control 

    This section contains a detailed implementation plan. There will be an explanation of how the recommended alternative will be implemented, resources dedicated to accomplishing it, and key individuals who will be responsible for the plan’s success. Details should be included on how the plan will be monitored, subsequent evaluation criteria, and how the plan can be amended.

 

• • Works Cited (at least two external sources should be used)

 

Presentation

Once you have outlined your paper, you should be ready to begin a PowerPoint presentation. As you develop the contents of the sections in your paper, you should extract bullet-point ideas that best express your intended message. If you prefer, use the slides to brainstorm and organize your thoughts before writing the paper. Then refer to your presentation to guide and remind you of the flow of your storyline.

The presentation will be used to showcase your decision problem in one of the Week 6 Discussion topics, where you will receive feedback from your fellow students. This exercise will assist you in finalizing your Course Project prior to submission at the end of Week 7.

A recommended Course Project template can be found here . This document is also posted in the Doc Sharing tab.

Category	Points	%	Description
Documentation and Formatting	60	25	A quality paper will include an executive summary, decision problem statement, objectives statement, alternatives, selection of alternatives, consequences, implementation, monitoring, control, and references.
Organization and Cohesiveness	60	25	A quality paper will include an introduction based upon a well-formed thesis statement. The logical order of the content will be derived from the thesis statement. The content will be properly subdivided into sections derived from the outline. In a quality paper, the conclusion will summarize the previously presented content, and will complement the thesis statement from the introduction.
Editing	24	10	A quality paper will be free of any spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors. Sentences and paragraphs will be clear, concise, and factually correct.
Content	96	40	A quality paper will have significant scope and depth of research to support any statements. Relevant illustration or examples are encouraged. A quality paper will employ sound use of reasoning and logic to reinforce conclusions.
Total	240	100	A quality paper will meet or exceed all of the above requirements.

 

Additional hints on preparing the best possible project follows.

1. Apply a three-step process of writing: plan, write, and complete.
2. Prepare an outline of your research paper before you go forward.
3. Complete a first draft and then go back to edit, evaluate, and make any changes required.
4. Use visual communication to further clarify and support the written part of your report. Example graphs, diagrams, photographs, flowcharts, maps, drawings, animation, video clips, pictograms, tables, and Gantt charts.

Suggested:

Week 1: Determine your Course Project decision problem you want to research.

Week 2: Identify and share the decision problem for your project in the third Week 2 Discussion topic (ungraded).

Week 3: Identify objectives and alternatives for your project.

Week 4: Identify the consequences and tradeoffs for your project.

Week 5: Identify and analyze your uncertainties for your project. Also, make your decision and prepare your initial PowerPoint presentation.

Required:

Week 6: Submit a draft of your PowerPoint presentation to this week’s second Discussion topic, and offer feedback to at least two other students’ presentations.

Week 7: Submit your completed Course Project and finalized PowerPoint presentation to the Dropbox.

The following are the best practices in preparing this paper.

• Cover Page— Include who you prepared the paper for, who prepared it, and the date.
• Table of Contents— List the main ideas and section of your paper and the pages in which they are located. The illustrations should be included separately.
• Introduction— Use a header on your paper. This will indicate you are introducing your paper.

The purpose of an introduction or opening is to

1. introduce the subject and why the subject is important;
2. preview the main ideas and the order in which they will be covered; and
3. establish a tone of the document.

Include in the introduction a reason for the audience to read the paper. Also, include an overview of what you are going to cover in your paper and the importance of the material. (This should include or introduce the questions you are asked to answer on each assignment.)

• Body of Your Report— Use a header titled with the name of your project. Then proceed to break out the main ideas. State the main ideas, state major points in each idea, and provide evidence. Break out each main idea you will use in the body of your paper. Show some type of division, like separate sections that are labeled; separate group of paragraphs; or headers. You would include the information you found during your research and investigation.
• Summary and Conclusion— Summarizing is similar to paraphrasing but presents the gist of the material in fewer words than the original. An effective summary identifies the main ideas and major support points from the body of your report. Minor details are left out. Summarize the benefits of the ideas and how they affect the tourism industry.
• Work Cited— Use the citation format as specified in the Syllabus.

Imagine you’ve been sought out as a guest lecturer at a local university for a computer forensics course. You have been asked to prepare a paper for the students, as well as a PowerPoint presentation, regarding data acquisition in a forensics investigation.

1. Write a four to five (4-5) page paper in which you:

a.  Analyze the four (4) methods of data acquisition to determine how an investigator selects the appropriate method to use in a given situation.

b.  Determine how an investigator can plan for hardware, software, and / or general failures during data acquisition.

c.  Justify the necessity of validating data acquisition and determine the negative effects on an investigation if this step is not performed.

d.  Describe the acquisition procedures and tools for Windows and Linux data acquisitions.

e.  Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources.