Write an informed analysis on Hurricane Harvey
Research Topic: The disaster to be addressed in the research project is Hurricane Harvey. It occurred in 2017, and had a significant impact on Houston, Texas. The death toll was 86, and it cost $126 billion dollars.
The research project will comprise the “traditional” style of graduate research associated with term papers. The intent of this project is to take knowledge and apply it to the practice. You will be critiquing and analyzing the response to the event by public and/or non-profit agencies.
Follow the APA style, including page numbers and running titles, and write 15 pages at a minimum and no more than 20 pages of narrative, with the following sections (that appear in virtually all social science research):
·Introduction (no more than one page; overview of what you will present, including the high points of your work; tell us about the event you selected and how you will conduct the critique/analysis)
·Literature Review (multiple pages; this is where you pull together the knowledge that will inform your critique and analysis)
·Findings/Discussion (multiple pages; the critique and analysis go here; what did you learn and how does it apply to your event?)
·Implications/Conclusion (no more than two pages; what does it all mean and why would this be of interest to others?)
·Reference List (here’s a clue — this is the first section I check to see how much work was done on the project; APA requires that only those references actually used in the paper appear in the list.)
Hindsight, as it has been often said, is “20/20.” This means we can look back at our response to an event after the fact and almost always see ways we could have done it better. The purpose of this project is to conduct that “look back” at an event of your choosing.
Another common expression, “everyone is a critic,” has some merit in this discussion. Being a critic is easy, as we all have opinions. This would be perfectly acceptable if we were writing an editorial and dispensing our opinions. However, for an acceptable critique and analysis, the writer (meaning you) has to do so from an informed perspective.
The research must be conducted around the topic provided to critique and offer a more learned analysis that will, in turn, lead to constructive critique and recommendations. In every disaster event there are lessons to be learned, unexpected activities, as well as good and bad performances from the public and non-profit sectors.
For this critique and analysis, you are strongly encouraged to draw from journal articles, government documents, and other comparative studies. If you are able, you may also bring an actual emergency response plan from a public or non-profit agency into the discussion. This will enhance the project but will not be required. Many government agencies restrict their response plans from the public for operational reasons and requiring you to have one might hamper the project.
Within the APA guidelines and format above, how you conduct the event critique and analysis is up to you.
Powerpoint:
Please assemble a PowerPoint presentation, which includes 10-15 slides to support the research paper.
Grading will be based on the completeness of the project relative to the event analyzed, how well the paper is integrated with class readings and research, and how the critique integrates the strengths and weaknesses of the response identified by emergency management criteria as it relates to the public and non-profit sectors.
Additional Research Information: Please use the standard APA style of noting references used. Please use the endnote or footnote style, whichever better suits them (though these are not required). Poor writing quality will produce a substantially lower grade. Proper spelling, grammar, and syntax are important. In the age of spell and grammar checks, there are no excuses for simple proofreading errors.
References for research can be a real problem area for those who do not take graduate school research seriously enough to be successful. The internet is a very tricky place for doing research, because so much of it is not academic or not true (or both). The regular “Wikipedia” site may be nice to read, but it is not considered an academic research site! Use academic journals, books, and articles (like those used in the course readings!).
Here is a copy of the textbook for the course:
https://arjzaidi.files.
Answer preview :
Word limit : 2295