RESEARCH PAPER GUIDELINES

An important part of the Southeast Asian course is the research paper requirement. The paper is designed to aid you in learning more about Southeast Asian culture, history, issues and development as well as the research process. It is also aimed at improving your writing and investigative skills.

As suggested in the syllabus the research paper must focus on an issue or a current problem in one (or more) of the Southeast Asian nations. The paper should not be an exercise in profiling (a list of basic characteristics) those particular nations. Rather the thrust of the paper should address the following questions:

  1. What is the nature of the issue or problem and its dimensions.

  2. Why is the issue/problem important and how did it originate or arise?

  3. What is the likely consequences or impact?

  4. Is a resolution of the issue or problem possible in the future? What measures are being used to combat the problem? With what success?

Alternatively, you may choose to focus on a particular aspect of development within a Southeast Asian country. You should explain why this problem is especially critical and then proceed to analyze the background, nature of the problem, its causes, implications, barriers to solution and possible strategies designed to cope with the problem. Especially usefully and appropriate would be to show how location, situational or regional-spatial differences contribute to the development dilemma.

This paper should not be an encyclopedia listing of a country’s political system, population, industry and resources.

You should begin to think about a potential topic very early, gather background information and subsequently more specific data, information and "evidence" should be gleaned from specialized encyclopedias, monographs, journals and newspapers.

OBVIOUSLY, THE INTERNET IS AN IMPORTANT TOOL AND SOURCE AND MEANS OF DELIVERING INFORMATION. USE IT!!

Structure of the Paper

  1. The paper should begin with a short introduction which provides the background for the topic and should be followed by A SPECIFIC STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM AND/OR QUESTIONS you intend to research and answer.

  2. This should be followed by the analysis (your presentation of your inquiry and discussion of the questions and/or problems.

  3. Finally you should attempt to SUMMARIZE BRIEFLY the major points and draw some INSIGHTFUL CONCLUSIONS.

The paper should be referenced with a full bibliography. Each book reference should provide the author or editor's name (surname first), title of the work, place of publication, publisher, and date.

Books should be referenced as: Black, Richard. Refugees, Environment and Development. London: Longman Publishers, 1998.

Or for a journal article: Peter Davis," Geography and Third World Development", Development Studies, Vol.23 (1979), pp.47-68.

The following method is suggested for referencing materials or ideas IN THE BODY OF YOUR PAPER and which you have found in either books, journals, etc: (Author's last name,date,page number). The complete citation along with page numbers should be detailed in the list of references at the end of the paper. Maps and tables are VERY
appropriate but should be used purposefully not simply as "added weight".

The paper should be approximately eight (8) to ten (10) pages in length EXCLUSIVE of references, maps, and tables. Above all the paper must focus on the explanation and critical analysis of a specific development problem or development condition. Do attempt to first ask a series of questions regarding your potential topic and feel free to discuss this with the instructor. Do not simply plunge ahead and describe a country's characteristics or problems. How did the problems arise and how can they be corrected?

SAMPLE TOPICS

In order to illustrate the nature of acceptable topics the following are provided as brief examples.

  1. An analysis of population growth in a specific Southeast Asian countryThird World country. How has population growth changed over time? How important are the natural increase and migration components respectively? Has a population control program been effective? Why or why not? And most important what is the impact or implications of the growth?

  2. How does migration-short term or permanent affect development in a particular country or region? How do ethnic differences affect development?

  3. Environmental sustainability and deforestation especially continue to be critical problems in many Southeast Asian countries. Where are the specifics? What are the consequences of deforestation? What measures are being taken to forestall deforestation? Choose a specific country for detailed analysis. How can 'social forestry' alleviate the problem?

  4. Aspects of urbanization present especially critical problems for many Southeast Asian countries. These include the growth and dominance of the primate city, in migration to the capital, lack of adequate services, and facets of human survival in the 'informal economy'. Select a city and some aspect of its urban infrastructure for detailed analysis.

  5. How important are cultural distinctions as barriers to development? Can you show where and how ethnic or linguistic differences or other cultural traits have contributed to the lack of developmental progress in Southeast Asia? Where are separatist movements occurring and what are the grievances of the parties involved? Examples are Aceh in Indonesia and the minorities of Burma immediately come to mind.

  6. A very important topic over the past five years has been the Asian financial crisis and its impacts on national economies, local places and families and especially services delivery. How have individual states responded? What are the current prospects for recovery?

  7. Tourism is being used as a development strategy and revenue earner by increasingly more nations. Select a tourism situation in Southeast Asia and show how it has developed. What are the constraints on the use of this 'instrument' in development strategies?

  8. Show how a multi-national firm’s operations have impacted a Southeast Asian country and affects development. What are the positive and negative aspects?

  9. Border resolution issues and territorial claims are important and might be researched. An extreme is the claims over the Timor Sea and territorial disputes between the Philippines and Malaysia and Indonesia.

  10. The struggle for democratization and the overthrow of dictatorial regimes may be a topic for inquiry. Foremost here is the plight of the Burmese minority and the status of Aung San Suu Kyi, but East Timor and the province of Aceh in Indonesia are also important topics.

MOST IMPORTANT: ALL STUDENTS ARE STRONGLY URGED TO VISIT WITH THE INSTRUCTOR DURING REGULAR OFFICE HOURS TO DISCUSS AND GAIN APPROVAL OF A RESEARCH PAPER TOPIC. THIS DISCUSSION SHOULD BE HELD BY September 20, 2004 THE EARLIER THE BETTER. THE PAPER WILL BE DUE THE LAST WEEK OF CLASS. PAPERS WHICH ARE TURNED IN LATE WILL BE DOWNGRADED.

RESEARCH TOOLS:

Become acquainted with the UK Libraries web site (a brief demo will be provided in class) . Note that First Search, InfoTrac, and World Cat are major data bases which provide information. Also MANY journals are available on-line, i.e. electronically. The Far Eastern Economic Review (feer.com) and Asia Week (asiaweek.com) are two important weeklies that provide current information on Asia and the Pacific.

Note all books on reserve for this course are excellent resources for ideas and information.

See also the web sites for: The Economist (economist.com), The World Bank (worldbank.org), United Nations (un.org) and a variety of newspapers especially the New York Times (nytimes.com), and the Washington Post (post.com) which are excellent sources for current developments in Southeast Asia.

Of the major Internet search engines, Google.com is primary.