Intro and Methods sections of IMRaD paper

Introduction

Political efficacy is an individual’s belief that politics are accessible and worth taking part in, as well as trust in the government and political system. Political efficacy is vital to a democracy, as it encourages participation in politics, facilitating a democratic system. The degree of political efficacy an individual has can vary on many factors, including age, background, and participation in politics. Studies have found that participation requires citizens to believe they have the ability to influence politics (Schulz, 2005). If citizens truly believe they can make a difference by voting, donating, or volunteering with campaigns, they will do these things and the democratic system will work as it should. The relationship between political efficacy and participation has been researched before, with results showing that participation is directly linked to democratic life (McCluskey, Deshpande, Shah, & McLeod, 2004). This study focused on the differences between desired efficacy, how much influence individuals think they should have, versus actual efficacy, how much influence individuals do have.

On the other hand, other research has studied internal efficacy, the degree to which an individual believes a change or influence can come from one’s own behavioral attributes, determined by the individual’s belief that participating in politics could have some desirable outcome, and external efficacy, the degree to which individuals believe the government will uphold their side of the democratic process (Hamza E. G. A., Helal, A.M., 2015). This study found that political efficacy and voting behavior have no correlation. However, other research has found that they are linked (McCluskey, Deshpande, Shah, & McLeod, 2004). Similar research has studied specifically external efficacy, finding that external efficacy is separate from political trust (Craig, Niemi, & Silver, 1990). Although research has been done on both internal and external efficacy and focusing on just external efficacy, it is still unclear whether political efficacy is correlated to political participation because of contradicting studies. This study focuses on determining the relationship between internal and external political efficacy and participation in politics.

Methods

Participants

To study the relationship between internal and external efficacy and political participation, 30 University of Iowa Freshmen were surveyed.

Procedure

Participants who were surveyed were asked eight questions about internal and external efficacy (if they trust the government, believe the government is benefitting them, believe voting is important, and believe their vote makes a difference) and political participation (if they are planning to vote, volunteer for a political party, or participate in politics in some other way). Students were asked these questions by the researcher.

Data analysis

Participation in politics was determined by three questions, “Are you planning to vote in the 2016 election?”, “Do you participate in or volunteer for a political party?”, and “Do you participate in politics in some other way?” Then, percentages were calculated based on the number of “yes” responses, and an average was calculated from the three questions to determine total participation. Internal efficacy was determined in the same way, using “Do you believe it is important to vote?” and “Do you believe your vote makes a difference?” as the two determining questions. External efficacy was determined with two questions “Do you believe the government is working in a way that benefits you?” and “Do you trust our political system?”

Survey link

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HSZ2WKH

Survey and Interview Questions

Survey


(note gender)

1. What is your age?

2. Are you planning to vote in the 2016 election?

3. Do you believe it is important to vote?

4. Do you believe your vote makes a difference in our political system?

5. Do you believe the government is working in a direction you want it to go in?

6. Do you believe the government is working in a way that benefits you?

7. Are you voting for the same candidate as your parents? (only for college students)

Interview

1. Why are you planning to vote or why are you planning not to vote?

2. Why do you think your vote makes a different or why do you think it doesn't?

3. Why do you think our government is working in a direction you want it to go in or why is it not?

4. What does the government do that makes you think it is not working in a way that benefits you? or what could the government do to make you feel it was working in a way that benefits you?

Topic Proposal

My proposal is to test the degree of political efficacy in college students and an older, more randomized population in downtown Iowa city. Political efficacy is a society's faith and trust and the political system and that the government is working in their favor. A high degree of political efficacy may make citizens want to vote and believe that their vote is important. This is important because a high degree of political efficacy can be seen as important to make a democracy work better. 

Research questions:

Do college students or older voters have a higher degree of political efficacy?

Do young adults vote in the same way as their parents?

Research plan:

I'm planning to write a survey and then ask college students in my dorm and maybe in my classes those questions. I will then ask those same survey questions to people at the PED mall in downtown Iowa city. I'll choose a few random people in each group to interview and ask them more in depth questions. I'll analyze this data simply by calculating percentages of how many people answer yes or no to the questions. Since the definition of political efficacy is trust in the government and voting is an indicator, answering yes to these questions is assumed to be an indicator of political efficacy. 

Differences between IMRaD and argument based paper

IMRaD and an argument based research paper have a lot of differences. First, the format is different. IMRaD follows the format of introduction, methods, results, and discussion. This genre is showing facts and data from a research done in the future and primary research too. The data is shown and inferences are made, it is not persuasive. In an argument based research paper, the format may not have as many headings because it is trying to convince the reader of the argument. This paper would include research to enforce the argument, not just to inform the reader and provide discussion. Instead of a discussion at the end like in the IMRaD paper, the argument based research paper would provide facts to try to convince the reader of their argument.