[SOLVED] Part Four: Develop Two Theories to Answer Your Research Question

Project: Part Four
Part Four: Develop Two Theories to Answer Your Research Question
For the first section of this part of the project, you will need to develop two theories to explain why your case studies differ on the dependent variable. To develop the theories, you will need to explain what the independent and dependent variables are, and how each of the independent variables causes the dependent variable. The independent and dependent variables, in simple terms, are the causes and the effect. For example, if you are trying to understand why Tunisia transitioned to a democracy after 2011 and Egypt did not, the dependent variable is democratization. If you think differences in economic development are why Tunisia transitioned into a democracy and Egypt did not, your first independent variable would be economic development.
For your project, you only have one dependent variable, and you will need to identify two potential independent variables that explain why your countries differ on the dependent variable.
Independent Variable#1 (Cause)———->Dependent Variable (The Effect)
Independent Variable #2———>Dependent Variable (The Effect)
Remember, we live in a multicausal world. There are multiple causes that can potentially explain your outcome of interest. I want you to identify two potential causes here.
In order to identify potential independent variables, you will have to read the literature from parts two and three of the project as well as the textbook. For example, if you are studying democratization, you will want to read about theories that explain why some countries become democracies and others do not. Some scholars theorize that economic development is a cause of democratization (modernization theory), so economic development could be one potential independent variable for example. (You will have to analyze your cases to see if this particular theory applied to your case studies).
For the second section of this part of the project, you will need to measure each variable for each case study. For example, regime type (democracy or dictatorship), can be measured with Freedom House Scores. Economic development can be measured with GDP per capita or the HDI index. Political conflict can be measured using the UCDP conflict data set.
If you were trying to explain why Tunisia is a democracy and Egypt is a dictatorship, you would want to use Freedom House data for each country to measure the dependent variable for example.
For part four of the project, you will explain to me what your two theories are in a paragraph. This involves telling me what your independent variables and the dependent variable are, and how the independent variables cause the dependent variable. You will also need to measure each variable and show me how you are measuring them. You can present this data in a chart or in a paragraph. Parts one through four of the project can be submitted a second time with corrections made if the student does not get a 100% on their first try.