US Customs and Border Patrol & the US Coast Guard

The topic for your research paper can be anything pertaining to border and coastal security. Once you have decided on a topic, develop a research question and hypothesis to support it. There is no need to submit your question and hypothesis for “approval”. A minimum of 10 outside references are required.

Paper Format:

· Cover Page

· Abstract (no more than 150-250 words)

· Introduction (include the specific research question and hypothesis which are presented at the end)

· Literature Review – Critical analysis is the key here

· Methodology (This needs to more than a single sentence that states “I used qualitative methods”. Take the time to explore what type of qualitative method you used…. Content Analysis and Case Study are the two approaches that seem most likely for this course.

· Analysis – What does your research tell you? What are your conclusions??

· Conclusion – ensure you include what future research should cover that has not been explored.

· Reference List

Technical Requirements

· Your paper must be at a minimum of 10 pages (the Title and Reference pages do not count towards the minimum limit).

· Scholarly and credible references should be used. A good rule of thumb is at least 2 scholarly sources per page of content.

· Type in Times New Roman, 12 point and double space.

· Students will follow the current APA Style as the sole citation and reference style used in written work submitted as part of coursework.

· Points will be deducted for the use of Wikipedia or encyclopedic type sources. It is highly advised to utilize books, peer-reviewed journals, articles, archived documents, etc.