Final Paper Topic (Graduate-level; Social Science)

[FyoraSilverwolf]

As usual, it's the morning before my final paper and presentation for Research Methods are due (I have like 4 hours before I'll need to pass out), and I'm one or two paragraphs from being done with my paper. [The presentation was finished days ago, and only needs minor adjustments.]

Turns out, the supposedly hypothetical research project I was laying out in the paper has already been done by someone else.

A year ago, I did a research project myself that I was told I wasn't allowed to use (even though other people got to use their already-started research) for this class because I wouldn't learn anything about Methods from it. I could pretty easily draw up a paper & a presentation on that instead, because I know that material like the back of my hand (probably better, honestly).

Potentially important information:
I'm majoring in Criminology.
I'm fairly certain my professor knows nothing of the literature of my particular focus. [My focus is psychological/personality criminology, specifically psychopathy, so it's all individual-level stuff, looking at people and their motivations and personalities. The prof's focus is macro-level and looks at countries, cities, counties, companies. That kind of thing.]

Should I go ahead with what I set out to do (and what every prior assignment that is supposed to build up to this was about), or should I go with my personal project even though the prof said not to? If I go with my project, should I explain the reason for the change?

[legnanellaf5]

At this point you are so done with the paper you written that it seems kind of a waste to scrap it for something out of the norm (and something you would have to really explain). If you wanted to challenge what your prof said you should have done it way before now. I also assume that the presentation links to the paper and so changing one would make it not match the other so much.

[FyoraSilverwolf]

legnanellaf5

At this point you are so done with the paper you written that it seems kind of a waste to scrap it for something out of the norm (and something you would have to really explain). If you wanted to challenge what your prof said you should have done it way before now. I also assume that the presentation links to the paper and so changing one would make it not match the other so much.

It definitely seems like a waste. I have problems with perfectionism, though, and I already threw out a prior idea at the start of the semester because it was already done too. I'm worried the professor will look into my topic, find the article (like I did, by looking through the references of other articles), and think I plagiarized from it, which would get me kicked out of the program (and probably not let into any other programs either.)

I would have to make an entirely new presentation, yes. But, like I said, I know that material better than the back of my hand (and I have several presentations & papers already written about the topic, so I think most of it could be copy & pasted.)

[legnanellaf5]

FyoraSilverwolf

legnanellaf5

At this point you are so done with the paper you written that it seems kind of a waste to scrap it for something out of the norm (and something you would have to really explain). If you wanted to challenge what your prof said you should have done it way before now. I also assume that the presentation links to the paper and so changing one would make it not match the other so much.

It definitely seems like a waste. I have problems with perfectionism, though, and I already threw out a prior idea at the start of the semester because it was already done too. I'm worried the professor will look into my topic, find the article (like I did, by looking through the references of other articles), and think I plagiarized from it, which would get me kicked out of the program (and probably not let into any other programs either.)

I would have to make an entirely new presentation, yes. But, like I said, I know that material better than the back of my hand (and I have several presentations & papers already written about the topic, so I think most of it could be copy & pasted.)

You cant get caught for plagiarism if you dont do it. So if you cite everything, including where you got the topic from, its cool. However doing a topic he said no to is going to be a lot of work to overcome.You also cant just copy and paste your previous work, you would have to extensively cite yourself and then probably still use the works you did previously. Because idk you can actually plagiarize yourself they say.

If you really want to do that topic, I suggest doing it on your own not for this assignment. You have done it so much that you probably re going to go farther in that topic anyways so you will get the chance to.

[thatonechick101]

Well if you've had previous assignments to turn in to the professor building up to this project, it would look bad to turn in a completely different project that you had done before.

I see both your points, but if it's a methods class the focus is obviously on your methodology. If you've already done the experiment, you can't really adjust that to what you would have learned in the class.

I would present what you were planning to present. It's not exactly your fault that someone else has the same topic.

[Inscriven]

To do a project that you invested all that time into researching and refining in and then suddenly juke and present a topic that has no invested progression that the professor has noticed and no refinement and against the professors wishes to boot...

To say that it's a risky idea is putting it delicately. Personally, I'd see it as a way to sink yourself.

What do you think you'd stand to benefit from this?

[FyoraSilverwolf]

I figured I'd give everyone an update, but the decision is moot now because I turned it in, and gave the presentation, this morning. He's definitely not a fan of individual-level stuff. His main feedback was that I should consider adding sociological variables (SES, urban/rural, regional/cultural characteristics, etc.) as a competing explanation for psychopathy (I disagree, but I realized I haven't read any studies that specifically disprove that possibility.). But that's more about the topic/question than method, I think he said. Presentations tend to be a strong point for me (especially when it's even tangentially related to psychopathy because I've read a lot about it.) I just hope it was a long enough paper at 3 pages of prose (with 2 pages of references afterward).

faretheewell

Acknowledge what happened in your paper. In the conclusion, state that a very similar research project has already been done that you had not been aware of, and cite the article you found. Then point out a couple of ways in which your design and their design differ (I doubt they are identical) and provide a brief argument as to why your way is better for your aims.

Yes, it will probably be a bit more work than what you were planning, but it will be less work than writing an entirely new paper.

They are identical, because they're using the same data set. And it's using the same measures because the guy who did that study also did the study that designed the measures.

I went with not mentioning it at all, because a cursory google search of my topic didn't find it, and I didn't find it until I went through the references of other papers I was citing in search of better explanations of things I didn't understand well enough to paraphrase. [And I've been working on this for most of the semester, so I've looked at a lot of articles before now, and never found this one.]

Inscriven

What do you think you'd stand to benefit from this?

Not getting suspected of plagiarism and potentially getting kicked out of the program (and possibly never let into another one because I'd have to explain why I got kicked out originally). As is, I'm just hoping that if he suspects plagiarism, that I can explain that I didn't know about that article until the last minute (thereby preventing me from having enough time to reasonably switch topics), and I didn't use it to inform my paper. And then I just hope they believe the truth.

thatonechick101

It's not exactly your fault that someone else has the same topic.

It's not that someone else in the class has the same topic. It's that there's already existing, published research that does exactly what my research was going to do. [I guess it's a bit of validation knowing I had a good idea, so good that the preeminent researcher in the field had the same idea.]

legnanellaf5

You cant get caught for plagiarism if you dont do it. So if you cite everything, including where you got the topic from, its cool.

I didn't get the topic from there, though. I came up with the idea long before I found that paper, based on two other, related papers by the same author. It's like when two people discover the same thing at the same time (or slightly delayed), but in different places without having come in contact with one another. I'm just afraid that important people will think otherwise.

legnanellaf5

If you really want to do that topic, I suggest doing it on your own not for this assignment.

I'm not sure what you mean here. The topic I really wanted to do is going to be my Master's thesis. [Which is what most people are going to do/are doing with their topic from this class.] And the topic I did for this paper is out of the question (at least without obtaining different data) because it's already been done and an exact replication (i.e. with the same data) would be meaningless.