Choose one of the following four problems depending on your area and interest.

a. What explains why a particular political candidate wins and his/her opponent loses a tightly contested election in upper New York State? (American Politics)

b. What explains the difference in success in securing contracts between two firms competing for the same market in the same area? (Public Administration)

c. How do you explain the relative effectiveness of two humanitarian NGOs operating in the same African country? (International Relations)

d. How do you explain why deforestation occurs at different rates in two areas in the Northwest region of the US? ) (Environmental science)

In developing your comparison, show how you implement the following six steps:

. Define the research problem

. Identify the independent variable (IV)

. Identify the dependent variables (DVs)

. Choose the matched cases and specify the criteria used to select them

. Indicate your strategy for inferring causation between the IV and the DVs

. What information will be collected to evaluate your research question or hypothesis?