My research topic is the Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986. I’m interested in the events that led to the passage of the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986, which has caused a change in the way the military conducts its business. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commanders of the combatant commands after the act now have more authority and responsibility that they need to properly direct the military without having to satisfy all the parent services.
The question the research seeks to answer is, “How did the Goldwater-Nichols Act impact the US military and how have the combatant commands evolved since the enactment?”
The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 on the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) system, the evolution of the combatant commands and the resultant methods of conducting business throughout the military since the act was put in place in 1986.
Please follow this Thesis Paper format:
Title Page of the Paper. The title of your paper should be brief but should adequately inform the reader of your general topic and the specific focus of your research. Keywords relating to parameters, population, and other specifics are useful. The Title Page must include the elements required in the 2012 End of Program Manual.
I. Introduction. This section provides an overview of the topic that you are writing about, a concise synopsis of the issues, and why the topic presents a “puzzle” that prompts your research question(s), which you will include. This section will typically be 5-8 pages. This section can be preceded by an epigraph that creates interest in the topic. Ensure that you follow proper format for epigraphs!! For this section you can draw from your Research Question and Purpose Statement and Thesis Proposal assignments.
II. Review of the Literature: All research projects include a literature review to set out for the reader what knowledge exists on the subject under study and helps the researcher develop the research strategy to use in the study. A good literature review is a thoughtful study of what has been written, a summary of the arguments that exist (whether you agree with them or not), arranged thematically. At the end of the summary, you should have circled back to your research question that remains to be answered. It is written in narrative format and can be from 12-18 pages depending on the scope and length of the paper.
For the Literature Review please ensure A literature review begins with introductory paragraphs in which the writer frames the research topic and its significance, and the puzzle that the researcher is addressing. To do that, the writer will summarize the major relevant arguments on the research subject, highlighting the main issues and how schools of thought differ. If there are key terms to be defined, the writer should do that here. (2-3 pp) The body of the literature review tells readers what others have found in their studies about your specific research question (the extent of existing knowledge on your specific research question), critiques what is useful or less relevant and useful with other studies, and discusses how the work is distinguishable from the research study you are proposing. Your review should organize material by theme or method, or what makes sense for the project. This literature review should include a critical review of 20 appropriate articles, to include scholarly, peer-reviewed articles, material from government publications and websites, or other topic-appropriate source. Please provide citations for each work mentioned. You must use endnotes or footnotes with a bibliography at the end of this assignment. (6-8 pp total)
The literature review conclusion should summarize the primary “sense of the literature.” encapsulating for the reader where the existing literature ends and your research will start as you seek to answer the question that still remains and how your work can potentially add to the body of knowledge. (2-4 pp)
III. Methodology and Research Strategy: This section provides the reader with a description of how you are planning to conduct research. It explains what research approach you have chosen, and why. It describes any special considerations and defines any limitations and terms specific to this project, if necessary. This section will range from 5-8 pages.
IV. Findings and Analysis: This section provides the results of your research and the analytical arguments that will make as a result of your findings. In a quantitative project, this section would provide the results of the data collection and an analysis of what it illustrates in empirical terms. In a qualitative project, you will do the same even if there is no quantitative component. For an empirical qualitative project, you will provide your analysis of the variables you identified and explain what your research findings are. How did your independent variables affect the outcome (your dependent variable)? Did you prove or disprove your hypothesis? What new information have you discovered, if any? This section will range from 10-15 pages.
V.Conclusions: This section will contain the concluding analytical arguments based on what research has revealed to answer the research question. Like any conclusion, it should provide a synopsis of the project, the strategy, and the results and what they add to the body of knowledge. This section should also offer suggestions for avenues of future research for other scholars, as all knowledge is evolutionary. This section can be 5 – 7 pages depending on the scope of the project.
Bibliography: This section will contain all refe
