Hypothesis: If the United States were to enact a federal mask mandate in response to the corona virus pandemic, the over all health of the country (case numbers and death rates) would improve

Hypothesis: If the United States were to enact a federal mask mandate in response to the corona virus pandemic, the over all health of the country (case numbers and death rates) would improve

Final Research Paper.
For the final paper, choose a policy ((Federal mask mandate))—one that is neither too narrow nor too broad—and write a literature review and partial research design. The paper should include the following elements:
Introduction of your topic and research question.
Literature review discussing the background and current state of the policy, and the various actors and interests involved in the issue network most closely involved with that policy. Discuss also the conflicts within the issue network: in particular, the changes that some advocate, and the resistance to change among others in the network.
Hypothesis/hypotheses: Discuss at least one hypothesis about the likely effect(s) of a change to the policy. The policy reform may be one that has been proposed by bureaucrat(s), member(s) of Congress, and/or interest group(s) within the issue network—or it may even be a reform that you propose yourself. Your hypothesis should address what would be a likely outcome (the dependent variable) if the policy reform were to be implemented (the primary independent variable). Discuss what kind of data you would need in order to assess the policy and test your hypothesis. In addition, discuss what variables you would want to control for in order to test the relationship between the policy change and the hypothesized effect.
Methodology, analysis and report of findings are optional. If you would like to write a more complete research design or analysis paper, you are welcome and encouraged to do so, but it is not required for this class.
Summary and conclusion including the importance of your study and implications for improving U.S. national policy.
Bibliography in standard format of your choice. The APSA Style Manual is on Moodle and is the recommended format if you don’t already have a favorite.

Recommended length is 8-12 pages, double-spaced and in standard font. You should use at least 10 academic sources (scholarly articles and/or books). You may also wish to consult written or on-line materials from interest groups, think tanks, government sources, news sources, etc. If you have any questions about the scholarly nature of your sources, please feel free to ask. All references in your bibliography should be cited in the paper; all references cited in the paper should appear in the bibliography. Don’t forget to number your pages!