Research Paper Assignment
Write a research paper on 2018 city of Atlanta CAFR.
THE PROJECT GUIDELINES
You will prepare an 8-10 page paper. This project is an opportunity for you to describe what you learned about the city of Atlanta from reading the 2018 CAFR. You should also have a cover page, a table of contents and a references page. It is much more important that this be your own analysis in your own words than that it be especially well written. You can improve the writing by re-reading or editing (see writing suggestions at the end of this document) but that is less important than it be your own words, ideas, analysis and organization. You should use graphs and tables from the CAFR to illustrate your points and that will mean the presentation will be more than 8 or 10 pages (the word count should be at least 2,000).
A. CAFR
Your paper should include:
a. An introduction to include purpose of paper and intro to the city chosen,
b. Graphs or charts in the body of the report to compare topics, data, statistics and anything else that you need to present to support your analysis of the data or to help the reader understand your point. Do not just say it is there; give examples of the way it is presented and the implications.
c. Analysis that should be on two levels: Your analysis of the information in the CAFR. This can be whatever seems important to you. It could include such things as where the money is spent, how healthy the current revenue stream, the reserves, how well inter-period equity issues are addressed, etc. or it could include other items that seem relevant from reading the MD&A or statistical section or notes.
d. Conclusion, that is, a summary of your main points which should relate to the purpose you described in the introduction to your paper.
e. Reference page: make sure to reference your sources. Please note that Wikipedia is not a valid reference source although it can lead you to other, more authoritative sources. Use the APA style guide for format of on-line sources; just listing a URL is NOT a correctly formatted reference.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.