Submit a draft of the Research Design section, including detailed descriptions of 1) unit of analysis and 2) measurement for your approved research question.
1) You should discuss the unit of analysis for your study by specifying the spatial, and temporal domains as well as the sampling process of your study.
2) You should also elaborate on how you measure the independent and dependent variables and where the data about these variables will be collected.
The following are examples:
For example, my research question is: Does the implementation of stay-at-home orders reduce COVID-19 cases?
My unit of analysis will be each state. The spatial domain is the state. The temporal domain is from March 1st to May 31st, 2020.
I will take a census of all the states instead of sampling them.
My IDV is the implementation of stay-at-home orders during March 2020 (measured by "Yes" or "No"). The data will be collected by reviewing historical documents on the implementation of stay-at-home orders in each state in March 2020.
My DV is the COVID-19 cases per capita (measured by the total number of COVID-19 in each state in May 2020 divided by the total population of the state in 2020). I intentionally collect this data in May 2020 because I want to make sure my IDV happens before DV and give some time for the policy impacts to be effective. The data will be collected from the CDC website.