School of Engineering and Applied Science Department of Computer Science CSci 1030 -- Technology and Society http://www.seas.gwu.edu/~mfeldman/csci1030/summer15 Prof. Michael B. Feldman, course instructor mfeldman@gwu.edu

CSci 1030 Social Impact Analysis Project -- 32-point grade contribution, due in Stages
Topic: "The Right to Be Forgotten"

Introduction
CSci 1030 Project
Project Stages
Important Note

Introduction

CSci 1030 Project

Your assignment is to (1) research this topic as individuals, (2) discuss it as a class, and (3) design and administer an opinion survey to assess public attitudes about the subject.

I'll assign each student to one of several groups; each group will develop its own survey, and deploy it on the Google docs website. Each group will collate and analyze its data and write a report of its findings. ONE final project paper per group is expected.

Project Stages

Because of the compressed course schedule, this project must progress at the rate of one stage per week. Sorry about the fast pace, but this is the only way to get it done in 6 weeks overall. NOTE: all deliverables must be submitted via Blackboard by 11:59 PM (EDT) on the due date.

Week 2 -- Research report (8 points, due Sunday, 7/19): This phase has two parts:

(1) Research the subject. This subject has been widely covered in online sources. Here are just a few more links to get you started on your research. Reading the linked documents will give you an understanding of the subject's complexity and the reasons why it's controversial. Feel free to explore the topic as broadly and deeply as time allows.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/homaycotte/2014/09/30/americas-right-to-be-forgotten-fight-heats-up/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-p-david/should-the-us-have-google_b_5420490.html

http://www.dataprotectionreport.com/2015/01/california-enacts-right-to-be-forgotten-for-minors/

http://fortune.com/2015/03/12/the-right-to-be-forgotten-from-google-forget-it-says-u-s-crowd/

http://time.com/98554/right-to-be-forgotten/

(2) In an individual report (approximately 1000-2000 of your own words), summarize your findings. What is the right to be forgotten? Why is it so controversial? Will the US adopt something similar? What do the "experts" say?

This is the only individual phase of the project -- it's an individual deliverable because I want to ensure that all students learn as much as they can about the subject before jumping into the group work. Submit your report through the Blackboard assignment-submission process.

Week 4 -- Survey Instruments due and deployed (due Sunday, 8/2): Each group will deploy its survey on Google docs. Be sure you recruit as many as you can of your own family, friends, etc. to take your survey. The more respondents you have, the more representative your survey is likely to be.

Week 5 -- Preliminary Report on Survey Results (8 points, due Sunday, 8/9): Each group will collate, examine, and analyze its survey data and submit a report providing preliminary results. As in the draft, one member of each group will submit the report via Blackboard; all members of a given group will receive the same score (out of 8 points).

Week 6 -- Final Social Impact Analysis Report (8 points, due SATURDAY, 8/15. NOT Sunday -- Saturday is the last day of class!): Each group will write a report based upon the data that contains an abstract, introduction to the subject, discussion of the research protocol, presentation of the findings, conclusions and bibliography. Once afain, one member in each group will submit the group's report.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

• All assignments for this course must be completed under the George Washington University Code for Academic Integrity. Read the section there on plagiarism.
  
• You are encouraged to use the Internet as a source of information, but others' work must be acknowledged! A quotation from the Internet is just like a quotation from a book, and be written in quotation marks, with a citation (in-line or footnote) to the URL of the site you used.
  
• If you include material from other sources, including the Internet, in your own work, and fail to cite your sources properly, you are risking an Academic Integrity charge of plagiarism!