Research Project: Conducting and Reporting a Scholarly Study - Prof. Anissa T. Rogers, Study Guides, Projects, Research of Introduction to Sociology

Download Research Project: Conducting and Reporting a Scholarly Study - Prof. Anissa T. Rogers and more Study Guides, Projects, Research Introduction to Sociology in PDF only on Docsity! SW/PSY/SOC 214 Dr. Rogers University of Portland THE RESEARCH PROJECT Over the course of the semester, you will be learning about research methods and how to conduct research. The research project will allow you to practice some of these skills and hopefully to have some fun. First, you will prepare a research proposal that will guide your project. Then, you will carry out the research and prepare a final report/paper. Your proposal will not only guide your project, but it will serve as the foundation for your final report/paper. You will hand in your proposal early in the semester, and I will give you feedback on your project. So, as we progress through the semester, we’ll cover content that you need to conduct a good research project and write up a good report. For this project, you will conduct a piece of research from beginning to end--from developing the hypothesis to writing up a beautiful report. You may do a project by yourself or work with another student, but the final paper must be done individually. You can do a simple experiment with a manipulated IV, you can do quasi-experimental or correlational research, or you can conduct archival research. Regardless, you will need to do a literature review to see what previous researchers have found out, design the study, collect the data, and write up a formal research report. It is required that you meet with a Writing Assistant at least once prior to April 9 or your project will lose points. In total, this project is worth 300 points. To make this project a little more manageable, the project has been broken down into chunks that are due at different times. 1. The first piece of this project is to think of some questions or hypotheses you would like to test. During January, please meet with me to talk about possible research ideas. If you already have ideas, great, and if you don’t, I can help you. Once you know your general area of interest, you will need to start looking for three journal articles from which you can develop your own research hypothesis. We have two library days scheduled in January to help you get a jump start on this. 2. Find at least three journal articles in your area of interest on which you can base your research. Only scholarly journals that publish original research are acceptable sources, not magazines like Time, Newsweek, or Psychology Today. Scholarly review articles are not acceptable either. No web sites are acceptable. One way to find an article is to browse through the stacks in the library. You can also search for articles on your topic through the library’s databases. Again, we’ll have two library days – you’ll get some ideas on how/where to search and you’ll have time to look. Read the articles carefully and bring them to class on February 10. 3. Write a “literature review”, which is a summary of the articles in your own words that includes the hypothesis, methodology, results, and conclusions of the studies. This provides the rationale for your hypothesis, which you will then develop and test in your own research. The literature review and hypothesis become part of the proposal and later, part of the finished project. We will be covering literature reviews in class to help you with this. 4. Write a proposal for your research, which will consist of the literature review, your hypothesis, the method by which you will collect the data, and the results you expect to obtain, what implications you see for the results (i.e., how the results can address gaps in the literature and inform policy, practice, education, or the field in general), plus the references for your article in APA style (see Beins & Beins). This will be typed and should be 2-3 pages long. The proposal is due February 17; please submit your proposal through Turnitin (instructions on the syllabus and below). You also need to give me copies of the journal articles, your informed consent, your debriefing form, the proposal checklist, and a turnitin originality report. These will be returned to you. I hope that APA style will be followed, your summary will be good, and your hypothesis will logically follow from the results of your literature review. This proposal and the supporting materials are worth 100 points. To use turnitin, go to the following link: http://www.turnitin.com/static/pdf/tii_student_qs.pdf and follow the instructions. You will need the following information to enroll: ClassID: 2536082 Enrollment Password: enroll 5. Modify your procedure if necessary, based on my comments, and try it out on a few friends if you can. This is called doing a “pilot study.” Make any changes that are necessary. Then collect the data and figure out what it means, remembering to come see me if you have any questions or get stuck. 6. Write your report, using Beins & Beins as your guide. Meet with a Writing Assistant soon after you complete a good draft of your final report but before April 9 when the 1st draft of the paper is due– this is required. 7. Revise your paper, edit it carefully, proofread it both before and after printing it, and hand it in by April 9 using Turnitin. Give to me the project checklist, your articles, the copy of your proposal that I already commented on, and a turnitin originality report. Also hand in a memo to me, explaining what you like or don’t like about the paper, what you are proud of or what you would like help with. These memos are important in guiding my reading of your papers. Your goal is to make sure that APA style is followed, the sections are well organized and well written in the formal scientific style we use, the results are presented clearly with an appropriate table or figure, and the appendix is correct (if needed). This draft is worth 100 points. 8. I will read your papers and comment extensively, and hand them back to you. Then all you have to do is revise and edit one more time, and hand in the final copy and the previous draft on April 27 by 10 a.m. using Turnitin. This last draft is worth 100 points. Why do I ask you to rewrite your paper so many times and to meet with a writing assistant? Because that is how real writing is done. It is hard work. It takes many tries to get it right, and professionals always have helpful peers review their work to check for problems. Summary of project deadlines: January: Meet with me to discuss topics. February 10: Have your 3 articles picked out, read, and ready to go February 17: Proposals due, with copies of the articles, informed consent and debriefing forms, the turnitin report, and the proposal checklist. Before April 9: Meet with Writing Assistant. April 9: Paper due along with articles, proposal, the turnitin report, project checklist and memo to me. April 27: Final revisions due; also hand in the earlier version that I commented on. Grading I am confident that you will be able to write a good paper, because your topic and method will be approved before you collect any data, and you must meet with a writing assistant either before you start writing or while you are writing. When I grade the papers, there are specific things I look for that characterize an excellent paper that you should look for too when you are editing your papers: Title Page : make sure your title links IV and DV; make sure format is APA-correct. Abstract : should be clear and succinct; include information from all sections of the paper; summarize your results and explain them. Introduction : state the initial question at the beginning; make a logical progression from more general to more specific; summarize your background literature clearly; make sure the relationship between IV and DV is supported by literature; clearly express your experimental hypothesis. Method : describe the procedure in enough detail that I could replicate the experiment without asking you any questions; make sure sections are organized well.