Sociology Research Paper

SOCI 3322 Fall 2018

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Research Proposal Project*

Part 1: Research Proposal Statement

Due: Sunday, September 30 by 11:59pm

Overview: For this portion of the Research Proposal Project, you will write up the

introduction to your research topic. This assignment should follow the criteria below.

Requirements: I reserve the right to refuse an assignment for not following these

requirements.

• 12 point font, Times New Roman

• One inch margins on all sides

• Paragraph format

• Double-spaced pages

• Proofread for typos, spelling and grammatical errors

• The use of headings is encouraged to specify different sections of the proposal,

especially as you begin to put each piece together into a full paper

• Include page numbers at the bottom center or right corner of the page

• No bullet points, weird spacing, or fancy formatting

• No graphics, tables, or charts

• Use ASA-style formatting:

http://www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/quick_tips_for_asa_style.pdf

• Save your work as “Last Name First Name Part 1” or something else very

specific to this assignment

• Do not use any special characters in the saved file name (# % & $, etc)

• Save as a .DOC or .PDF only. No other file formats will be accepted.

It is your responsibility that the correct file is uploaded. I will only grade the file you

upload to the dropbox. Double-check that you upload the correct file. Save your work

often. Save the dropbox receipt eCourseware sends via email as proof of your

submission.

Plagiarism and inappropriate group work: Please review the “Academic Integrity”

section on the syllabus.

Each assignment in this class should be your own original work and will be submitted through the university’s plagiarism software. Papers written for other classes may not be submitted for credit. Assignments found to be in violation of these policies will receive a zero. Inappropriate collaboration includes, but is not limited to: copying someone else’s work to pass off as your own; changing just a few words to make it seem like your own; allowing someone else to complete your assignments for you. Take ownership of YOUR work!

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Directions: 1. Review the 2013 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) code book on eCourseware.

• The YRBS is a secondary data source that all students will use for the basis of this project. It will allow you to become familiar with developing research concepts from survey questions asked in large national surveys like this one.

• The YRBS is a nationally representative survey of teenagers in the United States, conducted every two years by the CDC. The survey asks about “risky” behaviors like drinking, fighting, drug use, sexual activity, and so forth.

• Be sure to read the study description in the first few pages of the document. There may be some terminology you are unfamiliar with, but you will read about in upcoming chapters.

• Choose ONE dependent variable (outcome) from the list of questions in the survey. This should be something you have a general interest in writing about for the rest of the semester, so choose something related to a topic of your general interest.

• Choose THREE independent variables (influencing factors) that you think may be related in some way to the dependent variable you selected. Think of these as predictor or causal variables.

• For the sake of simplicity in this project, be sure that your variables can be represented as questions from the YRBS. There are limitations to this survey (for example, there are no questions about family background, social class, or sexual orientation, all of which are common sociological concepts). If you were actually conducting a research study and wanted to know how your dependent variable varied by something like social class, you would not be able to use this data set since it does not have that particular question in the survey.

2. Take note of your selected variables in a notebook or file so you can refer back to them. These are the variables that will measure the concepts you are proposing to study. You will describe your variables in more detail in a later assignment. For now, they are the basis for your research topic, which you will write up for this assignment. For example, if you chose Q1 “How old are you?” as the question that serves as one of your independent variables, you should write about this concept as “age.” If you chose something about drug use, you do not need to give the specific question word for word in this portion of the assignment (that comes later in the Data & Methods) section. You would just refer to the concept of “drug use,” perhaps referring to a specific type of drug, and later explain what you used to measure that concept.

3. Compose a 1 - 3 page paper that includes the following components:

a. Introduction to your research topic: Briefly describe your topic and provide broad research questions (e.g., Is family size related to poverty?). The research questions must clearly convey what variables you chose.

SOCI 3322 Fall 2018

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i. You should compose three research questions (one for each independent variable as it relates to your dependent variable). Or, you may choose to write one question in a way that conveys the relationship you intend to explore between the dependent variable and all three independent variables. Just be sure your intentions are clear.

ii. Your research questions should be framed as actual questions (not statements) so your focal topic is clear to the reader.

iii. Note: Do not include your hypotheses here. At this point you cannot predict what you will find, as you have not conducted a literature review. These will be included in a later portion of the project.

b. Justification/Rationale: It is important to understand the “so what?” i. Think about why this subject is important to society broadly. It may have

specific importance to you, but your role as a social science researcher is to take an objective stance and let the data speak for itself.

ii. Explain why your chosen topic and research questions are sociologically relevant and important. These can be broad, general statements at this point.

iii. You should NOT include anecdotes (personal stories that may not be representative of a larger population’s experience) as justification for your study.

iv. As you move along in the project, you will need to find resources to justify your study’s rationale. At this point, just think of the big picture. You will look for sources that relate to your topic in the next step (Annotated Bibliography / Literature Review).

This is a work in progress! I will give you feedback on each portion of the Research Proposal Assignment that you should incorporate, building to your final paper. That said, please be sure to follow the formatting requirements and directions listed above. Below is a sample of what this assignment might look like.

Grading Rubric: 50 Possible Points

Criteria Possible Points

Research questions are included, logical, and clearly specified/accurate/well-composed.

20

All required variables are represented. 10

Logical sociological rationale – has depth and is sociologically insightful (i.e., does not use circular reasoning such as “its sociologically important because it deals with society”)

10

Well-written, followed directions, formatted and organized, seems to understand the purpose of this section

10

*Assignment created in collaboration with Stephanie Bradley, PhD, Radford University

SOCI 3322 Fall 2018

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Example Structure for Part 1

The content below illustrates the structure and format for Part 1.

INTRODUCTION

Though it is optional to include any text here for this assignment, here you could

introduce your topic broadly. Look at journal articles to get an idea of how this looks in

published research. (THINK: BIG PICTURE)

Research Questions

Provide your research questions here, keeping in mind that your writing should be reader

friendly. That is, provide context for your questions rather than only listing the questions and

moving to the next section. Your research questions will ask about the effects of your

independent variables on your chosen outcome variable. Do not include hypotheses in this

assignment. (THINK: HOW DOES YOUR PROPOSED RESEARCH GET AT THE BIG

PICTURE WITH SPECIFIC QUESTIONS?)

Study Rationale

This section should explain why your chosen topic and research questions are

sociologically relevant and important. You will build on to this section as you review the

literature related to your topic. (THINK: WHY IS THIS STUDY IMPORTANT?)