Sociology Research Paper

RESEARCH PROPOSAL PROJECT

DIRECTIONS See eCourseware for the FULL directions This should help you break down the key components of what needs to be included

ORDER OF FINAL PAPER INTRODUCTION

• Overview of topic • “Research Questions”

LITERATURE REVIEW (BACKGROUND) • Summarizing prior research related to topic

PRESENT STUDY • How this study differs from prior studies • Statement of hypothesis(es)

METHODS • “Data & Sample” • “Measures”

ORDER OF FINAL PAPER REFERENCES

• 5 sources you cited in the literature review • Citation for YRBS • ASA style formatting = link on eCourseware

CITATION FOR YRBS

Reference page citation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2013. Youth Risk Behavior Survey Questionnaire. Available at: www.cdc.gov/yrbs.

In text citation: (YRBS 2013)

“PRESENT STUDY” SECTION Statement of hypotheses

• Set up: how does this study differ? • What do you intend to add to the existing

knowledge on this topic? • State your hypothesis with how you expect each IV

to relate to the DV • “Students who eat more vegetables are likely to

have lower BMIs.”

“METHODS” SECTION 2 subsections: Data & Sample Measures

DATA & SAMPLE Paraphrasing from the YRBS User Guide What to include:

• Name and year of data set • Who conducts the survey • How often it is conducted • What kinds of schools are included • Sample design • Student response rate • Sample size (N = )

MEASURES Describing your variables exactly as they are written in the YRBS DV goes first:

• “The dependent variable for this study is ____, captured by the survey question _____ from the 2013 YRBS. The possible answer choices were ______.”

IVs follow: • “This study examines the influence of x, y, and z on the

DV. These measures were asked in the YRBS as follows….” (use exact wording from the questions in the YRBS)