| SOCB05: The Logic of Social Inquiry |
| Fall 2015 |
| Second Assignment: Research Proposal Part 1 |
| Grading Rubric |
| 1) Research Topic and Research Question | Points Earned | Points Possible |
| · State your research question, which must be: | 4 | 10 |
| o Relevant to the Social Sciences |
| o Unique or original |
| o Neither simplistic nor obvious |
| o Neither too narrow nor too broad |
| o Specific in terms of social group, geographic area and historic time period. |
| · Explain your research question. |
| · If you are following the deductive model, list up to 3 relevant hypotheses you will test. |
| 2) Justification of the Research Question |
| · Explain why your research question is important and why it requires sociological explanation. | 10 | 14 |
| · Draw on the literature to do the above. |
| · Use appropriate in-text citations using the ASA format. |
| 3) Literature Review |
| · Consult at least 4 relevant academic sources (articles from peer-reviewed journals or books published by a university press). | 15 | 20 |
| · Describe the relevant empirical findings and methodological approaches of your soures. |
| · Weave together themes from your sources, rather than discussing each separately. |
| · Describe how your study refines, revises or extends existing research (ie. show that your study is unique or makes a new contribution). |
| · Use appropriate in-text citations using the ASA format. |
| 4) Conceptualization |
| · Define at least 1 relevant abstract concept that is needed to answer your research question, including its relevant dimensions. | 7 | 15 |
| · Define any non-sociodemographic concepts needed to answer your research question. |
| · List any sociodemographic variables needed to answer your research question. |
| 5) Operationalization of Key Concepts |
| · Describe, in detail, how you plan to measure each of the concepts mentioned above. | 7 | 18 |
| · Discuss dimensions of the concepts and the indicator(s) that will be used to measure them. |
| · Explain how each indicator will be measured and, if appropriate, whether it is nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio. |
| · Refrain from using existing measures for non-sociodemographic variables. |
| · If appropriate, identify the dependent and independent variables. |
| · Assess how reliable and how valid your measures/observations will be, and explain why. |
| 6) Sampling Plan |
| · Refrain from using an existing data source. | 0 | 18 |
| · Discuss what type of sampling you will be carrying out (probability or non-probability). |
| · Discuss the sampling design you will utilize (random, cluster, quota, snowball, etc.). |
| · Sampling type and design must be relevant and appropriate to your research question. |
| · Explain the rationale for your sampling choice. |
| · Explain the limitations of your sampling choice. |
| · Discuss the issue of generalizability. |
| 7) Citation List |
| · List all the sources mentioned in your proposal. | 5 | 5 |
| · Use the ASA format. |
| General |
| Over/ under the page limit (4-5 double-spaced pages) | | -5 |
| One or more of the 7 sections missing or not properly labeled | | -3 |
| Grammatical mistakes, misspellings, or typos | | -5 |
| Late penalty | | -___ |
| Mark for Assignment 2 Part 1 | 48 | 100 |
| Grader Initials | SH |
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yuqiao_chen_rubric.xlsx
