| SOCB05: The Logic of Social Inquiry |
| Fall 2015 |
| Second Assignment: Research Proposal Part 2 |
| Grading Rubric |
| 1) Research Topic and Research Question | Points Earned | Points Possible |
| · State your research question, which must be: | 1.5 | 4 |
| 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. | 2 | 4 |
| · 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). | 2 | 4 |
| · 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. | 2 | 4 |
| · 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. | 0 | 4 |
| · 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) Proposed Method of Observation |
| · Choose either a survey or a qualitative method. |
| · Discuss the rationale for your method, and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your method. |
| o Survey: |
| · Identify and describe the type of survey you will employ (cross-sectional, longitudinal, etc.). |
| · Describe how your survey will be distributed to respondents, administered to respondents, and returned to you. |
| · Include the exact question wording and response categories of up to 5 of your most important survey questions (these must cover the key concepts described in section 4, and must be consistent with section 5). |
| · Discuss how you will minimize possible sources of bias in your survey. | 6 | 20 |
| o Qualitative Methods: |
| · Identify and describe the type of qualitative method you will employ (ethnography, participant observation, case study, focus groups, qualitative interviewing, oral history, or a combination of these). |
| · Describe where and when you will conduct your study, as well as the duration of the study. |
| · Describe how you will obtain access to the field and/or to participants. |
| · Discuss the role you will assume vis a vis your research subjects (participant or non–participant) and how you will minimize reactivity. |
| · Include the exact wording of at least 5 open-ended questions that you would ask your participants. (these must cover the key concepts described in section 4, and must be consistent with section 5). |
| 7) Sampling Plan |
| · Refrain from using an existing data source. | 0 | 4 |
| · 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. |
| 8) Proposed Plan of Analysis |
| · Quantitative Analysis: |
| o State what relationships you expect among your variables based on your hypotheses. |
| o State the type of analyses you will use (univariate, multivariate or both) given the level at which your variables are measured, and why. |
| o Describe variables that might be important to control for. |
| o Compose at least one mock table demonstrating support for your hypotheses. | 0 | 20 |
| · Qualitative Analysis: |
| o Describe the type of coding scheme you would use (open, focused, manifest, latent). |
| o List at least 5 codes you could apply to the data collected, and the include label, code name, and code definition for each code. |
| o Discuss the type of memoing you might engage in (theoretical, operational, coding). |
| o Create a mock answer to one of your open-ended questions and apply 2 or more codes from your coding scheme. |
| 9) Ethical Considerations |
| · Discuss how voluntariness/ informed consent will be addressed in your study. |
| · Discuss how privacy/ confidentiality will be addressed in your study. | 7 | 12 |
| · Discuss how you will ensure that harm is minimized in your study. |
| · Discuss any other ethical considerations (deception, participation of minors, etc.) that may be relevant to your study. |
| 10) Limitations of the Study and Conclusions |
| · Discuss potential weaknesses of your proposed study that could arise. |
| · Discuss potential threats to reliability and validity and provide concrete examples of how they will be assessed or minimized. |
| · Assess how generalizable your findings will be and explain why. | 3 | 20 |
| · If your research question is explanatory, discuss whether you will be able to make causal claims, and explain why. |
| · Discuss the potential implications of your study vis a vis the current literature, policy making, service provision, or how would it benefit your participants. |
| 11) Citation List |
| · List all the sources mentioned in your proposal. | 4 | 4 |
| · Use the ASA format. |
| General |
| Over/ under the page limit (8-10 double-spaced pages) | | -___ /5 |
| One or more of the 11 sections missing or not properly labeled | | -___ /3 |
| Grammatical mistakes, misspellings or typos | -2.5 | -___ /5 |
| Late penalty | | -___ |
| Mark for Assignment 2 Part 2 | 25 | 100 |
| Grader Initials | SH |
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chenyuqiao_final_rubric.xlsx
