Research Methods - Final Project Assignment

RESEARCH IN SOCIAL SCIENCES: SOC 310

RESEARCH PROJECT

- For this project, you must complete your own research project. The four main options for projects are as follows.

1) Observation/Experiment in Public Space (something similar to the first paper

assignment)

2) Content Analysis (of books, magazines, television shows, films, websites, etc).

3) Design and distribute survey and then analyze findings.

4) Analyze existing data (There are numerous different types of studies you could do such

as analyzing sales of different video games, trends in popular music, crime rates, etc.)

(If you have another idea for a paper, you must come see me no later than Tuesday, April

14.)

You cannot simply repeat what you did in one of your short paper projects, but you may do something similar. For instance, you could study a public place like gyms or retail store rather than a coffeehouse or bar. Likewise, you could choose to study a social networking website (or one like secondlife.com) rather than a dating site.

- The Paper

- The paper should be approximately 4-5 pages in length and all papers should have the

following:

1) Describe the research project – try to be as specific as possible about what you plan to

do.

2) Present your hypothesis. In particular, a)What do you expect to find? b) Why do you

expect these particular results. (If possible, you should try to find one reading about a

similar study and cite the findings.)

3) Describe what you did in your project.

4) Present your findings.

5) Interpretation and Conclusion (Did your findings your confirm your hypothesis? What

was particularly surprising about your findings? Were there any flaws with your study

in terms of validity, reliability, etc.?)

(See Other Side)

THE PRESENTATION

- The following class days will be reserved for presentations: 1) Thursday, April 30; 2) Tuesday, May 5; and 3) Thurs, May 7. If, for some reason, we need extra time, a couple of presentations will be scheduled for Tuesday, May 12. A week prior to the presentations, we will (randomly, of course) determine which person/group will go on which days. If you absolutely cannot be there for one of those classes, you must let me know ahead of time.

In order to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to present their findings, individual presentations should be no longer than 12 minutes. I will give people appropriate warnings when you approach the time limit. Hence it is important to rehearse your presentation beforehand to ensure that you do not go exceed 12 minutes. (Trust me, 12 minutes goes a lot faster than you think.) You will also be responsible for answering questions about your project. The presentation should generally follow the format of the paper, though you may choose to alter the order slightly.

Grading

1) A 1-2 paragraph proposal of what you plan to do is due on Tuesday, March 31. This is worth 5 points.

2) The full paper is worth 45 points and is due on Tuesday, May 12 by Noon. For every day late, I will deduct 3 points.

3) The presentation is worth 30 points

4) Your attendance, participation, and citizenship on those days, especially your attendance, will be given extra weight with respect to your semester’s attendance/participation/citizenship grade.

Also, I am trying to secure a multi-media room for the days when we do presentations so students can present their material with visuals. However, I can’t, at this juncture, guarantee that you will be able to use powerpoint or other computer visuals.