One of the most crucial components of this course is developing a research project from conceptualization to completion. Throughout the class, you created a research study based on publicly available data from the General Social Survey (GSS). You chose data which were representative of your interests and satisfied your research question and hypotheses. The Final Project: Guide to Completing the Research Study is where you pull together the research you've been working on the first six weeks of class.
Instructions:
Complete the following assignment by filling all requested information into the worksheet. You will need to utilize SPSS and the GSS data set provided in class to complete it. Use a different, but legible, color font for your responses. This assignment is intended to help you complete the writing of a quantitative research summary/article, with particular emphasis on the Findings and Conclusion sections.
CO1: Describe and apply the concepts and logic of elementary statistics.
CO2: Conduct statistical analysis in SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences).
CO3: Compare and contrast different types of data and the statistics that can be used to analyze them
CO4: Examine the differences between descriptive and inferential statistics and their use in the social sciences.
CO5: Complete and interpret descriptive and inferential statistical data analysis.
CO6: Develop a research project from conceptualizing a research problem and develop a number of complementary design, measurement, and data collection approaches to bring evidence to bear on the problem.
CO7: Form critical interpretations of quantitative research literature in sociology and other social sciences, critically evaluating the quality of research design and evidence in published social research.
SOCI332 Assignment: Final Project – Guide to Completing the Research Study
Complete the following assignment by filling in all requested information. You will need to utilize SPSS and the GSS dataset provided in class to complete it. Information should be based on the variables you chose and analyzed in Weeks 1-6. Use a different, but legible, color font for your responses. This assignment is intended to help you complete the writing of a quantitative research article, with particular emphasis on the Findings and Conclusion sections.
The assignment is to be completed and submitted no later than the Sunday of Week 7 by 11:55pm ET. It is worth 100 points.
(A) Introduction: Write an introduction to your research study in 1-2 paragraphs. Be sure to include a brief statement of current research on your topic (with an in-text citation of a source), a description of your research topic, why you chose the topic, what you hoped to learn from the topic, your research question, and your broad hypothesis.
(B) Literature Review: Write a 3-5 paragraph lit review (review of studies on your topic) using more than three sources, at least two of them being research studies in peer-reviewed journal articles.
(C) Methods/Dataset: In one paragraph, describe the GSS dataset.
(D) Methods/Variables: In one paragraph, discuss why you chose the specific independent and dependent variables for your analyses. Include the names of the variables, the level of measurement, the questions asked in the survey, and the response choices for each.
(E) Methods/Variable information: Copy and paste your frequency tables and descriptive statistics for each variable. Include your charts as well (histogram, bar, or pie). Provide a summary/explanation of what these tables/charts tell us about your variables:
(F) Findings: Copy & Paste corrected analyses from Weeks 3-6, i.e., Crosstabs, Measures of Association, Tests of Significance. Include the five steps of hypothesis testing.
(G) Findings: Explain what the analyses displayed above tell us about the relationships between the variables in the study.
(H) Conclusions: Explain how the findings contribute to the study of your topic. What did you learn? What other variables need to be explored? What further research on your topic could be pursued in the future?
References: Include full APA citations of all sources used. List them in alphabetical order by the author’s last name. Use hanging indentation (Line spacing options – Indention – Special – Hanging). Don’t forget to cite the GSS dataset (citation is listed in Week 1 Lessons).