The purpose of this assignment is to become familiar with research methods for collecting data and the format of a research article.
Be sure to read Chapter 2
Step 1: Review the process of finding scholarly, peer-reviewed research articles.
Below are links to two short screencasts created by Professor Susan Wood, She created this step by step process to show you how to choose articles that meet all the specifications needed, such as:
Sociological: Having to do with people; a study that collected data from more than one person; having to do with social aspects of people’s behavior.
Current: Published within that last 15 years
Research: The author collected data in their own original study that they are describing in the article. Beware of review articles that do not contain original research! Hint: Look for the Methods section!
Identifying a research article (5 mins 15 secs) https://youtu.be/TITjLHRtCt8
Finding an article that is Sociological and current (6 mins 23 secs) https://youtu.be/MS0SQd_H5FA
Step 2: Repeat the process that you just learned now searching for research conducted about your topic (Bullying)
Select an article that you think will provide you with information on the patterns and trends of this topic. Remember, the article should be a research article that is current (within the last 15 years), sociological, and peer-reviewed.
Step 3: Write the essay that deconstructs this research article
Using ASA citation format, write the full bibliographical information for the article.
Then answer the following questions:
What are the researchers studying? What is their research question?
What is the method of data collection (experiment, survey questionnaire, interview, participant observation, focus groups, case studies, secondary research, etc…)?
What is an advantage and what is a disadvantage of this particular method? (Review the table at the back of Chapter 2)
What was sample size and composition (who was studied in this research?)?
Is this a qualitative or quantitative methodological approach?
What is at least one of the key findings of the study as it relates to this topic?
What are the ethical concerns that researchers must contend with when studying human subjects? (Chapter 2 can help here as well!)
Sources: 1. textbook (Chapter 2),
https://openstax.org/books/introduction-sociology-2e/pages/2-introduction-to-sociological-research
an academic journal article from the database as detailed in the library tutorial.
*Important Note About Incorporating Course Concepts: Because I use these assignments to evaluate your learning of our course materials, it is imperative that you include at least 5 terms or concepts from the chapters associated with this assignment. You can incorporate them anywhere within the paper. Define, explain, apply these terms in a way that demonstrates your understanding of the chapter material. Be sure to include in-text citations each time that you refer to the textbook. (case study ,correlation, dependent variables, experiment ,hypothesis, population, samples, scientific method,surveys,validity,primary data,random sample) see more in chapter 2.
