Goal: Complete a research design (see Hesse-Biber, Chapters 3-5 & additional assigned readings)
for your in-depth interview pilot study that includes: 1) a descriiption of your proposed research,
including a clearly written purpose statement, a qualitative-based research question (QRQ) and 1-2
sub-questions; 2) an outline of methodology; 3) a discussion of ethical procedures, including your
informative scriipt; and 4) an in-depth-interview guide.
Assignment: Using Word, complete the assignment (in about 5-7 double spaced pages, excluding a
reference section) by addressing the outline below. Type your paper in paragraph form; use
subheadings in your paper. Do NOT include the assignment instructions nor the point totals in your
final draft. Save your paper in following file name format before uploading it: Your Last Name and
First Initial (e.g.,). In addition to your name, use an abbreviation of the assignment in the
file name to help with organization of your work. Remember: Keep It Simple Students! (KISS!)
NOTE: At this point of the research process, all coursework must include in-text citations and references,
whether from existing research studies, the textbook, or other assigned readings. Citing information
provides credibility to your work and makes it distinct from opinion.
ASSIGNMENT OUTLINE
**Create a title of your proposed depth-interview pilot study.
I. Area of Sociological Interest, Research Topic, Qualitative Purpose Statement & Qualitative
Research Question (5 points)
Identify the area of sociological interest and related research topic. Provide your purpose
statement, central/qualitative research question and 1-2 sub-questions. Then, explain the
following for your proposed pilot study: the research purpose (exploratory, descriiptive, or
explanatory), the specific interpretive approach used to formulate your research question (see
Hesse Biber textbook on pages 23-32) and the study’s sociological importance. Also, include
context for your study by 1) citing a minimum of five (5) previous research studies, and 2)
addressing how your proposed research addresses a gap in the literature and contributes to the area of
sociological interest and/or research topic.
II. Methodology (15 points)
A. Describe the potential research population for your proposed study. Be specific by including the
important characteristics that are relevant to your proposed research study. Why has this population
been selected?
B. Specify and explain the nonrandom sampling procedure(s) will you use to locate your potential
interviewees. Explain where you will recruit potential interviewees ( social media, the general
public). If you plan to use recruitment materials (flyers, posting on social media, e-mail contact, word o
mouth) then include the language you will use for recruitment. Based on the characteristics of the
potential sample, what concerns are there, if any, in regard to finding participants? Discuss how you will conduct the interviews (in-person, Zoom) ONLINE VIA ZOOM and where will you conduct
interviews. Approximate how long each interview will take to complete. What structure level will
your interview questions be—and why? (See Hesse Biber textbook on pages 112-114.) Explain
whether you have insider status and/or outside status in relation to your potential interviewees.
Also, discuss how the process of reflexivity informs your insider/outside and its influence on
designing your proposed research and how you will collect interview data.
III. Application of Ethical Considerations (10 points)
Based on your proposed research and research population, describe/explain how your proposed
research exhibits “no more than minimal risk of harm” for potential interviewees. What you
will do if an interviewee experiences “an adverse reaction” (emotional, psychological, social,
physiological) during the interview
**Include the informative scriipt you will share with interviewees before the interview
IV. Appendix: In-Depth Interview Guide (5 points)
Include a draft of the interview guide you will use to interview potential interviewees. Ultimately,
this interview guide (with the necessary revisions from feedback) will be the one you use to conduct
interviews later this semester. You cannot conduct any interviews with the guide until Dr. Dugan
has graded and returned the proposal assignment back to you. Make sure interview questions:
1) follow a logical order, 2) are clearly written (including grammar/punctuation/spelling), and 3) are
relevant questions for what you would like to find out from interviewees to help answer your
research question. Use section headings to organize/group the interview questions you plan to ask
interviewees.
Additional Grading Criteria
Paper Organization and Format (5 points) Is the paper clearly organized? Is there a logical flow
throughout the paper? Has the paper met all format guidelines outlined, as well as clear paragraph
structure and logical development and progression of ideas throughout the proposal?
Writing (5 points): Ask yourself: Does writing meet, at the least, college level expectations? Is the
paper written in an academic, qualitative way? Is there a high level of clarity in writing? Is writing
relatively free from grammar & spelling errors? Is writing free from errors such as run on sentences,
sentence fragments?
Correct Use of In-Text Citations & References in ASA Format (5 points): Correct application of
ASA format for in-text citations and listing of sources used in the reference section. If there are five
(5) or more significant ASA formatting errors for in-text citations AND references in your
entire paper, you will not earn any points (0/5). If there are less than five (5) significant ASA
format errors for in-text citations AND references in your entire paper, you will earn all five
points (5/5). . If no previous research is cited in your proposal, you will not earn the five points.
• Significant errors include, but are not limited to, using the title of a study in the body of
your paper, not putting the exact words from a study in quotation marks, a missing
reference listing for an in-text citation, a missing in-text citation for a reference listed at
the end of your paper, no reference section included, or a reference listing is not in ASA
Style format.
